How do they work? A cup and cone hub makes use of loose ball bearings and allows you to easily adjust bearing tension, unlike most sealed bearing hubs that don't allow for any adjustment. They consist of the "cup" that acts as the bearing's outer race, which is pressed into the hub shell and not replaceable, and the "cone" that serves as the inner race and threads onto the axle. The hub bearings, which are usually 1/4" in rear hubs and 3/16" in front hubs, spin between the cup and cone. Bearing tension is adjusted be threading the cone down on the axle, and then locking its position in place with the locknut (
a spacer between the cone and locknut allows you to tighten the two against each other easily). Front cup and cone hubs are usually symmetrical, although the hub will be offset slightly to compensate for its rotor disc rotor mounting. Rear hubs use a freehub (
the clutch mechanism that allows you to coast) and the driveside cone and locknut can be found set within, sometimes hidden from view.
From left to right: the cone (notice the wrench flats), spacer and locknut, with the axle in the background.
Why cup and cone? Because the majority of high-end aftermarket hubs use sealed bearings it's common to think of a cup and cone hub as lower quality, but that isn't always the case - Shimano's top tier XTR hubs are an example - and there are actually some advantages to going with a loose ball hub set. Not only are they easier to service (
if you're into that sort of thing) once you know how to do it, not requiring any bearing press tools and a vice or hammer, but because bearing tension is adjustable you can dial in the perfect amount tension. On top of that, a well setup cup and cone hub that has been put together with proper grease will usually offer lower rolling resistance that sealed bearing hubs can only dream of. It has also been said that a cup and cone system offers far more lateral bearing support than sealed bearings, although most riders would be hard pressed to notice the difference.
Most cup and cone hubs use a rubber dust shield (left) to help keep the elements out. Remove it to expose the hub's locknut and cone wrench flats (right)
Where do they lose points to sealed bearing hubs? Cup and cone systems often require more maintenance and can be prone to loosening up under hard riders, especially from sideways landings. This can be an especially big issue because the hub's outer bearing race - the cup - and the inner race - the cone - can be easily damaged when ridden lose. The cup itself is pressed into the hub shell and is not replaceable, meaning that the entire hub can quickly be turned to scrap metal if it becomes pitted, whereas it is quite rare to damage a sealed bearing hub's bearing bore from riding it loose. Worn out and lose sealed bearings? Simply pop them out, press in news ones and call it a day.
The cone and locknut are tightened up against each other, with a thin spacer in between, to lock them in place.
Some helpful pointers before you begin: • Always use the smallest cone wrenches the fit. Most front hubs will accept either 13, 15 or 17mm sizes, while rear hubs often take 15, 17 and 19mm size wrenches. A crescent wrench can be used on the outer locknut.
• Turning the axle with your fingers will give you much better indication of if it is too tight than spinning it in the frame or fork. But rocking the wheel laterally while it is still in the bike will allow you to easily feel if it is too loose.
• It is important to note that adjusting the hub bearings tighter than required will not in any way keep them from coming loose sooner, but will actually increase wear on all components. A loose ball hub that has been ridden with too much bearing tension will likely have damaged both the cone and cup, possibly requiring the hub to be replaced. The same will result from riding a hub that is too loose. Your goal should be to adjust the hub so that it has the least amount of bearing tension without being loose.
The hub's loose ball bearings roll on the cup, a concave and pressed in piece that acts as the outer bearing race. Both the cup and the cone's bearing surface must be in good shape in order for the wheel to turn smoothly, with even the smallest amount of pitting causing a noticeable amount of roughness. Different grade hubs also use differing qualities of bearing surfaces - XTR hubs will turn smoother than lower level product.
Tools needed: •
Cone wrenches (
13, 15, 17 and 19mm are all common sizes)
•
Adjustable wrench (
optional)
Step 1 - Checking Bearing Tension: While the wheel is still in the frame or fork, hold the tire and rock it back and forth laterally. Tthe hub may be loose by only the slightest amount, but this is exaggerated by the time the movement reaches the rim and tire. Your hub bearings will need to be adjusted if you feel any slop. Remove the wheel from the bike if you don't feel any play, pull out the quick release and turn the axle slowly with your fingers. Any roughness that is felt will mean that the bearing tension is too high and will need to be backed off, or that a rebuild must be performed (to be covered in an upcoming Tech Tuesday). Check to be sure that both sides' locknut and cone are tight against each other before moving on to the next step - if not, all of your work will be for nothing.
Step 2: To adjust bearing tension you'll first need to break the locknut and cone free from each other. Do this on the non-disc side if working on a front hub, or the disc side if working on a rear hub. Position the two cone wrenches so that squeezing them together will turn the locknut to the left (as shown above), but try to keep the inner wrench's position the same. Once the locknut is loose, turn the cone wrench clockwise to tighten, or anti-clockwise to loosen, a few degrees and hold it in place as you tighten the locknut back down onto it. Check for play by trying to rock the axle with your fingers. It should turn smoothly, but have close to zero free play. Repeat as necessary.
Step 3: If the hub is close to being perfect, but still needs a slight adjustment, you can do so without loosening the locknut once again. If it needs to be tightened, place a cone wrench on each locknut (not the cones!) and give them the slightest clockwise turn - only a degree or two - and recheck. If bearing tension needs to be back off slightly you can turn the cones out against each other by simply putting a cone wrench on each one and turning anti-clockwise.
Stay tuned for full rebuild instruction in an upcoming Tech Tuesday. Do you have any pointers on how to adjust cup and cone hub bearings? Share them below!
Past Tech Tuesdays:
Tech Tuesday #1 - How to change a tube. Tech Tuesday #2 - How to set up your SRAM rear derailleur Tech Tuesday #3 - How to remove and install pedals Tech Tuesday #4 - How To Bleed Your Avid Elixir Brakes Tech Tuesday #5 - How To Check And Adjust Your Headset Tech Tuesday #6 - How To Fix A Broken Chain Tech Tuesday #7 - Tubeless Conversion Tech Tuesday #8 - Chain Wear Tech Tuesday #9 - SRAM Shift Cable Replacement Tech Tuesday #10 - Removing And Installing a HeadsetTech Tuesday #11 - Chain Lube ExplainedTech Tuesday #12 - RockShox Totem and Lyric Mission Control Damper ModTech Tuesday #13 - Shimano XT Crank and Bottom Bracket InstallationTech Tuesday #14 - Straightening Your Derailleur HangerTech Tuesday #15 - Setting Up Your Front DerailleurTech Tuesday #16 - Setting Up Your CockpitTech Tuesday #17 - Suspension BasicsTech Tuesday #18 - Adjusting The Fox DHX 5.0Tech Tuesday #19 - Adjusting The RockShox BoXXer World CupTech Tuesday #20 - Servicing Your Fox Float ShockTech Tuesday #21 - Wheel Truing BasicsTech Tuesday #22 - Shimano Brake Pad ReplacementTech Tuesday #23 - Shimano brake bleedTech Tuesday #24 - Fox Lower Leg Removal And ServiceTech Tuesday #25 - RockShox Motion Control ServiceTech Tuesday #26 - Avid BB7 Cable Disk Brake SetupTech Tuesday #27 - Manitou Dorado Fork RebuildTech Tuesday #28 - Manitou Circus Fork RebuildTech Tuesday #29 - MRP G2 SL Chain Guide InstallTech Tuesday #30 - Cane Creek Angleset InstallationTech Tuesday #31 - RockShox Maxle Lite DHTech Tuesday #32 - Find Your Tire Pressure Sweet SpotTech Tuesday #33 - Three Minute Bike Preflight CheckTech Tuesday #34 - MRP XCG InstallTech Tuesday #35 - Stem Choice and Cockpit SetupTech Tuesday #36 - Handlebars - How Wide Affects Your RideTech Tuesday #37 - Repairing A Torn TireTech Tuesday #38 - Coil spring swapTech Tuesday #39 - Trailside help: Broken Shift CableTech Tuesday #40 - Installing a Fox Float Air-Volume SpacerTech Tuesday #41 - Replace the Seals on Your 2011 RockShox Boxxer World Cup ForkTech Tuesday #42 - Clean and Lubricate Your Fox F32 Dust Wiper SealsTech Tuesday #43 - Thread Locker BasicsTech Tuesday #44 - Install a SRAM X.0 Two-By-Ten CranksetTech Tuesday #45 - VPP Suspension Bearing Service Tech Tuesday #46 - Rotor StraighteningTech Tuesday #47 - Finding and fixing that creakTech Tuesday #48 - Tech Tuesday - Bleed and Service Magura Marta Disc BrakesVisit
Parktool.com to see their entire lineup of tools and lubes
+fair call on the Beyonce song aha
It takes time to overhaul a hub with sealed bearings as well, people just take it as whatever if it goes to sht I just buy new bearing, with cup&cone I would need a whole new hub! - yea just service stuff and you won't need to buy anything new but grease FFS...
This article demonstrates the sloppy technique for adjusting hubs. Many novice mechanics end up doing more harm than good to their bearings using this technique. Its too easy to over-tighten the cones without anything to hold the axle in place when you are tightening the locknuts onto the cones. The professional technique is to use an axle vice to hold the axle in place while you are adjusting it. You start in a position of looseness and tighten the cone 1/8 of a turn at a time, then check it. Repeat the process of tightening the cone 1/8 of a turn at a time until you achieve the ideal adjustment. This is a time-consuming technique, but it is much more methodical than the guesswork technique described in the article above.
The article also fails to mention how to achieve a perfect adjustment on an old school QR hub. The hub should have just a tiny bit of looseness in it off the bike. Then when you tighten the the QR the QR compresses the cones a little bit and the play is removed. Some people don't like this technique for mountain bikes cause the hub has potential to get play in it quicker, but it is the ideal adjustment in terms of the smoothness of the bearings.
It is also extremely important to adequately tighten the locknut to the cone once you achieve the ideal adjustment or it could work itself loose while you are riding. You have to almost tighten them to the point of over-tightening in order to make sure they don't come loose. Also good to do this while in a axle vice to make sure you don't lose your adjustment by accidentally turning the cone instead of the locknut while you are tightening them together.
Regarding recommending to people that they have a small amount of looseness in their cup and cone hub, that is certainly the way to dial in just the right amount of bearing tension with the least amount of resistance, but it could spell trouble if it is your first time adjusting your hub.
It´s a bit of an operation but with the right tools its a simple one.
www.cyclistno1.co.uk/features/maintenance/xt-hub-service.htm