Dented and pitted cup and cone surface?

[zmalwo]

Besides the grainy feeling is it actually a big deal? Can i just use the hub until the rim's worn or does it actually have some serious consequences?

[Hindmost]

It sounds like the cup and cone are toast. Sure you can continue to run them maybe put in fresh ball bearings and grease. There's no dire consequence but they will continue to wear badly and maybe not roll super great. If it is a valued hub it's preferable to replace the cup and cone.

[Ken Robb]

It sounds like the cup and cone are toast. Sure you can continue to run them maybe put in fresh ball bearings and grease. There's no dire consequence but they will continue to wear badly and maybe not roll super great. If it is a valued hub it's preferable to replace the cup and cone.

Isn't the cup integral with the hub?

[jemdet]

Isn't the cup integral with the hub?

Campy hubs tend to have removable cups.

[saab2000]

Besides the grainy feeling is it actually a big deal? Can i just use the hub until the rim's worn or does it actually have some serious consequences?

It's going to get worse, not better.

What hubs are these?

[LouDeeter]

There are thousands of pitted cups and cone hubs on the road all over the world. They continue to roll. If that is all that matters to you, you can ride them til the cows come home. But, if you want a smooth ride, then do what you can to fix/repair.

[Peter P.]

Campy hubs tend to have removable cups.

I was never able to figure out how to remove those cups!

The hubs won't spontaneously explode or seize. As long as you have grease in them, they'll survive until the rims die.

[mktng]

ride them until they die.
you can however buy more time with new ball bearings and really good grease.

[AngryScientist]

ride them until they die.
you can however buy more time with new ball bearings and really good grease.

biggest thing is clean grease. it's the crap that's in there that wrecks things. a heavier weight clean grease should keep em rolling for a while unless they are really bad.

[Gummee]

I've heard of guys re-polishing the cones. IDK about the cups. IME the cups don't tend to get pitted, but YMMV

M

[fa63]

I have re-polished a few cones with good success. They weren't pitted too badly to begin with, however.

I've heard of guys re-polishing the cones. IDK about the cups. IME the cups don't tend to get pitted, but YMMV

M

[bitpuddle]

It sounds like the cup and cone are toast. Sure you can continue to run them maybe put in fresh ball bearings and grease.

Yes. Pitting means toss the part. You could probably ignore it in a headset, but a hub or bottom bracket will destroy bearings that way.

[mt2u77]

Once a cup is pitted, the hub is pretty much trash in my experience. I looked into getting replacement cups once, and they were almost as much as the value of the hub and the service looked "involved". Good news though-- it's pretty darn hard to pit a cup.

Cones are easy and cheap to replace, and keeping them nice will extend the life of your bearings and cups (hub). No real danger in riding them as is, but ignoring maintenance just accelerates the wear on other components. If you've already decided to trash the hub, treat it like an old car-- ride it into the ground.

[zmalwo]

Thanks for the advice, I don't currently have anything that is pitted or dented but was just curious if they really matter safety wise. I tend to service my stuff waaaay before recommended mileage so I doubt that I will ever mess up my hubs like that :)

[saab2000]

What kind of hubs are these?

Why would the OP not get them repaired? It's not difficult or that expensive.

Eventually the ball bearings will be damaged and the hub will turn like it's filled with sand. Leaving it be will only make it worse.

[lhuerta]

What kind of hubs are these?

Why would the OP not get them repaired? It's not difficult or that expensive.

Eventually the ball bearings will be damaged and the hub will turn like it's filled with sand. Leaving it be will only make it worse.

^ this ^ ... most hubs, especially good quality hubs, have serviceable cups that could be removed with a slide hammer and then new ones can be pressed in. Campagnolo still supplies these types of parts and any competent wrench with the correct tools can remove and install new cups in about 5 mins.

[dddd]

Number one thing to do when reassembling a hub with rough bearing race(s) is to make sure that there is some play in the axle, to be just taken up by the QR's compression of the axle upon installation of the wheel in the frame or fork.
Start on the loose side, and if some play remains then first just adjust the QR a bit tighter. Worst case is that you might have to tighten the cone adjustment, but which can sometimes take as little as one minute in total.

If it's the cone that has a defect on one location along the race, then just mark that location on the externally-visible portion of the cone and position it to the high side while installing your wheel. It will thus see far less loading on the defective area of the race, but again it is the bearing adjustment that must be firstly addressed (I settle for an adjustment that allows the installed wheel to have a touch of free-play at a single rotational position of the wheel, and only adjust it tighter if such play is somehow noticeable in normal service).

[zmalwo]

Number one thing to do when reassembling a hub with rough bearing race(s) is to make sure that there is some play in the axle, to be just taken up by the QR's compression of the axle upon installation of the wheel in the frame or fork.
Start on the loose side, and if some play remains then first just adjust the QR a bit tighter. Worst case is that you might have to tighten the cone adjustment, but which can sometimes take as little as one minute in total.

If it's the cone that has a defect on one location along the race, then just mark that location on the externally-visible portion of the cone and position it to the high side while installing your wheel. It will thus see far less loading on the defective area of the race, but again it is the bearing adjustment that must be firstly addressed (I settle for an adjustment that allows the installed wheel to have a touch of free-play at a single rotational position of the wheel, and only adjust it tighter if such play is somehow noticeable in normal service).

Good thing I use Campy hubs :) their hubs can bu adjusted while the wheel is clamped down.

[m_sasso]

This is going to end badly.

[dddd]

This is going to end badly.

That likely resulted from a rear freewheel-axle breaking.
It looks to have perhaps been overtightened for some time as well.

I've seen cases of insufficently-tightened driveside locknuts allowing a cone to self-tighten, and the carnage to the cup (big cracks) wasn't fixable.
Left-side pedals used to be seen to do the same thing when a locknut lost it's tension.

Same thing could have happened here. I typically begin servicing bikes having freewheel-style rear hubs by pulling the freewheel and making sure that the cone and locknut are tightly jammed together, in preparation for inspection and spoke adjustments at the truing stand.

Many, many long centuries worth of miles have been ridden on less-than-perfect bearings, and for the most part is of little consequence. Even a full rust-out of a hub's bearing surfaces is something that can go unnoticed for a very long time.

I rebuilt my Schwinn's front hub when I was 6 or 7 years old, put the bearing cages in backwards and continued riding that bike for a decade, and even as the bike accumulated hundreds of hours of use I didn't notice the trashed bearings at any time, only readjusting it perhaps once or twice over the years. By the time I sold that bike the rear Bendix 2-speed hub had it's own issues with multiple cracks in the shell, resulting from all of the fun that I had riding it!

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3695/12447415584_8ec7864169_c.jpg

[ultraman6970]

WOw i sued to do wheelies like the dude in the picture... long time ago... feel old :P

[bikinchris]

The cups are far harder to pit than the cones. Except in really cheap hubs. Even then, you can polish the cups. Cones are cheap. Lack of grease and bad adjustment will eat them alive.

[bikinchris]

This is going to end badly.

That brings tears to the eyes. That had to be making all kinds of noise and there were some sparks flying inside that hub.

[charliedid]

I've heard of guys re-polishing the cones. IDK about the cups. IME the cups don't tend to get pitted, but YMMV

M

I friend (shop owner) does it all the time. Uses a dremel and polishing compound.