[Closed] Cup & Cone bearings - how lovely!

Yes,I used to love servicing them back in the day.

The only problem was if the cup/ cone surfaces became pitted. Even then you could coax some more life out of them.

Another fan here.

I love that you can carefully take them apart, and carefully put them together again. No hammers required.

I'm surprised we haven't had loads of cartridge lovers dissing us cone heads! I really don't have a problem with c&c. They actually seem to last longer than cartridge bearings and are much easier to restore to health

I'll do it 🙂 my cartridge bearings last many years and are easier to replace than C&C. Done both lots, I know which I prefer.

Are there any decent square taper cup/cone bottom brackets these days? Think the last one I had came with cotter pins!

Bike shops worst nightmare

Customer "I've had a go at doing the bearings myself"

Usually resulting in missing parts or the cones being the wrong way around or the axle much longer on the one side as its been but back in the wrong side then the cone adjusted to make it fit

the latest "indexed" shimano offerings are a real pleasure to set up the older locking bolt version could sometimes be a bit fiddly to get spot on.

Only bearings I had that never needed adjusting and never wore out were unsealed cup and cone chorus hubs with a grease port.

are easier to replace than C&C.

I'll race ya!
I'll be handing you your ass on a plate though, have no doubt about that...... 🙂

Where do you live? I'm gathering not in amongst the grinding-paste-esque filth of the north west of England?

I wouldn't entertain using them in the drive-chain disintegrating slop that I generally ride through. Sealed cartridge bearings all the way. It's not like they're difficult to replace when they're nackered. Which is far less frequently

Based on experience I'm very tempted to go XT for some new hubs. It'll be a change from the ubiquitous Hopes!

I'll race ya!
I'll be handing you your ass on a plate though, have no doubt about that......

Aye Up, gods gift to the bike trade has landed, swoon!.

As much as I'm a cup n cone fan I'm not sure I have them on my winter mtb.

But the xtr hubs on my winter comuter come touring bike have been spot on for years. Despite just getting used in the crappy weather then left in the shed for the rest of the year

PP - including BOTH bearing surfaces? I can change a pair of cartridge bearings in under 5 mins and that includes all adjusting and both bearing surfaces. there is no way on earth you can do that with C&C

binners - Member
...I wouldn't entertain using them in the drive-chain disintegrating slop that I generally ride through.

Your local trails sound crap 😉

(#saveittillsummer etc.)

Give me Mavics with bearings that last the lifetime of the wheel any day.
Got a pair of cheapo Crossrides on my singlespeed, have never been touched, bike used to be used daily, in all weathers for dog walking and the bearings are still smooth as new. Faffing around with cone spanners? No ta.

PP - including BOTH bearing surfaces? I can change a pair of cartridge bearings in under 5 mins and that includes all adjusting and both bearing surfaces. there is no way on earth you can do that with C&C

Have you seen Big Al in Wheelcraft work? He'd have it done in 3 while drinking his coffee and chatting.

I'm a big fan - XT hubs have done me well and are cheap to buy and maintain. You can get a complete rebuild kit with a free pen holder for £27!!

Free pen holder lol

Cup and cone looked after well are lovely. It's a nice job to service them - very satisfying.

Keeping all the required spares for a headset, BB, hubs and pedals was simply a matter of 3 or 4 sizes of ball bearings.

Less nasty suprises as long as you stayed on top of maintenance too.

I just serviced the cup and cones in the cheapy Diatech hubs of my long suffering Halo's. Doing that regularly with a good bit of webbing grease has kept them in good shape.

I also clean my sealed hub and BB bearings out every now and again. Getting the grit and mud out and regreasing them does wonders for their lifespan.

I'll be handing you your ass on a plate though, have no doubt about that......

How often do you have to do it?

It's a nice job to service them - very satisfying.

You service hubs? How quaint.

I've tried to service them, but they're beyond my limited mental capacity. I can't do "tight but not too tight, do it by feel" things.

Whenever I've tried they've either been too tight to spin freely, it at all or so loose they wobble. There only seems a millionth of a degree of a turn between the two.

molgrips - Member
How often do you have to do it?

Once a year if you want them to last for the rest of time, every other year if you're happy to accept gradual deterioration over a decade or so...

I'm actually [i]trying[/i] to kill the less-than-deore 475 hubs on my commuter, after 5 years, and something like 25,000km, they're now a bit 'rumbly', but I've serviced worse, there's years left in those hubs...

Astonishing really.

orangeboy - Member
As much as I'm a cup n cone fan I'm not sure I have them on my winter mtb

LOL at Peter Poddy, couple of years in the bike trade and he's gods gift...

I'm with PP on this one, especially a rear hub, doubly so if it's been looked after and the drive side cone doesn't need to come off the axle.

4x cartridge bearings (which if worn enough to have significant play could be a PITA to get out as the inners will knock out leaving the outer still in there, blind against the hub) and retrieving pawls and springs from wherever they end up under the fridge.

Vs

2x c&c bearings and a modular freehub that attaches with one bolt.

And bessides, if looked after you never need to replace them, just wash in petrol, re-pack with grease and adjust them again.

I've tried to service them, but they're beyond my limited mental capacity. I can't do "tight but not too tight, do it by feel" things.

Whenever I've tried they've either been too tight to spin freely, it at all or so loose they wobble. There only seems a millionth of a degree of a turn between the two.

Trick is to get them as adjusted as close as possible and tighten the locknut/cone, then nip up the locknut with the other end in a vice to tighten the whole lot the last little bit.

My brother witnessed the end of the axle of his Hope Ti Glide being beaten with a hammer by a bike shop owner of many years to get the bearing out..

He learned to work on it himself after that.

molgrips - Member
You service hubs? How quaint.

As opposed to paying someone else to do it, or throwing them away?

Seems sensible to me.

What I do miss is hubs with a grease nipple , wtb grease guard and campy.

That and people selling the cup on its own without the free pen holder

molgrips - Member
You service hubs? How quaint.

So are some of the hubs I service... '95 & '96 XT are some of my more recent cup and cone ones which get my attention.

I also sometimes renovate unwanted bikes that can still be rescued and find a good home for them. Some of them are only a step above a BSO and even now come with cup and cone hubs.

P-Jay - Member

Whenever I've tried they've either been too tight to spin freely, it at all or so loose they wobble. There only seems a millionth of a degree of a turn between the two.

I appreciate that PeterPoddy is enaging in hyperbolex above, but assuming that you can service them fast with experience, is it just a case of knowing the cone tightness by feel so you can twiddle them up and that's it done straight away? Always found it an exasperating process of trial and error.

When I was working a a bike shop there was one particular wheel brand (Oval Concepts) whose cup and cone bearings would last a year and a half tops without servicing. After than they would be so pitted that the wheel was a write off. It suited me though. Most of the time the customer would just tell us to keep the old wheel so I would strip them for the rims and bladed spokes and build them up again with someone who had knackered their rim 🙂

Done C&C and likewise cage bearings on headsets in crud conditions. No thanks.

Sure they're serviceable without having to buy new bearing (may need new balls though), but it's extra faff and likely a right mess. On top of that C&C requires fiddling to get the preload right and then the QR has to be done up right each ride to get the loading right so it's not loose, but not too tight the wheel doesn't spin.

Did a c&c rear hub yesterday, as above its great when it all goes back together and you nip it up juuust right. It's definitely more satisfying than just whacking some new cartridge bearings in.

I was just thinking as for the 4th year in a row I've not touched any of my hubs how much I'd love to be messing around with some cone spanners

How has someone saying how they enjoyed servicing cup and cone hubs needed to become a critique of them and the people that service them....? Sheesh!

One of my watches I have to wind up. Let me guess the responses... Battery quartz watches are 'better' because you haven't had to touch it in 4 years or why didn't I invest in an automatic...

LOL at Peter Poddy, couple of years in the bike trade and he's gods gift...

To be fair he was an excellent mechanic for years before he changed careers. We've both been servicing cup and cone for 25 years so you do kinda get used to it!

A quality cup and cone is designed to last and be serviceable. Cartridge bearing hubs are designed so that they are easy to fix when they fail.

For the price there's not much that can touch an XT hub for longevity. I've got some which are 20 years old and still like new.

Last time I had cup and cone bearings, replacement cups were not available (though clearly a simple press-in part), so if you had let your's get pitted and rusty, that was it. Have things changed?

Objectively, I'm not sure that C&C is better than cartridge bearings. That's why the mountain bike has Hope stuff.

The bikes I've been tinkering with are form the 1930s / 1940s.

Last time I had cup and cone bearings, replacement cups were not available (though clearly a simple press-in part), so if you had let your's get pitted and rusty, that was it. Have things changed?

The cups only get pitted if you leave them too long between services, or do them up too tight and the bearings score the surface, the cones (being smaller) always suffer first. TBH though if they did need doing it would probably be a comparable effort to just rebuild the wheel by that point.

For the most part thoughI get ~2 years our of rims (either worn out or that's the mean time between failures due to rocks etc) though so actually having hubs that last the lifetime of a wheel is all that's required.

A quality cup and cone is designed to last and be serviceable

So are cartridge bearing hubs. They are a solid lump of aluminium, that's it. With C&C the races will eventually wear.

The interference fit of a "sealed" bearing hub is also a wearing diameter. Depending on how badly its made, what the surface hardness is like and how hamfisted the mechanic is they *may* only be good for a few years.
Not to mention the damage a seized or collapsed bearing might do, and as service on sealed bearing isn't actually a service, it's repair, it happens with some regularity. If you abuse a C&C hub as you would a cartridge bearing hub, you'll do more damage though. Cos that is what it is, waiting until it's *actually* worn out and rumbly.

Saying that, i have both. And have worn out both.

Cup and cone hubs roll much better than cartridge bearing hubs.

I have them on all my bikes if Shimano made them with serviceable freehubs.