Real wheel drifts/moves...side to side

myc1972 said:

Hey guys,
I just bought a used 15 speed Huffy bike. When i took it
home i noticed that the rear wheel moves/drifts from right to left side
of the fork.
What do you guys think is wrong? Bent wheel? bad berrings?
bad alignment?

What could be the fixes?

Thanks for your help!

Do you mean that it wobbles as it spins? (1)
or the wheel as a whole slides from left to right (2)

(1) - your wheel is not true. A shop can true (straighten) both wheels
for about 10 bucks. Basically, the tension in the spokes are unequally
pulling on the rim.
(2) - you've got a big problem of which I've never heard

--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
..:change the words numbers
if you want to reply to me:.

"myc1972" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:1124684906.960571.79260
@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

Hey guys,
I just bought a used 15 speed Huffy bike. When i took it
home i noticed that the rear wheel moves/drifts from right to left side
of the fork.
What do you guys think is wrong? Bent wheel? bad berrings?
bad alignment?

What could be the fixes?

Thanks for your help!

If you can wiggle it back and forth, it could be loose bearings. More
likely, it's an out-of-true rim, if it's bending is consistent in the
wheel's rotation (that is, say, always over to the right at the valve stem,
to the left 90 deg later, etc).

A bike shop may be able to straighten it by adjusting the spoke tension,
but may not be able to, especially if the rim is steel. If they can, expect
to pay $15-$25 for such service. Don't be surprised if they try to sell you
a new wheel, likely for more than you paid for the bike. They're not trying
to swindle you, they just won't have anything as low-end as what was stock
on a 15-speed Huffy.

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 00:36:37 -0400, Paul Hobson <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

myc1972 said:

Hey guys,
I just bought a used 15 speed Huffy bike. When i took it
home i noticed that the rear wheel moves/drifts from right to left side
of the fork.
What do you guys think is wrong? Bent wheel? bad berrings?
bad alignment?

Quoted message said:

Do you mean that it wobbles as it spins? (1)
or the wheel as a whole slides from left to right (2)

or if you wiggle the wheel at the rim, it moves from side to side at the
rim while the hub stays more or less in place (3)

Quoted message said:

(1) - your wheel is not true. A shop can true (straighten) both wheels
for about 10 bucks. Basically, the tension in the spokes are unequally
pulling on the rim.
(2) - you've got a big problem of which I've never heard

(3) Your wheel bearings are maladjusted, and this has probably destroyed
at least the cones by now. If you're lucky the cups will be reusable.

Jasper

Hank Wirtz said:

A bike shop may be able to straighten it by adjusting the spoke tension,
but may not be able to, especially if the rim is steel. If they can, expect

Uhm? You can true steel rims just fine.

Jasper

"Jasper Janssen" wrote: Uhm? You can true steel rims just fine.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A spoke wrench is very inexpensive. If the wheel is out as much as you say,
you should be able to improve it a LOT in just a few minutes--and then spend
a couple of hours trying to get it perfect. But then, who needs perfect on
a Huffy?

"Leo Lichtman" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Jasper Janssen" wrote: Uhm? You can true steel rims just fine.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A spoke wrench is very inexpensive. If the wheel is out as much as you

say,

Quoted message said:

you should be able to improve it a LOT in just a few minutes--and then

spend

Quoted message said:

a couple of hours trying to get it perfect. But then, who needs perfect

on

Quoted message said:

a Huffy?

You should not make it perfect, it voids the warrantee.

Jasper Janssen <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Uhm? You can true steel rims just fine.

Jasper

I'd say it depends on how badly bent it is.

Sure, you can true it, but will it stay true? Will spokes break or pull out
because of the enormous amount of tension keeping a springy rim in a shape
it doesn't want to be?

Did a previous owner try to true it himself using the closest thing most
Huffy owners have to a spoke wrench (that is to say, a pair of vise-grips)?
How many nipples had their flats rounded in the process? That was pretty
much par for the course for department-store bikes during my stint as a
wrench in the late-'80s.

Your milage may vary.

"Hank Wirtz" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jasper Janssen <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Uhm? You can true steel rims just fine.

Jasper

I'd say it depends on how badly bent it is.

Sure, you can true it, but will it stay true? Will spokes break or pull
out
because of the enormous amount of tension keeping a springy rim in a shape
it doesn't want to be?

(clip) Did a previous owner try to true it himself using the closest thing
most Huffy owners have to a spoke wrench (that is to say, a pair of
vise-grips)? (clip)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A friend of mine tried to sighten the spokes on his MGB wire wheels.
Failing to turn the spoke nipples, he snapped a pair of Vise-grips on the
SPOKES, and tried to turn them. OY!

It's #1,
It wobbles as it spins.

Thanks everyone for being so helpful!

myc1972 said:

Hey guys,
I just bought a used 15 speed Huffy bike. When i took it
home i noticed that the rear wheel moves/drifts from right to left side
of the fork.
What do you guys think is wrong? Bent wheel? bad berrings?
bad alignment?

What could be the fixes?

Sell the Huffy to Ron Hardin and buy something better.

--
Sniper Anon

I ended up buying a new wheel. The
original one was bent beyond repair.

Thanks all for your help.