Do I need a cone wrench?

Canis Lupus

To get into a hub? My front wheel is not freewheeling (I've been ignoring it now for ages and this morning in the cold it was really stiff. Is it potentially dangerous? Can the freewheel just give up and jam or will it just be a prolonged death?) so I need to get in to see if it can be cleaned and regreased?

Or am I better off just taking it to a shop to be repaired?

kenmc

it's unlikely to just sieze up on you and cause an accident, but it won't get better, that's for sure. Depends on the hub though how you go about getting into it, but it should be very straightforward, and IIRC you don't even really need a cone spanner, a normal spanner was fine for me before.

DirkVoodoo

A front wheel doesn't have a "freewheel", but it is obviously free to move in any direction. It depends on the system, Is it a cup and cone system? If so, it's pretty straightforward to (a) take it apart and inspect the bearings and races for signs of wear, grease stripping, damage and (b) loosen the cones to allow the axle spin relative to the bearings, not too much or you will end up with a wheel that has a lot of play which is just as dangerous and bad for bearing wear.

It sounds like you should take it to a shop.

victorcarrera

You don't need a cone spanner to dismantle it but you will need one to load the bearings and tighten the lock nut properly on reassembly.
I did it once without the cone spanner but found it very difficult to load the bearings properly as the cone was turning when I tightened the lock nut.
The (thinner) cone spanner holds the cone while you tension the lock nut.
As there are many different sizes 13<17mm, it is best to buy a set.
They are not expensive on ebay.

Canis Lupus

kk thanks guys. I'll take a look this evening once I get home and see if I can get away with normal spanner if not I'll pop it to the shop.

levitronix

Make sure you dont loose your balls when you open it up .... ball bearing! they have a habit of falling out if you dont know what your doing

doozerie

Without a cone spanner you won't be able to lock the cone and locknut together on one side, which means the cone will almost certainly work its way loose constantly. That's assuming you have a "traditional" hub with loose ball bearings - hubs with sealed bearings have a different mechanism that doesn't involve cones so you won't need a cone spanner with those.

Also, without a cone spanner when removing the axle, you may well inadvertently unlock the locknut on both sides of the axle leading to twice the problem when you can't properly lock either of them with their corresponding cones when reassembling the axle. The aim when removing the axle is to unlock and remove the locknut and cone on one side of the axle only, otherwise you'll make an extra task for yourself of having to re-centre the axle yourself when re-installing it.

From (poor!) memory, a few years back it used to be a 13mm cone spanner for the front (both sides) and a 15mm or 16mm for the rear (can't remember for sure which was the most common size but think it was one of those two). I'm not sure if the sizes have changed in the meantime.

Canis Lupus

Well problem solved. It snapped off on the way home leaving me with a 2k walk in cycling shoes in the freezing cold.

And the worst part?

Having to bus it to work with other people till I get it fixed.

kumate_champ07

more than likely you'll need to replace the ball bearings. should cost 2euro from a shop. pack it full of grease.

you could also have some internal damage, pitting of the races. basically little chips where the bearings make contact with the inside of hub. even just reusing the old bearings and some fresh grease would make a big difference tho!