Lateral movement in a wheel

blorg

Stuck my rear wheel back on after a puncture this evening and noticed there was a fair bit of lateral movement - any idea what this could be? Hub? Skewer? Something else? QR is nice and tight.

nicklouse

cones lose and they need tightening?

what hub? is it a cone and cup bearing type?

how too here http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=105

JWSurrey

What type of hub do you have on your wheel, and was the lateral movement there before the puncture, or only afterwards?
Sounds like you have servicable bearing&cone type hubs (i.e. Not sealed cartridge type hubs), and the cones need tightening.

If you haven't serviced them for a while, or had them serviced, then it's worth taking the hub apart and giving the bearings and contact surfaces a good clean up and re-grease.
Park Tool website has some good instructions for things like this.
You'll need some cone spanners, or thin spanners, and something to keep the bearings in too - In case the drive and non drive side bearings are different sizes, it's a good idea to keep them separate, and count them out and back in again.
You'll also need a tool to remove your cassette.
Grease-wise, something like Liquid Molybdenum is good stuff, or Lithium grease - though this can be a bit too light.

Obviously, this all assumes you have servicable hubs, and if you're not sure and don't want to spend the weekend chasing ball bearings and spending money on tools, then it could be a trip to the local bike shop mechanic!

Edit: Ah - I see i've been beaten to the reply button!

blorg

Thanks guys, after I posted I went down to give it a good fiddle and am pretty sure it is the hub all right. They are entry-level factory-built wheels (Bontrager Select) - not sure if the hubs are servicable, I'll check with the bike shop tomorrow.

From the diagram in my Zinn book the hub looks like the one he has illustrated with cartridge bearings (it has the sort of conical cap/dust seal.) But there is bit that looks like it might take a cone wrench too- I'll be asking in the bike shop ;-)

It's entirely possible that the play was there before I had the puncture and I didn't notice, but last puncture before that was only a month ago and it wasn't there then.

blorg

Oh, quick question- am I at risk of completely ruining anything by cycling it in its present condition? I could always just bring the wheel to the shop (have another bike.)

nicklouse

I would not use the wheel until the problem was know.

With what info there is. you could damage the hub.