I was cleaning my bike today and I unscrewed the cone, attempting to clean it. I finished cleaning the rest of my bike then I re-attached my wheel and put on the chain. I tried pedaling but the wheel won't move. I think the the hub or axle isn't turning. What's wrong?

Edit: I have a flip flop hub

Check your brakes and wheel alignment. Also the hub may be too tight. Try loosening that and give it a try. The brakes might be engaged because the wheel is misaligned. Put the bike upside down and drop the wheel in, that way you know it's aligned right.

Josh

I don't have any rear brakes, so that's not an issue. When I loosen my hub, my wheel becomes really wobbly. I have a flip-flop hub if that helps clarify anything. My hub was also tighter when I unscrewed it the first time

Try tightening it very lightly then stop when it starts to not turn unless you use force. I don't own any bike with flip flop hubs so I don't know for sure.

Josh

It spins fluidly for a little bit then tightens and stops. I can't seem to figure out what's wrong

That sounds like the locknuts for the wheel bearings might be loose... What model is the hub?

I don't know, but I can take a picture for you if it will help

That would help, if the hub has cup-and-cone bearings, this may be the problem, but if they're cartridge bearings (sometimes wrongly called "sealed bearings") it's not likely. Someone might be able to tell from a picture which one it is.

I've uploaded them here:
https://imgur.com/a/2L1Yl

Yeah, your bearing cone has unscrewed itself, and you have a cup-and-cone bearing. The reason I asked for pictures is that I've seen a number of BMX hubs with cartridge bearings that also have a spacer on the axle that gets referred to as the "cone" by the BMXers who bring their bikes to my co-op, and I wasn't sure if you had one of those, or how widespread calling that nut a cone was.

You'll need a cone spanner the right size for your cone to hold the cone in adjustment while you tighten the locknut onto it. Just google "adjusting bicycle wheel bearings" or something.

Did you readjust the bearings when putting the cone back? did you use cone wrenches(required for hub adjust) to make sure the cone and locknuts were locked in place?

Fron the symptoms of spinnging freely then becoming tight; it sounds like you left the cone lose and it's moving around.
Cone Wrenches -if you havent even heard of them, then you need to get to an LBS now and have them fix this.

Thanks guys, with all your suggestions I fixed it! I used this guide to readjust my bearings: https://www.livestrong.com/article/34...heel-bearings/

This is a little off topic but can't a regular 12mm (or whatever size have you) crescent wrench do? I've always used a proper sized crescent and its worked fine.

Josh

If it worked it's a very lucky day for you. Those are some of the worst instructions I have seen. Parktool.com/blog or Sheldonbrown.com are generally recognized as the best sites for repair instruction.

Then you also are lucky, or are the owner of some poorly worn bearings. Yes, cone wrenches are necessary to make sure bearings stay in adjustment.