Internal gear lock nuts.

[Djson280]

Hi all

I have an electric trike with a Nexus Inter 5e hub.

I recently changed the chainring to make it easier to pedal ( i have arthritis in all my joints and spine).

I found that the locking nuts on the axle for the hub, both sides were loose, loose enough for the wheel to wobble on the hub.

The trike is 18 months or so old and has done less than 600km ( 372 miles ).

Nothing.

So my question is, is it normal or even likely for the hub axle locking nuts to come loose, at such little use?

I fixed it, tightened it back up, until the hub and sprocket have no play at all.

Also, is it tight enough? How to tell?

Thanks,

Great videos, I'll be watching more.

 

[BikeGremlin]

Hi all

I have an electric trike with a Nexus Inter 5e hub.

I recently changed the chainring to make it easier to pedal ( i have arthritis in all my joints and spine).

I found that the locking nuts on the axle for the hub, both sides were loose, loose enough for the wheel to wobble on the hub.

The trike is 18 months or so old and has done less than 600km ( 372 miles ).

Nothing.

So my question is, is it normal or even likely for the hub axle locking nuts to come loose, at such little use?

I fixed it, tightened it back up, until the hub and sprocket have no play at all.

Also, is it tight enough? How to tell?

Thanks,

Great videos, I'll be watching more.

Hello and welcome,

I've seen hubs come with too much preload from the factory, and I've also seen locknuts not tight enough from the factory. That is why I check and adjust preload and locknut tightness with every new hub.

This video shows how it is done - the link should start at 11:43
(there is a table of contents in the video's description)
Note:
A title mistake at 12:19 - the cone was in fact loosened, not tightened.

That is not the exact model, but it explains the basic principle.

 

[Tomanexu]

I had the same issue and just reused the original locknuts with a bit of blue threadlocker. So far they’ve held up fine with regular riding and no loosening.

 

[Tomanexu]

I ran into something similar with my old Nexus hub, and it turned out the locknuts were mismatched—had to grab a proper set from a donor wheel. Also, depending on your setup, it might be worth checking how the dropout spacing and axle alignment are affecting things long-term. If you're swapping parts often, having bicycle insurance saved me once when a mishap wrecked both hub and frame.