[bikes] How often do you have to adjust your hubs?

[davester]

What cyclemax says. All of my hubs except one set are loose bearing cone-and-cup hubs (I ride mostly vintage road bikes). They never go out of adjustment and last forever. There are only two ways that can happen:

1. You didn't tighten the locknuts properly.

2. Something is getting damaged inside (balls or cones are typically the first to go. Generally damage only occurs if the cones were misadjusted in the first place. Note that when you do the adjustment you should leave the teensiest amount of play. This is because tightening the quick release compresses and shortens the axle. If you adjusted the cones to zero play then tightening the quick release results in the cones being too tight, which results in damage to the bearings, cups or cones.

Edit: damage can also occur if you ride in really bad weather or really dirty areas and never bother cleaning and relubing the bearings.