Gerry Hull

I just finished servicing some brand new Shimano wheels with cup and cone bearings (once I bought a wheelset and found that the bearings had virtually no grease in them so now i routinely disassemble and repack even new wheels just to be sure). For bearing preload I generally shoot for a sort of viscous slightly draggy feeling. Off the bike, they have no play, and you can generally hear the balls ticking a bit if you spin the axle back and forth. On the bike, with the skewers tightened, they still turn freely, with the just the barest hint of drag; sometimes the ticking sound disappears, sometimes it doesn't. Even with the skewers so tight that you can begin to feel the bearings rumble, the ticking is still perceptible.

My understanding, which may be incorrect, is that if the bearings are properly adjusted, the ticking is supposed to entirely disappear. Is this correct?
Gerry

TLCFORBIKES

You may want to back off on the cones being so tight -- just a very slight bit.

JanMM

I usually aim for just a hint of play before putting the wheel on the bike. Play should go away when the QR or nuts are tightened. I've never been tuned into hearing the bearings tick.

toddbiker

With cup and cone bearings, no play when QR is fully
closed and slight play when opened 45 degrees from closed.
I use the rim as the lever to do this check(lateral). Be patient because it may take many times to get it right.

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...and-adjustment

Gerry Hull

got it!

BCRider

I like to feel for the slight drag of a properley loaded bearing so I made up an extra thick small hole washer for the upper end and a threaded block for the other side. The block allows me to clamp the wheel in my bench vise and the thick washer to fully tighten a QR skewer so I can concentrate on only working the one cone without the axle moving. Once set I remove the wheel from the vise to spin the axle by hand and feel for the just barely noticable drag from the proper preload. I found that spinning the axle by hand was the only way to be sure that I got the preload just right. Turning the wheel at the rim has far too much inertia and leverage to feel this adjustment.

If your C&C bearings are still ticking once set correctly it suggests that the bearing pressure tracks on the cup and cone is not matched correctly. Or one of your cups or cones is out of round and is leaving a free spot for the balls to get squirted ahead. Think of the balls as being slimey pumkin seeds squeeze between your thumb and finger. When you push more on one side the seed "squirts" out towards the open area. In a ball bearing setup if one of the races is out of round or has some wear due to pressure or corrosion damage or has an out of round ball you can get this sort of stuff going on. And it would produce a ticking sound when each ball jumps ahead and hits the one in front of it. If a new wheel is doing this then set it as best as you can and go ride it. The balls will likely pressure form and wear the running tracks into perfection soon enough. But you will likely need to adjust them fairly soon since they will also become loose at the same time as they are pressure forming the cup or cone tracks a shade deeper. But after this seating in action they'll be stable for the rest of their lifespan. You can see these pressure formed and polished tracks in older wheels where the ball race tracks are very slightly deepened. And well cared for ones will have mirror like finishes where the balls ride compared to the rougher surroundings.

Gerry Hull

Thanks so much, this explains precisely what is going on.
I use the same set up procedure you do, using a skewer I can clamp down on the wheel by itself, si I can feel exactly how much preload their is when the QR is closed- a slight drag but no rumbling or binding.

Your explanation makes sense, especially since I working with strictly mid grade wheels here. The bearing surfaces are all brand new and flawless looking, they spin beautifully; ive just never been able to figure out where them spittn seeds was comin from. And its not like like its a loud ticking that i would hear when riding; in fact the noise is only detectable when Im in my soundproofed Tiagra-grade componentry Testing and Research Chamber.

Thanks bro, you made me laugh and understood what I was talking about. I'm just going to go ride the damn thing and I'm sure those new bearings will work their issues out without further intervention from me.
Gerry

echo

Awww...I see you have one of chambers to, though I was the only one!