Is replacing cones that unusual?
 

I have an inexpensive Shimano Deore 26" M525 Disc/Sun Ringle Rhyno Lite Wheelset that I use on my winter bike. I serviced the hubs today and noticed that the cones were a little pitted, so I stopped by the LBS to pick up some new ones. They said that there are no replacement cones for the m525, but they could order some m475 cones that might work. I asked why there are no replacement cones for the m525, and they told me that nobody services those hubs. When they go bad, people just replace the whole wheel because the rim usually wears through before the cones go bad. They also told me that I am their only customer who services his own hubs. Does that whole thing seem a little odd to anyone else?

I've had pitted cones too. On one occasion, I was getting ready to dig through my parts bucket for a spare, when I noticed a crack in the hub.

If I understand how cone bearings work, they should be relatively forgiving of slight differences in the dimensions of the races, so I'd guess that if the new cone looks OK by eyeball, it will probably work in the wheel. This is something that could be harvested from a junked wheel if you ever come across one.

It would have been surprising 20-30 years ago in the USA, but we've moved from a fixit to a replace-it era. It's kind of ironic when the world is becoming focused on recycling and the environment, but that's the way it is.

Cone replacement used to be fairly common years ago because hubs used to see outlandish mileage, with maybe 3-4 or more rims laced on them over their service life. However, nowadays few people lace new rims onto hubs (people here on BF notwithstanding), especially lower tier hubs.

The other thing to consider is that most manufacturers, along with many dealers have gutted their service parts programs. It seems that service is just to inconvenient, and not a revenue generator.

I have M525s and they are good after about 8 years of casual use.

The way you tighten the skewers is important. Too tight or too loose can both ruin cones. The quick release skewer compresses the axle a little bit and moves the cones closer to each other.

On a quick release axle the cones are normally left a bit looser than to have firm contact with the bearing balls because proper tightening of the quick release will take away the clearance in the cones by compressing the axle. The cones should have a bit of preload with the quick release closed but too much will ruin the cones.

There should be several threads on cone adjustment and skewer adjustment. I have posted what I think to be the best method before. There's also parktool.com and sheldonbrown.com. Or, you could let the shop do it then follow their instructions on skewer adjustment carefully.

M525 hubs are about the most common MTB hubs on the planet. The rears use standard 1/4" balls, 10mm axles, and relatively standard cones. These hubs are also about as good as anyone needs, and if properly maintained, will provide a lifetime of reliable service.

Download the schematics for these hubs from the Shimano website. Buy the parts online. The cones will cost about $6 each. Get new balls while you're at it. Bags 100 front and 100 rear balls will cost about $10.

Or look at the back of your shop. They have a pile of wrecked MTB wheels (rim failures) from which the cones can be scavenged.

All of this is bike maintenance 101.

That's exactly why I thought it was weird that the guys at the shop apparently had no idea what I was talking about when I asked for some replacement cones for a very common hub. They told me that they have literally never had a customer ask for replacement cones before. They ordered the m475 cones for me. All four were twelve bucks, and I presume they will work. I have been known to re-use headset bearings, but never a hub bearing.

Maybe because it is your area? I had to go to several bike shops, but I was able to find cones for two Formula hubs. I got the impression it's pretty rare someone like me comes around looking for stuff like that though becasue it took a while for them to find matching cones.

Maybe the part is too cheap for you bike shop to want to bother?

Bikeman Shimano Alivio 105 Deore Right Rear Hub Cone
Bikeman Shimano STX,DEORE,Alivio Left Rear Hub Cone with Dust Cap

Very helpful. Thanks for tracking that down. Hopefully these are the same parts the shop ordered for me.

IF they ordered parts for a 475, they are different than a 525.

Go to the Wheels Manufacturing website.

Front CN-RO52
Rear CN-RO60 & CN-RO63

I see from the picture now that the 475 won't work. I can't find the CN-R052 on the Wheels Manufacturing website and I can't find any cones for the front hub on bikeman. Does nobody service the hubs because the parts are too hard to get or are the parts too hard to get because nobody services the hubs?

I'll tell you after you tell me which came first -- chicken or egg.

Well the dinosaur came before the chicken and they laid eggs .. :innocent:

Shimano/QBP numbers

Model # Drive QBP Non-Drive QBP
FH-M525 Y3AE03000 HU3818 & Y3AE98030 HU3266

HB-M525 Y21L98020 HU3146

That's awesome, Bill. Thank you so much for looking those up for me.
Looks like I won't have to get a new wheelset now. My wife will be so disappointed.:)

I took these part numbers to the shop today and they still couldn't track down the cones for the front hub after a half hour of searching. They are going to call Shimano for me tomorrow. I feel kind of bad wasting so much of their time trying to track down such an inexpensive part, but they have been super helpful.

I agree with most everything you said except this point. I don't think people were putting in any more mileage than they are today. Some may have been but the general population was using their bikes about as much as we use them today. The difference is in hub construction and design. Hubs from the 80s and early 90s had appalling sealing mechanisms. Most hubs had "dust seals" which had large enough gaps to let boulders into the hubs which ground up the cones. By the mid 90s, mountain bike people were clamoring for something better and manufacturers came up with better sealing methods. The lowest end Shimano hub today has better seals than the top end Shimano hub of 1994.

We live in a disposable society, the bicycle industry is particularly bad and downright wasteful.

I still have Campagnolo Record hubs from the 70s that run as smoothly as any modern sealed hub. And I go several years between overhauls.

Special case. Campagnolo used harder steels for their cones and closer tolerances. Their seals were about the same as others of the era, however...i.e. nonexistent.

That one's easy - because a non-chicken can lay an egg whose chromosomes have mutated sufficiently to create a chicken, the (chicken) egg came first. Your turn.

Cone replacement was easier back in the 70's because most cones were very simple - no labyrinth or other seals mounted on them, and there were only a few models by a few manufacturers on most bikes. Now Shimano alone has multiple hub styles and there are many more hub brands besides, plus the differences brought about by different sealing strategies and cassette hubs.

I have to disagree with your assessment of their seals as well. They were closely matched to the axle, and the dustcaps had an extended flange creating a long, narrow channel to inhibit debris penetration. And you could add oil through the oil port to flush debris out of the channel on a regular basis. The pedals and bottom brackets had rifling that was designed to move debris out with normal pedaling action. All in all, they were quite well designed and have held up better than cheap cartridge bearings in my experience.

You paid the price for that simplicity, however. And the price was more cone replacement. The labyrinth seals of modern cup and cone hubs makes replacing the cones far less common because they don't get contaminated. I'd much rather have the labyrinth seals.

No doubt they were a better design but they still didn't seal like new hubs do.

We aren't, by the way, talking about cartridge bearing hubs here. I've never found a hub with a cartridge bearing to be "cheap", until, maybe, recently. They have always been at the high end of the price spectrum in my experience. A Phil Wood FSC hub rivals just about anything in terms of price and durability that Campy ever made.