Freewheel problem

[si_c]

This one had suffered a life of neglect and was rusted on and is now off to be recycled with the new one due this week!

I’ve just got to get the wheel bearings set right now so they spin freely but there isn’t too much play!

The trick is to get them right when out of the frame, and then back them off ever so slightly before tightening the cones up. This means that when you tighten the QR that the bearings won't bind at all. I find about a 1/4 turn is usually about right - depending on the hub that might work for you or not, just try it and see.

 

[Buck]

Cheers Si

New freewheel has arrived so I am going to have a go this weekend - night take a couple of goes i guess!

 

[Ajax Bay]

Fitting the freewheel will have no effect on the adjustment to the bearings. If it doesn't take at least "a couple of goes" you're either lucky, very skilled, or have set yourself a low 'smooth rolling' standard.

 

[Lovacott]

Fitting the freewheel will have no effect on the adjustment to the bearings. If it doesn't take at least "a couple of goes" you're either lucky, very skilled, or have set yourself a low 'smooth rolling' standard.

I've changed out rear bearings quite a few times and I've never once got it right first time.

When I change out bearings on a freewheel axle, I remove the locknut and cone from the non drive side and pull the axle out from the drive side. I then make sure that the cups (the innards of the hub) are spotless (no grit or dirt).

There is no need to do anything with the drive side nut and cone other than to make sure that they are locked up tight and that the cone isn't damaged. If the cone or whole axle needs to be replaced, I set up the drive side with exactly the same amount of spare stud protruding from back of the drive side locknut as on the original axle (I put the old and new axles side by side to check this).

It's then simply a case of putting the greased new bearing cage the right way around on the drive side and then sliding the whole lot back in.

Then I put on the non drive side bearing cage and tighten up the cone until there is zero play but no friction or bumpiness in the movement. I then hand tighten the locknut and check the movement again.

The next bit is the tricky bit. You have to hold the cone steady whilst you tighten the locknut against the cone so that the cone doesn't tighten by even a fraction of a turn (if it does, your bearings will be over tight). A decent cone spanner is a must for this job BTW.

As a guide, you should be able to rotate the axle between your thumb and forefinger with no effort and there should be no rough spots in the rotation.

I pop the wheel back on the bike, then I spin it and check for lateral play by trying to push the tyre from side to side. If it moves even a millimetre, I take the wheel off and try again.

Never be tempted to overtighten the bearings in the hope that they will wear in and run smooth. Wear will turn the grease into a grinding paste and shorten the life of your bearings.

I changed out my rear cup and cone axle six weeks ago and from memory, I reckon I had six attempts before I hit the "sweet spot".

I've clocked up over 700 miles since then and my rear wheel still runs like new.

It's worth the effort to get it right.

 

[rogerzilla]

I think it was a nutted hub, so the adjustment needs to be right when the wheel is out of the frame.

Fun fact: the spoke tension in a built wheel will put a lot of slack into most cup and cone, nutted hubs if the cones were perfectly adjusted before building the wheel. It's probably the hub shell being compressed by the lateral pull (which might be in the region of 250kgf) rather than the bearing cups being stretched radially. So you have to adjust the bearings again after tensioning the wheel.

 

[Lovacott]

Fun fact: the spoke tension in a built wheel will put a lot of slack into most cup and cone, nutted hubs if the cones were perfectly adjusted before building the wheel. It's probably the hub shell being compressed by the lateral pull (which might be in the region of 250kgf) rather than the bearing cups being stretched radially. So you have to adjust the bearings again after tensioning the wheel.

You've just made me very afraid to do anything at all to my bike. Cheers for that.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Where do you get 250kgf (2452N) of "lateral pull" from? The spoke tension is (say) 1000N but lateral component of that is (take a front wheel) is only about 123N. I guess you could multiply that force by 16 spokes (say) to get 2000N (lateral). With the same force (laterally) on the other flange that would give you a total compressive force of 4000N or ~400kgf. I wonder what the tension in a tight QR skewer is? Similar order of magnitude?