Bearing Abuse
This is a picture of a standard bicycle axel (courtesy of sheldon brown), notice the cones are nice and smooth, this is what allows the bearings inside your wheels hub to glide smoothly. The cone and bearings of a hub assembly live a relatively peaceful life, the bearing caked in grease rolls smoothly over the cone with minimal friction. Routine maintenance to your bicycle will greatly increase thechances of a long happy cone and bearing relationship. If not properly cared for cone and bearings peaceful relationship will soon become strained and possibly lead to a domestic disturbance such was the case below.
