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Installing Specialized Expedition Ball Bearing Cone Adjustment and Installation

User-Contributed Guide

An awesome member of our community made this guide. It is not managed by iFixit staff.

This guide will be a walk through on how to replace the ball bearings in your wheels.

Author: Tyler Parra
Time required: 30 to 45 minutes
Difficulty: Difficult

The ball bearings reduce the friction caused by the rotating wheel by concentrating it on rolling bearings, in this case there are ten on each side of the axle. Well maintained ball bearings will help the wheel spin more freely and allow for an easier and smoother ride.

Notes:

When cleaning the bearings and cones, solvents like kerosene can be very effective, however, just a wipe down with a rag is sufficient.
When the wheel is assembles correctly there should be very little resistance between the axle and the wheel and each should spin freely of the other.
Some of these steps require near-perfect alignment. They may take several tries to get right, so patience is a must.

Sections

Rear Wheel 3 steps
Ball Bearing Cone Adjustment and Installation 16 steps

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Edit Step 1 — Rear Wheel ¶

Flip the quick release lever on the wheel.

Edit Step 2 ¶

Squeeze the brake arms together and lift the brake cable from the caliper arms.

Edit Step 3 ¶

Hold the wheel to the ground, and pull the bike frame up and away to remove the wheel from the bike.

Edit Step 4 — Ball Bearing Cone Adjustment and Installation ¶

Unscrew the quick release nut from the quick release axle. Remove the quick release axle.
After removing the axle you should notice that there are two springs on it. Be careful not to lose these.

Edit Step 5 ¶

Fit the cone wrench to the cone, and fit the open end wrench to the top lock nut. Hold the cone in place with the cone wrench and turn the open end wrench to loosen and remove the top lock nut.
Keep track of which side each lock nut goes on. The order is important because the threading for each nut is specific for each side.

Edit Step 6 ¶

Unscrew the cone, and set it aside.
Keep track of which side each cone goes on. The order is important because the threading for each cone is specific for each side.

Edit Step 7 ¶

Remove the axle and all ball bearings.
Caution: There are 10 ball bearings on each side, be careful not to lose any if you plan on putting the old ones back in!