Properly pack/adjust bicycle hub bearings

Step 4 Repack

If you are making the smart conversion to a "loose-ball" setup, skip this step and proceed from there. For those who wish to, or have no other alternative but to re-use the original bearing cages, continue from this step:

After assuring that all bearing surfaces are clear and clean at this point, you are ready to rebuild.

Gently squeeze the bearing cage "fingers" down to hold each ball snugly but without binding. The cage is there to keep the balls equidistant for optimal strength, but it should not bind against the balls or any other bearing surfaces. Simply pressing the balls in will likely open the cage enough to allow free movement, but check to be sure.

Now, smother the cage assembly in grease, pushing grease from the inside out well past the point where grease starts to ooze from the outside. Positively drown it in grease, and add a significant bead of grease to the inside of the hub's bearing race, and place the cage assembly in the race, using the grease to hold it in place.

You simply cannot use too much grease for this step, and you should not be conservative on this step. Best is to saturate the bearing with as much grease as you can cram into it. Excess will be cleared later.