khatfull

Getting cones adjusted just right was always an issue for me. Recently though I've been doing it this way:

- Get the hub, cones, spacers, locknuts all in place.
- Adjust the axle to get the same amount of protrusion on each side.
- Just very slightly lock the cones against the bearing balls.
- Set the locknuts and any other nut in between the cone and locknut.
- With a cone wrench on each cone back the cones off until the desired amount of tension is acheived.

I had always tried to set the cones where I wanted them THEN set the locknuts, which always seemed to mess up the cone setting. Doing it this way I can really dial in where the cones are and the amount of pressure on the bearing balls.

Anyone else have a different trick?

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I use two cone wrenches. hold the cone with one, tighten the locknut with the other.

MrEss

+2 the Sheldon method you describe is awesome.

khatfull

That's what I did too but sometimes the axle will move a tad until everything gets cinched up real good...at least for me anyway. When that happens then something else somewhere changes. That's why I started locking the cones inboard, getting everything else tight, then backing the cones off. It only takes between 1/8 and 1/16 of a turn to loosen them nicely. And, because there's always tension there you can move teeny amounts to really dial it in.

khatfull

OMG, I had never come across that article over at Sheldon's site: https://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/hubs.html

I just got tired of it taking so long to do and this is what I came up with. I came up with a Sheldon method on my own?! Oh my...I'm shaking my head here.

miamijim

I tighten the locknuts and cones tight on each side then I use 2 cone wrenches on the cones to achieve the desired amount of play. Easy. Quick.

wrk101

Get an axle vise. Its the key to making the job easy.

I use this type (Park AV-1). I also have their fancier vise, but this one is what I use 99% of the time. I got tired of the axle moving:

https://cgi.ebay.com/PARK-BIKE-BICYCL...item588ec5976d

southpawboston

+1 on the axle vise. Makes cone adjustment much easier.

+1 to using two cone wrenches, one on the cone and the other on the locknut.

Cone adjustment is something of a black art. You can't ever got proper cone adjustment before and after tightening the locknut. If the adjustment is perfect prior to tightening the locknut, then after tightening, the adjustment will be way too tight. You have to determine by trial and error how loose the cones should be before tightening the lock nut such that after tightening, the tension on the bearings is just right. And if your wheel uses a QR skewer, that adds another layer of complication.

If you're not systematically fine-tuning the adjustment by repeatedly tightening and untightening the locknut to make fine adjustments to the cone, you're either *extremely* good or you're not doing it right.

khatfull

The way I described doing it takes this process out of the equation. You know that the difference in OLD between everything being perfect and just loose or just tight has to be FRACTIONS of a mm. That's why I set the locknuts now, after centering the axle, and then move the cones out. It rarely takes more than 1/8 turn, and usually much less, to get the cones right. You're only moving the cones out a fraction which, in the end, only makes the locknuts and everything outboard just a little tighter. That's a good thing too IMHO.

southpawboston

Okay, I think I know what you're describing. Essentially, the problem of thread lateral free-play and its effect on cone adjustment is eliminated by slightly tightening the locknuts first, but not tight enough that you can't back the cones off. Essentially the locknut and cone can turn in unison on the axle. Then when the cones are backed off enough, you can tighten the locknuts down tight without changing the adjustment. Gotcha. I like it.

RavingManiac

If I'm following you correctly, I use that method on headsets too. Get it snug then back the cup off against the locknut for final tightening.

3speed

I never saw Sheldon's page either(I really have to read up on that site more. I'm sure there's a lot I haven't figured out on my own.), but I do exactly what you just described, Khatfull. Just tighten the cone to the bearings, tighten the locknut finger tight against the cone, then back the cone off until proper adjustment. I often then hold my cone wrench tight and tighten the locknut against it a little more to make sure everything is nice and tight and not going anywhere. Definitely the only way to do it.

khatfull

All this talk about cones and wrenches....I have 2 x 13mm, 2 x 15mm, 2 x 17mm. Dang I need the even sizes!

nlerner

I use a regular vise and hold the wheel by the flats of the locknut. I tighten one side at a time to make sure cone and locknut are secure and that there's no play (and I use a cone wrench for the cone and a small adjustable wrench for the locknut). Flip the wheel, and do the other side. Then, I pull the wheel out and spin it to see if the cones are too tight (or too loose though it's usually the former). Then, I put the wheel back in the vise, one side held by its locknut and I use cone wrench and adjustable wrench to loosen the cone. I only adjust on one side (and have previously made sure that the axle is reasonably centered).

Neal

sailorbenjamin

I sometimes get side A where I want it and lock the nut. Then I grab it with vise grips (not too tight, I'd use a wrench but it'd fall off). Then I do side B while keeping the axle from rotating with the Vise Grip.
Then I do it over cause it ain't quite right the first time.
Then I usually do it once or twice more just to be sure.

Old Fat Guy

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

Charles Wahl

I don't mount the wheel outside the dropouts, but procedure is similar to that suggested by Park: in my opinion there's no way to adjust (hollow axle) wheel bearings properly in the absence of a QR in the tightened/loosened positions. I tighten the right side cone + locknut fully first, then work on left side cone/locknut adjustment. Trial-and-error: must feel some play in the axle when QR is opened about 45 deg, and just none when it's fully tightened. Sometimes I cheat by loosening or tightening the QR (rotating its shaft) a teeny bit to get it just right.