Metaluna

I just built a new rear wheel on a new Tiagra FH-4500 freehub. I have not ridden it yet, but last night I clamped it into the dropouts without a cassette or chain installed to check for play. Though the hub spins smoothly, it feels a little stiff to me, and also it doesn't end its spin with the normal "pendulum" back-and-forth swing that you'd expect from well-adjusted bearings.

My first though was to just get out the cone wrenches and tweak the bearings, but where this is a brand new, never-ridden hub, I don't know if this is normal. Should I give it a little time to "run in" the bearings a bit and then recheck it after, say, 20 miles?

DMF 

Quick-release skewer? If so then yes, you may have set them a little too tight. You get them perfect off the bike, then the QR compresses the axle just enough to squeeze the bearings a little too much. You can take a short ride and check again, but chances are that you'll need to set the pre-load again, this time a little bit looser. It's an iterative process until you get the feel for it.

rydaddy

My Shimano hubs have always been tighter than 'just right' from the factory. I would make the adjustment even if it's brand new. It takes a little time and patience, but buttery smooth bearings are worth the effort.

Sturmcrow

If you've got rubber dust caps or seals on the hub, they will keep the wheel from doing it's pendulum thing and will make the hub seem to have a little drag.

Metaluna

Yes the hub does use a QR, and I do have to clamp it fairly tight because the bike has semi-horizontal dropouts that can slip if too loose. It doesn't look like the hub has rubber dust caps, or at least nothing that looks like the caps on my Deore MTB hubs, so it sounds like I should just go ahead and adjust it.

From what I've read, given modern manufacturing tolerances, my notion of needing to "run in" the bearings is probably outdated anyway.

sonatageek

I would adjust them. I have a new flip flop wheel set that has tight feeling bearings that I need to adjust before mounting them on a bike. I have the same issue with a new set of MKS pedals -- Seems that things don't leave the factory well adjusted, which makes me suspect that the level of grease may not be what I would expect either.

Spend a little extra time up front for a long and trouble free life later.

HillRider

+1 That's always been my experience with both Shimano and Campy hubs. They all seem to be a bit too snug as delivered.

Incidentally, I just got a brand new utility wheel from Jensen with an Alex rim laced to a Tiagra hub. Like yours, the hub was a bit too tight when I first got it but a couple of minutes with the cone wrench and now it "pendulums" the way we want and has no play at the rim. I did check the grease level while I was in there and it was more than sufficient so i didn't add or change anything.

AEO

all shimano hubs I've toyed with have tighter than recommended cones when brand new out of the package.