Cones coming loose

[Hawk]

I'm now familiar with cone and cup adjustment.

However, my cones seem to be coming loose every 70-100 miles (more than once a week) which costs me a fair bit of maintenance time.

Anybody kind enough to share any tips about how to stop them coming apart so easily?

Cheers

 

[mr Mag00]

threadlock and tension on the locking nut

 

[Hawk]

"tension" being

threadlock and tension on the locking nut

Thanks, googled threadlock. Never knew such a thing existed.

"Tension" being ensure I am tightening them properly?

 

[mr Mag00]

do you have cone spanners?
holding the cone you should be able to tighten the locking nut tight to the cone

 

[mr Mag00]

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/
is your friend

 

[Hawk]

Yes, I have them. I do tighten them about as hard as I can push them apart with my hands, as recommended by LBS.

Torque wrench time? 20Nm?

 

[accountantpete]

To lock the cones requires a little bit of skill.

The locknut is tightened right up up to the cone, then you get a cone spanner on both the lock nut and cone.

You can then lock them in position by simultaneously tightening the locknut and unscrewing the cone into the lock nut.

Give it a try - to achieve a solid lock requires quite a bit of force.

The skill is that you have undone the cone slightly in doing all this and the axle will be slightly loose. So you need to compensate by overtightening the cone in the first place.

Have a go - it does require a bit of practice to master the art though.

 

[Manonabike]

To lock the cones requires a little bit of skill.

The locknut is tightened right up up to the cone, then you get a cone spanner on both the lock nut and cone.

You can then lock them in position by simultaneously tightening the locknut and unscrewing the cone into the lock nut.

Give it a try - to achieve a solid lock requires quite a bit of force.

The skill is that you have undone the cone slightly in doing all this and the axle will be slightly loose. So you need to compensate by overtightening the cone in the first place.

Have a go - it does require a bit of practice to master the art though.

Yeap that is the way I do it too..... I would also add that you must allow a little bit for the QR skewer if you use one, otherwise you might end up with a cone to tight

 

[Hawk]

Yup, I use my 17mm spanner on my locknut and my 15mm cone wrench to counterrotate the two and lock them together.

Any chance of breaking anything if I put all my weight on it?

 

[Manonabike]

I don't think that is necessary though.

Cone's wrench are very thin and if you don't have a good one then you might damage the cone using too much force.

 

[Globalti]

Not easy to damage the cones, they are a very hard steel.

 

[tyred]

If you have non-quick release wheels, the easiest way is to tighten the axle nut on one side to lock that side to the drop out and then make adjustments on the other side.

 

[Hawk]

Yeah, it's QR wheels.

Got some thread locker through today so will give that a go

 

[actonblue]

You should be able to adjust the cones without having to resort to using thread lock.
Have you checked that the cup and cone are not damaged or worn? if they are this will prevent you from making proper adjustment.

 

[Cubist]

Don't bother with thread lock. The whole thing will be greasy as hell and the threadlock won't cure.