Adjust NOS Hub bearings or not before use?

[Pureheart]

Hi Folks.
Just picked up a beautiful SunTour Radius hub from ebay (wanted the 36
spokes it offered as I'm one of the Clydesdales).

It has arrived and is a thing of beauty. It is definitely new old stock,
never used. When twirling the axle just for fun, I note that it is quite
stiff and 'notchy' in its operation. Were this a bearing repack I'd done
I'd immediately back off on the adjustment before putting it back into
service.

My question: Is it supposed to be this way from the factory and will quickly
wear in, or should I back off and then keep an eye on it for 'slop' for the
first 100 miles?

pH

 

[Arthur Harris]

"Pureheart" wrote:
> Just picked up a beautiful SunTour Radius hub from ebay
>
> It is definitely new old stock,
> never used. When twirling the axle just for fun, I note that it is quite
> stiff and 'notchy' in its operation.

Most new hubs don't even come with enough grease. You should definitely
re-adjust these hubs, and also add grease to both sides as needed.

Art Harris

 

[daveornee]

Pureheart wrote:
> Hi Folks. Just picked up a beautiful SunTour Radius hub from ebay
> (wanted the 36 spokes it offered as I'm one of the Clydesdales).
> It has arrived and is a thing of beauty. It is definitely new old
> stock, never used. When twirling the axle just for fun, I note that it
> is quite stiff and 'notchy' in its operation. Were this a bearing
> repack I'd done I'd immediately back off on the adjustment before
> putting it back into service.
> My question: Is it supposed to be this way from the factory and will
> quickly wear in, or should I back off and then keep an eye on it for
> 'slop' for the first 100 miles?
> pH



I agree with Arthur Harris. There is also a way to prepare for the
additional side load from the QR skwer. Sheldon Brown's site has
an article:

<http://sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html>

Grease does dry up and it is a good idea to flush out the old stuff if
it has been in there for more than a few years... unless it was in a
nearly air tight hub. It certainly pays to open up and take a look.

There are some beautifully well made NOS 36 hole hubs out there. You are
on the right track to making a more durable wheel with only ~30 grams
more mass than the most "popular" 32 spoke wheel.

If you haven't already done so, I strongly suggest reading "the Bicycle
Wheel"by Jobst Brandt.



--

 

[Nate Knutson]

phtp@pureheart (Pureheart) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> My question: Is it supposed to be this way from the factory and will quickly
> wear in, or should I back off and then keep an eye on it for 'slop' for the
> first 100 miles?
>
> pH

Most hubs come from the factory overtight and should be at least
adjusted before being used. They also often come with only a bare
minimum of grease. With a new hub I just open up the hub until I can
fill it up some with a grease gun, then re-adjust it. Because grease
ages, with NOS hubs the safest route is to clean all the old grease
off and put in fresh grease, although some people will tell you this
is unnecessary, and how much difference it makes probably depends
greatly on the quality and quantity of the original grease. (Although
the hubs that came with plenty of higher-quality grease are probably
the ones you want to put more effort into preserving anyway.)

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

phtp-<< I note that it is quite
stiff and 'notchy' in its operation. Were this a bearing repack I'd done
I'd immediately back off on the adjustment before putting it back into
service.

My question: Is it supposed to be this way from the factory and will quickly
wear in, or should I back off and then keep an eye on it for 'slop' for the
first 100 miles? >><BR><BR>

You will find that after building the wheel to tension, the adjustment of the
hub will loosen a bit but ALL new to you hubs should be opened, grease added
and adjusted. If an older hub, overhaul with new bearing balls.


Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Adam Rush]

> > My question: Is it supposed to be this way from the factory and will quickly
> > wear in, or should I back off and then keep an eye on it for 'slop' for the
> > first 100 miles?
> Most hubs come from the factory overtight and should be at least
> adjusted before being used. They also often come with only a bare
> minimum of grease.

Why do cones come to the shop so tight, anyway?

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

adam-<< Why do cones come to the shop so tight, anyway? >><BR><BR>

They are just slapped together by somebody. It would take too much time($$) to
adjust every one.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Pureheart]

In article <[email protected]>,
Qui si parla Campagnolo <[email protected]> wrote:
>adam-<< Why do cones come to the shop so tight, anyway? >><BR><BR>
>
>They are just slapped together by somebody. It would take too much time($$) to
>adjust every one.
>
>Peter Chisholm
>Vecchio's Bicicletteria
>1833 Pearl St.
>Boulder, CO, 80302
>(303)440-3535
>http://www.vecchios.com
>"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"


Okay, thank-you for all the great information! I'm definitely glad I asked
as it *never* occurred to me that a new hub would be anything but absolutely
overflowing w/ grease....ESPECIALLy good old SunTour!

I'll have a look-see when I start the build.

pH

 

[Adam Rush]

[email protected] (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> adam-<< Why do cones come to the shop so tight, anyway? >><BR><BR>
>
> They are just slapped together by somebody. It would take too much time($$) to
> adjust every one.

If that was the whole story, then why don't they come to the shop too
loose on occation?

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

adam-<< If that was the whole story, then why don't they come to the shop too
loose on occation? >><BR><BR>

They do..many hubs druing their wheel build require tightening.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

 

[Mark]

Hi Adam, I would gather the reason for this would be that with a
loosely assembled hub, the factory built bike/wheel would seem as if
it was "Falling apart".

Factory probably squirts an eyedropper of grease each side, cinches
them up quickly, installs the quick release skewer, and,
badabing-badabang-badaboom, on they go. Or sure, they turn, but just
barely.

With the weight of the wheel, bike, and rider, everything seems to be
just fine, until you finally dismount a wheel from the frame, and then
inspect for proper bearing/cone adjustment. Then you most likely find
they were horribly tight, and virtually no grease inside.

This was exactly how my new Bianchi was with Veloce Hubs. Good thing
I quickly decided before many miles, or any damage was done on the
hubs to go over everything myself to regrease/rebuild both hubs, and
achieve proper hub adjustment.

The addition of good high quality grease, and proper adjustment made a
remarkable difference with the reduction of rolling resistance, When
first riding this Bianchi, it actually felt like there was a brake
applied/dragging! Mark


[email protected] (Adam Rush) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> [email protected] (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > adam-<< Why do cones come to the shop so tight, anyway? >><BR><BR>
> >
> > They are just slapped together by somebody. It would take too much time($$) to
> > adjust every one.
>
> If that was the whole story, then why don't they come to the shop too
> loose on occation?

 

[daveornee]

Adam Rush wrote:
> [email protected] (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) wrote in message news:<20040524090349.11461.00002019@mb-
> m18.aol.com>...
> > adam-<< Why do cones come to the shop so tight, anyway?
> > >>
> >
> > They are just slapped together by somebody. It would take too much
> > time($$) to adjust every one.
> If that was the whole story, then why don't they come to the shop too
> loose on occation?



Sometimes they do come loose... on a rare occation. Peter is also
correct that they often loosen a bit after the spokes have been
properly tensioned. It is also much easier to tell the whole story when
the wheel is built... including proper tesnioning... and then mounted
with proper QR load.

As an example of a hub on the loose side, I have a very high quality
2004 hub of the "S" company that is loose after building and properly
tensioning the spokes. Chris King is a quality manufacturer that states
the requirement to adjust after the build. "S" company spends their
instruction sheet space covering themselves on the proper use of the QR.
The "excuse" for minimal lubrication that I have heard from a
representative of the "S" company has to do with the amount used to make
the hub operate with as little as possible bearing mechanism friction.



--

 

[A Muzi]

Adam Rush wrote:

> [email protected] (Qui si parla Campagnolo ) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
>
>>adam-<< Why do cones come to the shop so tight, anyway? >><BR><BR>
>>
>>They are just slapped together by somebody. It would take too much time($$) to
>>adjust every one.
>
>
> If that was the whole story, then why don't they come to the shop too
> loose on occation?

The machinery spins the part in until it stops. Hard.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[Qui si parla Campagnolo]

daveo-<< The "excuse" for minimal lubrication that I have heard from a
representative of the "S" company has to do with the amount used to make
the hub operate with as little as possible bearing mechanism friction.
>><BR><BR>

Really, they don't seem to worry about their sluggish, lots of seal friction,
BBs...particularly the new 'flying squirrel' DA and soon ultegra.

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"