I just bought a new pair of wheels with shimano 105 hubs. The front adjusted out beautifully. The rear not so much. I've adjusted countless hubs but I can't get this right. Currently it feels tight. The freehub side has zero play; the left hand side has some play in it. When I mount the wheel in the drop outs and clamp down on the QR skewer, the wheel has some play so the adjustment isn't right.

The wheel is brand new. The axle is not broken. What gives?

I think I'm going to have to return the wheel to the shop as the hub must be, I think, defective.

Shimano freehubs are modular with the freehub attached to the shell, and the entire assembly floated on cup/cone bearings at either end.

see schematic / exploded view

So I can't understand how one end can be correctly adjusted, and the other side not.

Odds are the hub is fine, and you just need to correctly adjust the bearing (adjust cones) from the left.

Yeah I took a look at that schematic a few days ago as well. I sure as heck don't understand this either. I've been adjusting cup and cone hubs for a long time and never had an issue getting an acceptable if not a very good adjustment (as long as the cup and cones were smooth).



So yeah, this makes zero sense to me. I've tried more than a few times to adjust it from the left side (which is the only way to get at it since the free hub makes it virtually impossible to get at the flats on the right side).

Honestly I can't figure out how one side is tight and the other loose.

The right side may be fooling you. There's limited clearance between the axle and freehub nut, so even when loose, there's little wobble on the right side.

Forget the right, adjust from the left, as you would any other hub.

If you still can't get it, pay someone to do it for you.

Yeah, I'll give it another shot or two. Some tunes and a beer or two wouldn't hurt either.

But seriously, the hub is a bit too loose right now (there is play when you clamp down on the QR) but the adjustment is clearly too tight when you rotate the axle. I know what a correctly adjusted hub feels like this and this is wrong.

I'm still thinking this could be defective in some fashion. Maybe this is a bad hub that wasn't made to the right tolerances.

Is this a new hub or one that's been serviced? Is it possible you're confusing seal drag with tight bearings? If it's brand new, why are you adjusting it in the first place?

The hub is brand new. Yeah, the tightness is not hub tightness; I know what that feels like so maybe it's just the drag from the seal. Still that is a heck of a lot of drag. It is literally hard to turn by hand. The axle should turn freely but it turns badly for a new hub.

I always adjust new hubs. Although maybe not after this time, .

I can't understand how you determined there is play on one side but not the other.

Check the seals to make sure they are properly seated...

That makes sense. There has to be something that is pushing the axle askew.

When I grab the right hand or drive side cone and move the axle up and down, there is zero play; it is as tight as a drum.

When I do the same on the left side, there is play.

This is when the wheel is off the bike.

On the bike, I clamp the wheel down good and there is considerable play.

I'm thinking there is some sort of misalignment here.

Did you disassemble the axle/cones or only adjusted them?

I disassembled it after the problem popped up. The problem appears to be some sort of misalignment.

Check to make sure the ball bearings are all in place? New grease? I find new hubs sometimes are lacking in grease. Is the axle length correct for your drop out? Is the hub centered on the axle? Correct spacers ,washers on each side?

I have a set of cheap MTB wheels with Deore hubs; the seals create considerable drag when I turn the axle by hand. When removed, they spin fine.

Anyway, that play on one side sounds like something not seating properly. I've never experienced it, though. The problem can be described over & over here, but I think it's time to take it to a shop for an opinion so someone else can see and/or feel the problem.

Meh, the shops around me aren't any better (actually, they're a lot worse) at adjusting hubs than I am.

I suspect that the play on one side but not the other is a bit of a red herring here and that the real problem is that the hub is too loose (hence, play).

If the OP isn't using one already, I suggest getting an axle vice. Others may disagree, but I've come to believe that an axle vice is pretty much mandatory when adjusting rear hubs because it's the only way I know to keep the axle from turning as I tighten down the locknut against the cone.

For those suspecting the seals are creating drag, these are 105 hubs, which don't have the aggressive seals of MTB. From personal experience, those babies should run very smoothly once adjusted correctly.

Mike

I asked because there was the possibility of having put 1 ball bearing more on one side, but if the problem was already present this won't apply.

+1, this is just a guess, but your difficulties might be caused by a missing or an extra ball bearing. I think it would definitely be worthwhile to check.

I’ve had to adjust the wheel bearings of every new wheelset as well as on every new bike, as they’re typically overly tight. Many others are poorly greased and some are nearly grease-free or have debris in the grease, so being new doesn’t exclude them from being adjusted or even disassembled, re-greased, then properly adjusted.

I must deal with better quality hubs. Many feel slightly tight when new and there's a temptation to adjust. But when I do, I find them to be loose after break in. OTOH, if I leave them alone, they break in nicely.

In any case, I asked because the OP was having problems that usually happen after a user rebuild (displaced seal, extra or displaced ball, etc.) so I felt I'd gone as far as I could based on the info provided so far.

Had the OP found the hub tight and just slightly loosened it, then he wouldn't suffer the range of issues one might after a rebuild.