Adjusting Rear Hub Cones

[Trevelyan]

The cones on the rear hub of my MTB wheel have loosened off and need adjustment but I'm scratching my head a bit with the whole process. Each side of the axle has the cone, then a spacer, followed by a lock nut which then gets clamped against the frame dropouts by the quick release. Presumably the process is to adjust the cones correctly, then clamp everything up with the lock nuts to keep the correct adjustment?

The problem I've got is that the cones each side are hidden behind the lock rings for the cassette and brake disc and there's no way of getting a cone spanner onto them. The only way I can see of doing it is to remove the brake disc lock ring and the disc itself, which requires one of the lock nuts and spacers to be taken off the spindle completely to allow the cassette tool to slide down the axle far enough to engage. The problem I'm then left with is that after adjusting the cone I can't replace the spacer and lock nut again or it's impossible to refit the brake disc! Trying to do the lock nut afterwards doesn't work as the cone just moves out of adjustment again without the cone spanner to hold it.

At the moment I've had to settle for doing the lock rings up finger tight and I'm relying on the quick release to keep everything in place but surely this can't be right? Am I missing something?

[shalmaneser]

You're bang on.

Need to remove either the disc or the cassette to get at the cone and lock ring.

You may well need thin cone spanners as well, normal spanners won't fit on the cone's spanner flats.

[Trevelyan]

OK, but how can I then refit the disc? The cassette tool is too short to engage with the lock ring once the spacer and lock nut are back in place on the axle.

[Flippin' Kipper]

Also you want to leave a little bit of play in the hub when off the bike, otherwise when the QR is done up it will cause the hub to bind.

[Trevelyan]

Flippin' Kipper said:

Also you want to leave a little bit of play in the hub when off the bike, otherwise when the QR is done up it will cause the hub to bind.

This is one of the problems. I want to be able to crank the lock nut up tight to keep the cone position fixed sot that the QR pulls everything up correctly. With things being finger tight as they are currently I risk the cones moving out of adjustment every time I release the QR. Putting the wheel back in last night involved about five attempts of adjusting the cone and lock nut with my fingers then doing up the QR until things seemed about right.

Something I'm now wondering - are all cassette tools the same length? If I could get a longer one it may solve the problem, allowing the tool to engage with the lock ring with the spacer and cone lock nut still in place.

[mdavids]

You shouldn't need to remove the brake disk, just the cassette, and hopefully you'll only need to remove this once.

You should be able to completely remove the cone/bearing/lock nut/washer assembly on the brake side - remove all of these paying attention to the order they come off. Its probably a good idea to take out the bearings in case they drop out and get lost.

Take off the cassette and you should now be able to slide the axle out completely allowing you to get to the cone/lock nut assembly on the drive side.

Tighten the cone against the lock nut i.e. hold the lock nut in place with a spanner then loosen the cone so it actually tightens against the nut. REALLY tighten it.

Put the axle back in then reassemble the brake side cone/bearing/lock nut/washer. Theres a little bit of trial and error involved trying to find the right amount of slack to leave so as not to make it too tight when you do up the QR. Cone spanners really help for this part,in fact you might not be able to do it without. If you do it right you should only ever have to adjust the brake side, avoiding the need to remove the cassette every time.

Hope this helps

[frontbum]

Trevelyan said:

OK, but how can I then refit the disc? The cassette tool is too short to engage with the lock ring once the spacer and lock nut are back in place on the axle.

You need a cassette tool which fits over it. PITA.

[shalmaneser]

frontbum said:

You need a cassette tool which fits over it. PITA.

+1