This is a massive cone, and I was under the mistaken belief that if it remains perfectly smooth, I can either overhaul it yearly, or grind it with a Dremel and repack the grease every two years, and it will basically last forever.
But all is not well. The fancier cones seem light, even flimsy by comparison. They have little to grind away. But after removing 1 mm and adding the correct washer to fill the gap to ensure that the O.L.D. remains a precise 130 mm, the cone moves inwards, and the cone wrench cannot reach it.
Does a z-shaped cone wrench exist?
I'm expecting that the answer is "no". I've replaced the wheels anyway, but it would still be nice to know whether these wheels can be ridden all the way, or at least hang around as an emergency spare part rather than go to landfill.
Incidentally, a pair of wheel have (obviously) four cones. This little issue doesn't arise with the three other cones, which makes it a bit more perplexing whether the (free)hub side cone can also be made to work. Thoughts? Adding the washer on the side opposite to the freehub means that the two wheels will no longer be aligned. How significant would that be?