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]

Originally posted by 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

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 Ca]

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?

 

[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?

 

[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:<20040524090349.11461.00002019@mb-
> m18.aol.com>...
> > 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]

Originally posted by 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?

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:<20040524090349.11461.00002019@mb-
> m18.aol.com>...
>
>>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 Ca]

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"