I should know the answer to this after years of playing with cup and cone hubs but I don't or have forgotten the answer ......
My Shimano SLX hub (675 IIRC) has developed play at the free hub. Clearly evident spinning the cassette.
The cones and lock nuts either side are tightened so there is no slop in the bearings and the wheel spins nicely but with the cassette off you can feel the play.
It's currently not proving to be an issue other than with my OCD flaring as I know its not "right".
Looking at the exploded diagram it could only be play in the free hub:
Is it likely to be worn or poorly adjusted - I cannot obviously see how the latter is possible 🙁
Any thoughts?
There isn't any adjustment in them so just worn. They do have a tiny bit of play from new. Not really serviceable, you can clean them and get some new grease in but that won't do much about play. I've found they can have a fair bit of wobble before it really effects the shifting, though.
Thanks Nick.
I'll keep an eye on things.
Must be the hooooge wattage I'm putting out 😉
You can fiddle with the freehub but I'd really not recommend it.....
There are usually a couple of notches in the freehub outer race (where the cup and cone axle ball bearings sit - might need to remove / damage the sealing dust cap to get to them). If really interested you can make a tool to fit them and unscrew the guts of the freehub. It is a lh thread before you apply that hooooge wattage to a spanner in the wrong direction! Lots of balls and pawls will fall out but there might also be some shims in there to remove / adjust the play.
You can then try and fail to rebuild it, before buying a new freehub that might have less play in it 🙂
