Caught myself setting bearing preload by feel on a Tuesday tune-up, and the wheel was already grinding

Viola Green · 2026-10-22T07:20:03.875879+00:00

Had a customer's rear wheel come back 3 days after I serviced the hub, and he said it felt rough when he spun it by hand. Pulled the cones apart and the race was already pitted, because I had been snugging the locknut down the same way I did on my first BMX bike 20 years ago, no play and no grease thickness check at all. Stuck a 0.05mm feeler under the cone and there it was, way too tight, which means every hub I touched last week was probably over-preloaded too. Now I spin and check for that tiny bit of rock before locking the jam nut, then recheck after torque. Anybody got a go-to feeler size for loose ball hubs or do you just run the axle in a vise and eyeball the play?

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Caught myself setting bearing preload by feel on a Tuesday tune-up, and the wheel was already grinding | Bicycle Mechanics - Babble Community