Why are rear wheel sealed bearings getting tight?

I have two different wheel-sets. It is the rear wheel only on both. The axle still rotates, it's not rough, but hard to turn it with your fingers. One wheel is a Milwaukee Hub, the other is a Bianchi Hub. I don't feel I have abused either wheel, and both are relatively new. The front matching hubs for both wheel-sets work perfect, super smooth. What could possibly be going on? Any suggestions to prevent this from happening in the future?

Thank you for any ideas,

Lee Roy

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Permalink Reply by Gecko on September 8, 2009 at 3:12am

Your seals may be dirty or sticking. I'm assuming single speed or fixed gear wheels, right? You should just be able to drop a few drops of Tri-Flow or other bicycle lubricant (don't use wd-40) on the seal where it meets the axle and work it in a little bit. You should feel the seals loosen up almost immediately. The excess will filter down into the bearings eventually and should make the whole thing easier to turn.

If that doesn't help things, you may need to adjust the cones and locknuts on the axle. Sometimes they come fairly loose from the factory and some bike shops overlook that when they build the bikes. Over time, they can move and tighten themselves against the bearings.

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Permalink Reply by Lee Roy on September 8, 2009 at 3:41am

I did pull off the freewheel to see if there was some kind of adjustment to be made...

I did not see any cones that could be adjusted.
There were a couple washers with flat sides (for cone wrenches)
that hold against the dropout on the inside though.

I will take another careful look. I thought that the sealed bearings
would be pretty maintenance free. I will try a little lubricant.