Excuse my inexpert definition, but this is what is happenning:
Having just bought a Radford Utopia (Claud Butler Urban 300 rebadged, very reasonably priced from Car and Cycle) i have been puzzled by some apparent friction in the drivetrain. When I put the bike inverted on my workbench and made the back wheel rotate, the rear sprockets (cassette) seem to wiggle - not much, but perceptably. 1. Is this normal? 2. Have I managed to bend the back axle already - things are not always 'strong enough' for me 3. Can I fix it without replacing everything? 4. Does it matter? 5. Should I expect this from a 'cheap' bike
Excuse my inexpert definition, but this is what is happenning:
Having just bought a Radford Utopia (Claud Butler Urban 300 rebadged, very reasonably priced from Car and Cycle) i have been puzzled by some apparent friction in the drivetrain. When I put the bike inverted on my workbench and made the back wheel rotate, the rear sprockets (cassette) seem to wiggle - not much, but perceptably. 1. Is this normal? 2. Have I managed to bend the back axle already - things are not always 'strong enough' for me 3. Can I fix it without replacing everything? 4. Does it matter? 5. Should I expect this from a 'cheap' bike
Excuse my inexpert definition, but this is what is happenning:
Having just bought a Radford Utopia (Claud Butler Urban 300 rebadged, very reasonably priced from Car and Cycle) i have been puzzled by some apparent friction in the drivetrain. When I put the bike inverted on my workbench and made the back wheel rotate, the rear sprockets (cassette) seem to wiggle - not much, but perceptably. 1. Is this normal?
It's common and is not necessarily a problem at all - probably not related to the friction. See: tinyurl.com2xhvmOpen ↗ (and similar searches).
Quoted message said:
2. Have I managed to bend the back axle already - things are not always 'strong enough' for me
Having just bought a Radford Utopia (Claud Butler Urban 300 rebadged, very reasonably priced from Car and Cycle) i have been puzzled by some apparent friction in the drivetrain.
When and how is that noticeable? Could it just be the seals?
Quoted message said:
When I put the bike inverted on my workbench and made the back wheel rotate, the rear sprockets (cassette) seem to wiggle - not much, but perceptably.
I think it's ususally caused by the freehub being slightly off-centre on the hub from manufacturing imperfection. It only takes a tiny amount to cause a wobble. Sprockets can also be slightly warped. Plus there's an optical illusion of wiggling from the special sprocket teeth. None of this matters as the chain will still track the cogs. Won't cause friction normally.
Excuse my inexpert definition, but this is what is happenning:
Having just bought a Radford Utopia (Claud Butler Urban 300 rebadged, very reasonably priced from Car and Cycle) i have been puzzled by some apparent friction in the drivetrain. When I put the bike inverted on my workbench
and
Quoted message said:
made the back wheel rotate, the rear sprockets (cassette) seem to wiggle - not much, but perceptably. 1. Is this normal? 2. Have I managed to bend the back axle already - things are not always 'strong enough' for me 3. Can I fix it without replacing everything? 4. Does it matter? 5. Should I expect this from a 'cheap' bike
I've seen bikes delivered to the customer with the cassette not tightened properly, creating the kind of wiggle yu describe. I've also pulled new bikes out of the shipping carton with extremely loose freehubs. With these it was necessary to remove the rear axle, tighten the freehub, and reassemble the rear axle. Both scenarios are, IMO, more likely with a "cheap bike" than an expensive bike, although the loose cassette scenario happened with a bike retailing for US$1000 (GBP 500+?). Take the bike back, show them the problem, and ask them politely to fix it. If they cannot or will not fix it, find a more competent LBS (somehow the name Car and Cycle does not bring to mind a specialist cycle shop) and give them your business in the future. -- mark
Excuse my inexpert definition, but this is what is happenning:
Having just bought a Radford Utopia (Claud Butler Urban 300 rebadged, very reasonably priced from Car and Cycle) i have been puzzled by some apparent friction in the drivetrain. When I put the bike inverted on my workbench and made the back wheel rotate, the rear sprockets (cassette) seem to wiggle - not much, but perceptably. 1. Is this normal?
Yes. Freewheel bearings are not made to fine tolerances!
Quoted message said:
2. Have I managed to bend the back axle already - things are not always 'strong enough' for me
Try getting the bearing locknut *very* tight. This compresses any spacers on the axle and makes it stronger. I've bent solid axles but not QR axles.
Ahh!!! that explains it, and makes me feel much better - Obviously what I thought was a wiggle is correctly known as a wobble. Thank you Tony and Pete, and I shall wiggle no more.
Pete Biggs said:
Robin Walker said:
Excuse my inexpert definition, but this is what is happenning:
Having just bought a Radford Utopia (Claud Butler Urban 300 rebadged, very reasonably priced from Car and Cycle) i have been puzzled by some apparent friction in the drivetrain. When I put the bike inverted on my workbench and made the back wheel rotate, the rear sprockets (cassette) seem to wiggle - not much, but perceptably. 1. Is this normal?
It's common and is not necessarily a problem at all - probably not related to the friction. See: tinyurl.com2xhvmOpen ↗ (and similar searches).
Quoted message said:
2. Have I managed to bend the back axle already - things are not always 'strong enough' for me
There's no need for the "very". Nut or axle thread could strip if you go too far. Been there, done that (axle), unfortunately.
OK...tighter than most people get them ;-) The idea is that the spacer effectively becomes part of the axle; the resulting assembly is both stiffer and stronger than the rather vulnerable length of axle between the RH bearing and the dropout, which is where solid axles usually bend.
Pete Biggs <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Zog The Undeniable said:
Try getting the bearing locknut *very* tight. This compresses any spacers on the axle and makes it stronger.
There's no need for the "very". Nut or axle thread could strip if you go too far. Been there, done that (axle), unfortunately.
I've seen it happen as well. Bloke takes bike to shop immediately before tour in Spain, flies off, 30 miles down the road, his back wheel will hardly turn as the cone has wound itself into the bearings. Communal pooling of tools and roadside hub dismantling reveals the stripped axle thread under the locknut. We had to bridge the stripped thread with the cone and respace the axle to get to the next town, where it was a new wheel.
Moral: always give yourself at least 2 weeks of regular riding between any work on the bike and setting off on holiday (tyres/tubes excepted).
