Chuck quoted ;
> According to Jobst Brandt: ball bearings should have a preload,
> otherwise the load is being supported by one or two balls at the bottom
> of the race.
Jobst may have a valid point, but surely all any pre-load will do is just accelerate wear on the assembly until it gets to the point where the axle runs exactly how it should have been set up in the first place - Not tight, not slack, and with no perceivable play.
Having seen what seems like zillions of the cheapo Maillard/ Atom / Normandy / Pellisier hubs from new, they all seemed to come from the factory so tightly adjusted you could barely turn the axle by hand however this lasted little more than the time taken for it to run-in. Jobst's theory would be fine for new hubs, but all I feel would be achieved in doing this on an old and already run-in hub would be to accelerate the wear. Keep pre-load for taper roller bearings.
My own advice - strip the hub, clean up the cheap races and cones with 1000 grade wet/dry abrasive paper soaked in liquid metal polish and finish off by buffing up the races to as high a polish as you can achieve. Clean out and re-assemble with quality bearings - adjust it so it's not slack, not over tight, just with no perceivable play. Just think what would happen if you pre-loaded it, then clamped it into the frame with the quick release ?
Generally poor hubs they may be, but with a little care you'll get these to run as smooth as Campags finest - well almost :-)
Bob Reid
Stonehaven
Scotland