I installed my first Hyperglide cassette. Shimano specs say torque it to 30-50 Newton meters. Did so, but it was too much pre-load; the hub had an irregularly lumpy rotation. So I backed it off. With just a a few clicks over finger-tight, a tiny bit of lumpy bearing feel occurs. Back off two more clicks, and the cassette rotates smoothly -- but has a little wobble.

Advice, please. "A few clicks over finger tight" is nowhere near 30-50 NM. I am concerned the cassette / freewheel will be too loose under riding conditions.

Note: I was surprised at how non-tight the old cassette was when I removed it prior to installing new parts. It wasn't torqued, either. Just a bit over finger tight.

Are the hub bearings bad? The bike is a 2003 Felt F65 and has some miles on it.

Thank you in advance for all guidance!

If shimano specs it between 30-50nm,
did you have it set at 30 or 50, or 40?
I usually tighten my SRAM/Shimano
cassettes at 40nm.

I don't have a nice click-type wrench, just one with a long needle dial. The clicks came from the mating surfaces on the cassette.

The cassette lockring tightness has nothing to do the with the hub bearings. Try readjusting the bearings.

^ This.

The clicking is normal when the locknut is reaching the specified range.
In my video, if you turn the volume up you can hear this noise at the 8:08 mark.

Ok. I'll try readjusting the bearings. They felt fine before installation.

The hyperglide cassette lockring only holds the cassette against the freehub body at the ends of the splines. It should not effect the smoothness of the hub bearings, unless you tightened it so much that you distorted the freehub body.

You should remove the cassette from the freehub and then properly adjust the hub.

First adjust the axle so no motion is felt perpendicular to the long axis of the axle and it still turns smoothly. Rotate the axle slightly and check axle adjustment and continue to check in several rotational angles. Ensure that the locknuts are snugged tightly against the cones (assuming ball bearings with cup and cone hubs) and re-check your adjustment. If you cannot adjust the bearings properly, it is time to tear the hub down and replace worn-out components. Always replace the bearings.

Now try installing the cassette. Tighten cassette lockring fairly tight, certainly more than finger tight, I usually use a long handle (14") adjustable wrench and torque pretty tight.

Also, almost all freewheels/freehubs oscillate or move slightly in operation. I remember hearing somewhere that this was intentional, but I cannot recall why...

Good luck.

I hope I didn't do this, but wouldn't be surprised if I did. Bonehead.

Thanks for the specific advice, OTC. I won't be able to post until tomorrow night, but we'll see what I can do in the meantime.