I noticed my hub wasn't so smooth, so I opened the hub. Not much grit inside, but not that much grease either (first time opening it, the grease was still from the factory.
I'll put the cone back (with new grease and new bearings) for now, because I'm leaving on a trip tomorrow, but should I replace the cone asap?
by PaulChomedey
7 Comments
I wouldn’t cancel the trip, but the new balls will wear out fast.
Plan on replacing both when you get back.
yes, replace the cone.
You could probably ride for a while with that. If its an expensive hub I would get a new cone otherwise not really.
If it’s pitted at all, it’s time to replace it if possible.
Don’t have an answer but I’m pretty sure I have the exact same couch
I wouldn’t bother. File a little notch that identifies the center of that patch. You can then always clamp the axle in the dropout so that part is facing up so doesn’t see load. The fact that it feels rough with that small amount of pitting suggests that the hub was probably run too tight also. The extra compression on hub bearings provided by tightening the skewer is a real thing. Leave just a smidgeon of play, check that the skewer removes it when clamped fully in the frame/fork.
If you Google it, there are some great techniques for polishing/machining out the surface. If finding new/new old stock cones proves difficult, you can provably restore the ones you have. I overhauled a hub in similar condition last weekend and went to my local coop to source new cones. Turns out my hub was in better condition than all the ones they had. Ended up donating it and buying a mavic kyrskium sl for $60… which is neither here nor there.
Anyway, pack it back up and send it expecting to burn through bearings fairly quickly. But you can def ride it for a bit. Find cones if you can. Worst case, machine out your current cones and don’t worry about it too much.
As you may already know, wheels mfg makes cones for most hubs and the fit doesn’t need to be exactly perfect to make do.