Wonky Hub

Clever Pun

My rear wheel as a good couple mil play in it all from the hub (being loose?) the axle is rock solid and rolling is fine but there seems to be flexibility/movement around that. I can feel it moving and it's a little disconcerting especially when redistributing my weight.

Does anyone have an idea what's happened? do I need a new hub or can it be sorted?

SimonAH

Sorry, you have me lost.

There is no play in the wheel when stationary but there is when you're rolling and move your weight around??? Are you sure this movement is from the hub? Either I've totally misunderstood or something very weird is going on here.

rjsterry

Could be the balls are shot (assuming ball & cone type hub) but that would probably feel 'gritty' or the locknuts and cones could have slackened off. I assume you're talking about a fixed rear with track nuts, so the axle would still feel solid if clamped onto the dropout, but could be slightly spreading the stays - would only need to be 1 or 2mm.

Clever Pun

It's a fixed miche hub, yes I wasn't sure if the gritty thing was the chain or not. can it be fixed?

Simon the wheel can move but the axle doesn't, it's the casing around the axle (I guess) which is loose

_Brun_

Is it not just a case of the cones needing to be tightened?

Clever Pun

_Brun_ wrote:

Is it not just a case of the cones needing to be tightened?

I don't know... kinda why I'm asking

rjsterry

If it's gritty, then balls are probably shot. The question is then whether the cones are pitted as well, or worse still, the bearing surfaces in the hub shell itself. The only way to find out is to take the whole thing apart, clean up the bearing surfaces of the cones and hub shell, and see what they look like. If they are fine, then it's just some new balls; if the cones are pitted, you'll need to replace them too. They can be a bit tricky to get hold of, and you might need to buy a whole axle assembly - for example a replacement axle and cones for my Shimano WH R550 front is £25! - but it's not difficult to do. If the hub shell bearing surfaces are pitted, then it's new hub time (and maybe new wheel if it's not worth rebuilding).

Do you have any cone spanners?

Clever Pun

Nope, I don't think I do. I've got tomorrow off so might have a fettle and if I get scared take it to the bike shop

rjsterry

It's very difficult to do without cone spanners - they are much thinner than normal spanners so that they fit into the narrow flats on the end of the cone (which should just protrude from the hub shell. If you haven't got a pair - you need two of the correct sizes (not necessarily the same size) - then it will be quicker to go straight to the LBS.

The most important thing I've learnt from adjusting hub cones is to only work on one side at a time - i.e. loosen off one locknut and cone, but leave the other cone and locknut in position on other end of the axle and just slide the whole thing out of the hub. That way you keep the position of the axle relative to the hub correct - i.e. not too much sticking out of one side of the hub.

stevec205gti

The Park Tool website is your friend.....

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/hub-overhaul-and-adjustment

redvee

rjsterry wrote:

The most important thing I've learnt from adjusting hub cones is to only work on one side at a time.

I've always worked from the non-drive side mainly from the days of having geared wheels and not having to reset the indexing.

jonginge

Definitely sounds like the cones have worked loose. I have cone spanners aplenty: back in the bad old days of freewheels I used to break axles with alarming regularity.

Clever Pun

cheers for help/suggestions guys.. I might just take it down the shop get them to fix it while look at bike porn

Clever Pun

The barings were utterly fecked.. I only bought the thing from highonbikes in december..

The chap at gb cycles couldn't quite get all the outer casing out (although he admitted he might need a new tool so I should come back when it's been delivered) so he put a new baring in as best he could so it's sitting proud. This morning road in and it was really hard work I thought it was my legs but the wobble is back and caused rubbing against the brakes, so once I loosened them it was much easier

this has prompted me to free up my old hubs and will be getting new wheels built around them shortly (recomendations for good value wheel builders accepted)

rjsterry

Clever Pun wrote:

The barings were utterly fecked.. I only bought the thing from highonbikes in december..

The chap at gb cycles couldn't quite get all the outer casing out (although he admitted he might need a new tool so I should come back when it's been delivered) so he put a new baring in as best he could so it's sitting proud. This morning road in and it was really hard work I thought it was my legs but the wobble is back and caused rubbing against the brakes, so once I loosened them it was much easier

this has prompted me to free up my old hubs and will be getting new wheels built around them shortly (recomendations for good value wheel builders accepted)

:? So does it have cartridge bearings then (like a sort of metal polo mint) rather than ball-and-cone? If it is a cartridge bearing and it was so knackered that when the chap tried to push them out the outer casing of the bearing was left behind then they were indeed properly fecked.

jonginge

Clever Pun wrote:

The barings were utterly fecked.. I only bought the thing from highonbikes in december..

The chap at gb cycles couldn't quite get all the outer casing out (although he admitted he might need a new tool so I should come back when it's been delivered) so he put a new baring in as best he could so it's sitting proud. This morning road in and it was really hard work I thought it was my legs but the wobble is back and caused rubbing against the brakes, so once I loosened them it was much easier

this has prompted me to free up my old hubs and will be getting new wheels built around them shortly (recomendations for good value wheel builders accepted)

CJCP to thread, please. CJCP to thread.

That's not great longevity on those wheels

Clever Pun

rjsterry wrote:

:? So does it have cartridge bearings then (like a sort of metal polo mint) rather than ball-and-cone? If it is a cartridge bearing and it was so knackered that when the chap tried to push them out the outer casing of the bearing was left behind then they were indeed properly fecked.

yep the polo styled ones... and yes they were trashed.

trying to contact the bike shop about it

Clever Pun

Hmmm I bought these in May.. is there any chance of getting any joy with the shop I bought them from?

Mileage is subjective