From: "Steven Willis" <smwillis@verizon.net>
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2006 4:49 PM
Subject: [CR]old British hubs
>I just had a customer ask which side does the fixed cone on an old British
>front hub go on. I used to remember but age is getting the better of me.
>Thanks
> Steven Willis
Steve,
If it's a Raleigh made hub the fixed cone goes on the right side of bike.
Not sure that other manufacturers did this.
see:
http://sheldonbrown.com/
>From Sheldon's page:
"Raleigh front hubs
Most front wheels can be installed without regard for which side is left and
which side is right. This is not the case with Raleigh 3-speeds. Raleigh
front hubs usually don't have cone locknuts. Instead, they have one cone
with wrench flats, the adjustable cone. The other cone is round, with no
place for a wrench. The non-adjustable cone is supposed to screw down all
the way on the axle until it runs out of threads (there is a raised shoulder
on the axle for this purpose). All adjustments are to be made with the
adjustable cone. The fixed cone must go on the bicycle's right, the
adjustable cone must go on the bicycle's left. On the left side, the axle
nut will keep the left cone from loosening up. If the wheel is accidentally
reversed, so that the adjustable cone is on the right, it can tighten itself
up and ruin the hub.
Raleighs also used an unusual wheel retention feature. The axle slot in the
front fork end is keyhole shaped. Older hubs came with special axle nuts and
washers. The axle nut had a shoulder which fitted through the axle washer
and into the round part of the axle slot. Later hubs have a shoulder on the
cone which fits into the round part of the axle slot, and it is necessary to
spread the fork blades a bit to get the wheel in or out. This is the more
common arrangement."
Pete Geurds
Douglassville, Pa