Squeeks, Wobbly Rear Cassette and Rusty Chain

davethejackal

I've just been cleaning my just 5 week old Trek Top Fuel 8 and noticed 2 things:

1. The chain seemed to have gone a bit rusty over night, I've since lubed it and it seems ok but it was put in for its first service last week and so surely must have been lubed. Do newer bikes really require lubing that often. I did wash it down with a cold water hose on a spray thing yesterday (no detergent) but it all does seem a bit odd. I've abused previous bikes far worse and never seen anything like this. Would the bike shop (evans) have lubed the chain in the service? Should they have?

2. When I turn the bike up and down, pedal forwards a bit and let it freewheel the rear cassette can be seen to move from side to side as the back wheel rotates. Not that much, maybe half a centimeter at most. Is this normal? It doesn't seem to do it when you pedal forwards.

3. When the bike is under load and moving (i.e. when I sit on it and ride) there's a constant intermittent squeak which I initially put down to the disk brakes binding but now don't think so, the sound stays when the brakes are applied. Possibly coming from the rear wheel, though as i have to ride it and it's quite hight pitched it is rather difficult to pinpoint.

I know I should (and will) take it back to the shop, I'm just looking for a few early opinions and some things to suggest to them.

Thanks in advance

nicklouse

chains tend to be cheap and rust on new bikes.

cassettes do wobble.

noise get the shop to sort it.

jayson

Ive never known a cassette to wobble nick care to enlighten me on this genuinely unknown fact??

nicklouse

just about evey cassette i have seen has had a wobble in it. the wobble comes from the freehub.

better the quality of the wheel the less the chance of the wobble.

jayson

You've genuinely taught me somethin there nick, ive never known or seen a wobbly cassette but i bow down to ur superior knowledge here.

Just dont let Sonic know or he mite get abit jealous :P

nicklouse

jason next time you are in that bike shop by the recycling center on the ring road back pedal a few of their bikes and watch the cassette wobble.

nicklouse

i should also say that the finish on some of the cogs can make it look like a wobble.

jayson

That would be York Cycleworks, a good shop but they're range is limited to Marin (:D ) and Trek mountain bikes.

nicklouse

nope the "cycle" shop halfords.

cycle works seem a bit Odd to me. not that i go in there that often.

jayson

nicklouse wrote:

nope the "cycle" shop halfords.

Theres no need to swear lol

nicklouse

just had a look at my XT cassette on a 6drive hub no wobble.

davethejackal

nicklouse wrote:

just had a look at my XT cassette on a 6drive hub no wobble.

It only seems to wobble when freewheeling, otherwise nothing, it seems ok.

The cogs are stationary so it seems unlikely it's the finish. Lemme see if I can do a movie.

mongoose rider

mine do that as well for some reasen on my mongoose

nicklouse

davethejackal wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

just had a look at my XT cassette on a 6drive hub no wobble.

It only seems to wobble when freewheeling, otherwise nothing, it seems ok.

The cogs are stationary so it seems unlikely it's the finish. Lemme see if I can do a movie.

same as back pedaling and it is normal.i would say that nost bikes with a shimano or shimano style free hub do this.

davethejackal

nicklouse wrote:

davethejackal wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

just had a look at my XT cassette on a 6drive hub no wobble.

It only seems to wobble when freewheeling, otherwise nothing, it seems ok.

The cogs are stationary so it seems unlikely it's the finish. Lemme see if I can do a movie.

same as back pedaling and it is normal.i would say that nost bikes with a shimano or shimano style free hub do this.

I am a but surprised that the chain rusted too - it may not be top of the range but it's an LX/X0 chain set. I get the impression they didn't lube the chain on its first.

I'm just a bit surprise that all this happens on a £1600 bike.

nicklouse

LX/XO says it all what a miss match.

i bet to get the XO on they have the lowest spec chain. what is the chain?

jayson

Just ditch the crappy shimano chain and get urself a decent SRAM one, the PC971 is a good chain and does seem to shift better than a shimano equivalent although this could just be a psychological thing...

I've had 3 so far and ive had no complaints, the powerlink is genius idea that once u use it you'll wonder how u ever managed without it

nicklouse

just had a look at the spec on treks site

LX for all except the rear mech XT and the sram cassette no mention of the chain.

davethejackal

nicklouse wrote:

just had a look at the spec on treks site

LX for all except the rear mech XT and the sram cassette no mention of the chain.

Nah, I have the 2007 model:

# Frame: ZR 9000 Aluminium with 90mm travel
# Forks: Fox 32 F100 RL with air pressure compression and rebound adjustment. Lockout and 100mm travel
# Gears: Shimano LX front and SRAM X-0 rear derailleurs
# Shifters: SRAM X-7
# Freewheel Sram PG950 11-34, 9spd
# Chainset: Shimano LX with 44/32/22 tooth chainrings
# Brakes: Avid Juicy 5 hydraulic discs with 6 inch rotors
# Wheels: Bontrager Race wheelset
# Tyres: Bontrager Jones ACX folding
# Handlebars: Bontrager Race Lite
# Stem: Bontrager Race
# Saddle: Bontrager Race
# Seatpost: Bontrager Race
# Pedals/Extras: Shimano 520 clipless pedals

nicklouse

again no chain listed. will be a cheapy.

davethejackal

nicklouse wrote:

again no chain listed. will be a cheapy.

Aye ok, fair enough. WIll a new chain not chew up the cogs since they've had a couple of hundred miles of riding now?

nicklouse

nope you will not have worn then in that much yet.

deanvw

isnt it suposed to to make shifting smoother?

supersonic

The chain is one part of an, erm, chain of parts invloved in shifting.

jayson

I still say that SRAM chains shift smoother than shimano jobbies though and the power link is a godsend when it comes to cleaning.