Sturmey Archer AW bearing cone spacing

[aljac]

Hi, I have have just restored a very old (circa 1968) raleigh bike. It has an AW 3 speed hub. In my hast to rejuvenate the rear hub I have removed both bearing cones from the rear axle. It appears that the position of the cones on the axle is critical to proper gear operation. How do you reset the correct bearing position? ie If I had the replace the rear axle, how would I reset the correct cone position?

Cheers Aljac

[RobAR]

Hi Aljac. start here - http://sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html - and follow the links!

[Bill]

Also if you use the keywords "sturmey archer" in the upper right there should be a couple of posts with links on this site.

[AW_hub]

(12-18-2010, 04:19 PM)aljac Wrote:  Hi, I have have just restored a very old (circa 1968) raleigh bike. It has an AW 3 speed hub. In my hast to rejuvenate the rear hub I have removed both bearing cones from the rear axle. It appears that the position of the cones on the axle is critical to proper gear operation. How do you reset the correct bearing position? ie If I had the replace the rear axle, how would I reset the correct cone position?

Cheers Aljac

The critical cone is the right hand one (sprocket side). Usually set at the factory and left alone for 50 years or so.
To set it, leave the left hand cone loose or off, then put the lh flatted axle in a vice. Then hand-tighten the rh cone (no wrenches!). Once it has bottomed, back it off half a turn (but no more than 5/8), then drop the lock washer over it and tighten the jam nut, while holding the rh cone steady (15 mm cone spanners). That's it.
Then install lh cone and tighten til there is only a little play in the wheel, lock in place. This is the only one you should mess with as the hub bearings wear with use.