Properly pack/adjust bicycle hub bearings

Step 8: Final steps

Just as after truing a wheel, you may need to readjust your brakes from scratch. Do not align the wheel to the brakes, align the *axle* to the frame, then align the brakes to the wheel. Check to see that brake pads will not ride into the tire's sidewall, or fall into the spokes at a standstill, then ride to check the same. Any feeling of roughness in the bearings that you can feel at the grips indicates a serious problem, so if you observe that, get off immediately and check the wheel's motion. If you have forgotten to snug the cone to the locknut and it has tightened up, push it home, but with the offending wheel off the ground if possible and recheck your work. With some luck you have not crushed the bearing.

If all is well, pay attention to the hubs for about 30-50 miles and wipe away any excess grease that may ooze out of the seals to prevent attracting more dirt. Keep your hubs free of grass and hair (somehow it'll find it's way from someone's head to wrapped around your axle, it is still an unexplained phenomena in quantum relativity), because they both eat seals like asphalt eats away flesh at 30+mph.

As a further tip, if you dunk your bike (whether off a jump or discovering uncharted water caves in a city-endorsed pothole), you may need to do this service far more often to preserve parts. Salt and lithium don't always play well together, so you sea-side residents may have to do this sooner than the typical 30,000 mile maximum.