This is one of the cones from my 2012 road bike axle. How come the cone isn’t grinded down smoothly by the bearing balls like on a lathe?
by ikea2000
This is one of the cones from my 2012 road bike axle. How come the cone isn’t grinded down smoothly by the bearing balls like on a lathe?
by ikea2000
6 Comments
Dirt, grit, debris got in there. Maybe it was a bit loose, or too tight. May have even been a bad cone to begin with.
somebody over tightened the cups.. and it went downhill from there
A poorly adjusted or poorly lubricated cup and cone axle can hammer little dents into the races.
Ride it along that way long enough, and hammer those races long enough, and you get these dents.
Believe the term is called brinelling.
Anyway, those cones are done. The fix for this is to replace the cone. The ball bearings might be smooth. I had always double check them if I’m going to reuse them.
Then I make sure that the bearing set is properly adjusted and lubricated.
Dirt, misadjusted hub, lack of grease, bent axle. There are lots of causes. If it has never been adjusted or repacked since 2012 and has lots of miles, this is expected.
It could be a bunch of things. Improper maintenance (no grease, rust etc), dirt ingress, too high preload, bad quality, wrong application (sick 5 feet drops), or combinations.
This is common on shitty quality steel cones that just break from use and repeated stress in some months or less. No lubrication no dirt is at fault. Just ultra low quality.
Buy a pair of entry shimano wheels. Youll notice that after many rides the cones smooth out even without similar damage.