wheels -slight play & smooth or no play & slightly scratchy?

[slomo]

Rescued a BH Boston - never heard of them before but apparently they are a Spanish brand.....
Stem needs changing, saddle needs changing, cahin needs changing and probably a few more parts over time.
But i'm 'feeling it' with this one
Rear wheel is silky smooth but has play in the axle.
Front wheel is crunchy but has no play.
I feared the worst in both instances, but to my delight, both sets of cups and cones are immaculate.
I'm not a huge fan of C&C hubs - mostly due to the amount of 'mucking about' required to get them adjusted correctly.
But now i'm confused :? - surely one set of C&C's would be worn becasue one feels too tight and the other too loose.
Instinctively i prefer the feel of a smooth hub - even if that means a tiny bit of play in the axle.
But i'm not experienced enough to be sure.
The rims are in good nick, but the bike has done some miles as the chain is stretched.
So.....should i nip up the rear hub.....or ease off the front hub (a fraction in both cases)?
Or.....is the mystical 'sweet spot' not so important after all..... :shock:
Not technically a mountain bike, but roadies are more unforgiving when it comes to 'semantics' so thought i'd ask the mountain bikers
Here it is:

 

[The History Man]

New balls?

 

[CassidyAce]

Re:

Presumably, you've cleaned the cups, cones and bearings and put fresh grease in. And, presumably, the cones are not bent - not sure how it happens but I've seen it - and the edges are not rough. If all that's the case, then it should be just a case of loosening the front a smidgen at a time till it's smooth but without play, and tightening the rear a smidgen at a time till there's no play but it's still smooth. After all, if everything is in good order, it stands to reason that there must be a point where there's no play but the hubs run smoothly.

 

[slomo]

Quite..... :|

Balls are caged - and are very smooth.

Although they are incredibly small :shock:

 

[slomo]

Yes, all clean with fesh grease.
Try as i might - they are either scratchy with no play or smooth with a tiny bit of play.
This is why i don't like C&C hubs.....

 

[CassidyAce]

Re:

Use loose bearings. Nine per side. Can't remember the size but I'm sure Google will have the answer.

 

[slomo]

Great tip - many thanks.
I'll look into it.

 

[2manyoranges]

Hmmmm....a few more thoughts. Good that the bearing surfaces are good - although a magnifying glass may reveal some micro-pitting. Not a problem, since I have set AWFULLY WORN bearing with new 2000 balls and high quality grease and they have then run on for thousands of miles. Re tension and pre-load: A very old and incredibly experienced tech (this was twenty years ago) taught me to adjust cone and cup by getting grade 2000 loose balls (Campag then) and setting the cones so that you get more than no play at the rim but less than 1mm. Some may say that this loads up just a few balls on each rotation and allows premature wear, but that’s not what I have found empirically. My wheels just have run and run using this method. But opinion of others would be interesting....

 

[greencat]

Good advice 2manyoranges. I've always gone with very slightly crunchy if I have to, but I've never dealt with Campag quality when it comes to bearings (unless cartridge). A mix of too many cheap bikes and not enough riding means some cup/cone will probably last my riding lifetime regardless and any mistakes not too costly.

 

[slomo]

Re:

Just so i'm clear - good quality greased balls = smooth with a little bit of play (less than 1mm) is ok?
Cheap caged balls = slightly crunchy with no play is ok?
Also understand that either way, unless i rag the bike to death, the hubs will probably outlast the rims anyway?

Many thanks for the thoughts/input