Do Cones come loose natrually ?

[HLaB]

Hi this is just a quicky to hopefully satisfy my curiosity. I serviced my front wheel a few months back and later noticed some play in the axle, I tightened the cones and all seems to be fine but I was wondering if this will be a reoccurring theme or did I just not do it right before

 

[PpPete]

Getting the cones right is one thing - getting the locknuts really tight without moving the cones in the process is quite another.

That said I had one wheel that I changed from Q/R to solid axle and whatever I did, it just loosened itself automagically. Changed it back and problem went away

 

[snailracer]

Hi this is just a quicky to hopefully satisfy my curiosity. I serviced my front wheel a few months back and later noticed some play in the axle, I tightened the cones and all seems to be fine but I was wondering if this will be a reoccurring theme or did I just not do it right before

New cones quickly wear a groove, which loosens them up a smidge after they wear in. Thereafter, wear is much slower.

Also, when examined out of the dropouts, bearings on a properly adjusted quick-release wheel should have a tiny amount of free play to compensate for the additional compression of the axle when the skewer is tightened. A nutted axle is different and the bearings do not tighten when the wheel is installed.

 

[fossyant]

If you've worn a groove then it's game over. You are unlikely to have a smooth surface if that's happened. The cone will get marked, but there shouldn't be a groove. New cones and bearings time.

Lock nuts need to be done tight. I ensure the drive shid cones and lock nuts are very tight, and only ever undo the non drive side for maintenance, making nipping up tight relatively easy.

 

[tyred]

For normal nutted axles, I will lock one side to the fork/drop out with the axle nut and then fine tune the adjustment from the other side. This means the axle can't turn and makes adjustment easier.

 

[Globalti]

Wish I'd known to do that for the thirty odd years of my life I struggled to get cones adjusted right....

 

[Maz]

when you tighten the cones, do you keep the driveside (the cassette side) still whilst tightening the non-drive side?

 

[Zoiders]

Cones wear which means simply loosing material from the bearing surface so they are going to become loose on their own, they can't tighten them selves to compensate for that.

It's also possible not to tighten them properly.

The other option is this - the cone and the lock nut have been over tightened upon each other, the thread becomes "baggy" and they tend to unwind on their own, some cheaper bolted hubs also have a tendency to do this through simply bolting the wheel up.

 

[accountantpete]

Cones and lock nuts are kept in place by simultaneously tightening the locknut and unscrewing the cone so that they grip against each other.

I fix one side in this way.

Then I slightly over-tighten the cone on the other side so that when the above procedure is performed the unscrewing of the cone brings it into the desired position.

It takes some practise though!

 

[gbb]

For normal nutted axles, I will lock one side to the fork/drop out with the axle nut and then fine tune the adjustment from the other side. This means the axle can't turn and makes adjustment easier.

I used to turn my wheel on its side and lock the drive side nut in a vice to achieve the same...but after what seems like centuries of fettling bikes...i eventually realised tyred's way is the easiest.

Wish I'd known to do that for the thirty odd years of my life I struggled to get cones adjusted right....

As above

Cones wear which means simply loosing material from the bearing surface so they are going to become loose on their own, they can't tighten them selves to compensate for that.

It's also possible not to tighten them properly.

The other option is this - the cone and the lock nut have been over tightened upon each other, the thread becomes "baggy" and they tend to unwind on their own, some cheaper bolted hubs also have a tendency to do this through simply bolting the wheel up.

I was also going to to say perhaps the threads have become damaged, pretty much as Zoiders says. Ive had the same HLaB, adjust, only to find its gone again some time after...it was a damaged thread in my case. You don't notice it at first...