Rear Axel

in message <[email hidden]>, Mac ([email hidden]'😉

Quoted message said:

After putting my slicks on today, I span the rear wheel using the
pedals, when freewheeling the pedals moved back and forth, only a
couple of degrees.

Is this the sign of a bent axel? I noticed the cogs werent exactly
parallel with the wheel.

Do you mean the pedals moved from side to side relative to the bike? If
so, did the left pedal also move when you moved the right and vice
versa?

If you can move just one pedal (and crank) from side to side a bit you've
got a loose crank. That's easy, just tighten it up. If both move
together, you've got something wrong with your bottom bracket. Take it
out and service it, or, if it's cartridge type, throw it away and get a
new one (they aren't that expensive).

It's very hard to bend a bottom bracket axle.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; MS Windows: A thirty-two bit extension ... to a sixteen bit
;; patch to an eight bit operating system originally coded for a
;; four bit microprocessor and sold by a two-bit company that
;; can't stand one bit of competition -- anonymous

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Mac
([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Quoted message said:

Do you mean the pedals moved from side to side relative to the bike?
If so, did the left pedal also move when you moved the right and vice
versa?

If you can move just one pedal (and crank) from side to side a bit
you've got a loose crank. That's easy, just tighten it up. If both
move together, you've got something wrong with your bottom bracket.
Take it out and service it, or, if it's cartridge type, throw it away
and get a new one (they aren't that expensive).

It's very hard to bend a bottom bracket axle.

The pedals move back and forth rather than side to side as though the chain
is pulling and pushing.

Woady

in message <[email hidden]>, Mac ([email hidden]'😉

Quoted message said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Mac
([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Do you mean the pedals moved from side to side relative to the bike?
If so, did the left pedal also move when you moved the right and vice
versa?

If you can move just one pedal (and crank) from side to side a bit
you've got a loose crank. That's easy, just tighten it up. If both
move together, you've got something wrong with your bottom bracket.
Take it out and service it, or, if it's cartridge type, throw it away
and get a new one (they aren't that expensive).

It's very hard to bend a bottom bracket axle.

The pedals move back and forth rather than side to side as though the
chain is pulling and pushing.

Ah! Sorry, I misunderstood. Yes, almost certainly your rear axle is bent,
although it's possible if you have a freewheel tyre hub that the
freewheel is crossthreaded - I've seen that before. In any case, not
complex or expensive to fix.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Human history becomes more and more a race between
;; education and catastrophe.
H.G. Wells, "The Outline of History"

Followed by front triple Salchow? ;-)

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Mac ([email hidden]'😉

Quoted message said:

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Mac
([email hidden]'😉 wrote:

Do you mean the pedals moved from side to side relative to the bike?
If so, did the left pedal also move when you moved the right and vice
versa?

If you can move just one pedal (and crank) from side to side a bit
you've got a loose crank. That's easy, just tighten it up. If both
move together, you've got something wrong with your bottom bracket.
Take it out and service it, or, if it's cartridge type, throw it away
and get a new one (they aren't that expensive).

It's very hard to bend a bottom bracket axle.

The pedals move back and forth rather than side to side as though the
chain is pulling and pushing.

Ah! Sorry, I misunderstood. Yes, almost certainly your rear axle is bent,
although it's possible if you have a freewheel tyre hub that the
freewheel is crossthreaded - I've seen that before. In any case, not
complex or expensive to fix.

The rear axle may well be bent, but it won't be the cause of the pedal
movement because the axle doesn't move...

The movement of the chain & pedals is caused by one of the moving parts
being not quite concentric with the axle. This is usually the
block/casette/freewheel. If the movement is only slight, this is
perfectly normal, and causes no problems or inefficiency. If the pedal
movement is large, or you can see the cogs on the cassette moving side
to side (like a top spinning slightly off axis) then something isn't
seated quite right - possibly the crossthreading Simon mentioned.

HTH

THe Luggage