Rear Wheel is killing me

fanatic

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I have tried for a couple of hours now to line up the rag mount with the rear sprocket. The rubber plates make the screws go crooked and then the metal plates overlap on themselves.

Does anyone have any tricks? I am so ****ed right now I had to take a break.

On another note-This wheel has 12 gage spokes and a freewheel hub. The hub is a lot skinnier than a coaster break. I am assuming that this will not be a problem?

Aaron
 
I have tried for a couple of hours now to line up the rag mount with the rear sprocket. The rubber plates make the screws go crooked and then the metal plates overlap on themselves.

Does anyone have any tricks? I am so ****ed right now I had to take a break.

On another note-This wheel has 12 gage spokes and a freewheel hub. The hub is a lot skinnier than a coaster break. I am assuming that this will not be a problem?
Some of the kits have rubber plates with too small of a bolt hole diameter
that doesn't line up with the sprocket or metal plates.
Just more crappy quality control.
You just have to fight it. Grinding down the ends of the plates may help
to make them fit so they don't overlap?

The only manufacturer to make custom sized sprocket hub adapters for
freewheel hubs as small as 0.9" is Manic Mechanic.
Makes a true running install easy and lets you change sprockets fast too.

What is 2 hours of your time worth? :devilish:
 
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Plates

Hi. I got my plates to line up several times gotta go 1 bolt at a time slowly and help the plates. this last time mine did'nt line up but O whell it'll work for me.
You might have to cut, grind,saw em to get it to work.
 
Rear sprocket

Hey fanatic,
You can order a new sprocket setup complete. It will come as a matched set. But as long as you're not pushing a bolt into a spoke, you can use a common (flat) screwdriver to pry the plates in to place. It's only pushing against rubber. Just be very carefull that you're not also pushing those bolts against the spokes. That could couse a spoke, or spokes to break, being under pressure, while riding.
Big Red.
 
Thanks for the heads up. I am at work right now, so I can have one of our mechanics grind it down a little. I am only missing it by a centimeter...

Will I be okay with the skinny hub?
 
I have tried for a couple of hours now to line up the rag mount with the rear sprocket. The rubber plates make the screws go crooked and then the metal plates overlap on themselves.

Does anyone have any tricks? I am so ****ed right now I had to take a break.

On another note-This wheel has 12 gage spokes and a freewheel hub. The hub is a lot skinnier than a coaster break. I am assuming that this will not be a problem?

Aaron

After installing a few dozen of these I found the following method best:
Lock the right side of the axle in a vice so you can spin the wheel;
Put the 9 bolts through the sprocket and push one of the rubber clamps over the bolts with, perhaps, one metal bracket between the sprocket and the rubber for spacing (optional);
Push the sprocket and bolts and rubber assembly through the spokes and hold it there,
Take the other rubber which has to be cut through to get it around inside of hub;
Prise the rubber over the bolt ends working your way around all 9 bolts in sequence;
Push the rubber in towards the sprocket so the sprocket stays on the wheel by itself and exposes as much bolt thread as possibe;
Attach the metal clamps as you need them. To get them to fit without overlap use a sharp screwdriver to push the high bit away until it pops down flush with its neighbour;
Put a flat washer and a split washer on each bolt and using a ring spanner to hold the nut against the bolt end;
Turn the bolt onto each nut using a square drive ratchet wrench - it's easier than turning the nut onto the bolt;
Tighten each nut only very slightly and put the bolts on in a cross patter to maintain a good fit;
With all nuts slightly tight, centre the sprocket by eye then spin the wheel and check for up and down movement against a background object;
Tap the high bits down until the sprocket has no hop (up and down movement);
Then tighten each nut gradually in a cross sequence to eliminate vertical misalignment (wobble);
Patience is the key and it is an easy operation;
Towards the end is the time to eliminate wobble by tightening and loosening but you can do it just by tightening.
You need vice because you need to spin the wheel as you go.
Place a mat under you to catch washers and nuts that you drop.
Job done!
 
Truly if you want a trouble free rear spocket adapter , like someone said in a earlier post, go to the Manic Mechanic website and check out their hub adapters. if you hub meets their criteria (every detail is explained) just go for it -you wont be sorry. i tried the rag joint at first it is a pain in the arse. it will never get perfectly true and you always have to make sure the bolts stay tight, the fiber pads keep copressing, it is a pain. Luckly my hub was ok for the MM adapter, it is simple to install, i have absolute perfect chain alignment and have never had to mess with it again. I switch between a 40T and a 44T from time to time. depending on where i ride and to change gears takes 10 min. I am endorsing the MM adapter cuz i have one on my bike and if it could help save another MB a world of headace itd be worth it.
RIDE ON
 
After installing a few dozen of these I found the following method best:
Lock the right side of the axle in a vice so you can spin the wheel;
Put the 9 bolts through the sprocket and push one of the rubber clamps over the bolts with, perhaps, one metal bracket between the sprocket and the rubber for spacing (optional);
Push the sprocket and bolts and rubber assembly through the spokes and hold it there,
Take the other rubber which has to be cut through to get it around inside of hub;
Prise the rubber over the bolt ends working your way around all 9 bolts in sequence;
Push the rubber in towards the sprocket so the sprocket stays on the wheel by itself and exposes as much bolt thread as possibe;
Attach the metal clamps as you need them. To get them to fit without overlap use a sharp screwdriver to push the high bit away until it pops down flush with its neighbour;
Put a flat washer and a split washer on each bolt and using a ring spanner to hold the nut against the bolt end;
Turn the bolt onto each nut using a square drive ratchet wrench - it's easier than turning the nut onto the bolt;
Tighten each nut only very slightly and put the bolts on in a cross patter to maintain a good fit;
With all nuts slightly tight, centre the sprocket by eye then spin the wheel and check for up and down movement against a background object;
Tap the high bits down until the sprocket has no hop (up and down movement);
Then tighten each nut gradually in a cross sequence to eliminate vertical misalignment (wobble);
Patience is the key and it is an easy operation;
Towards the end is the time to eliminate wobble by tightening and loosening but you can do it just by tightening.
You need vice because you need to spin the wheel as you go.
Place a mat under you to catch washers and nuts that you drop.
Job done!
PLEASE, go to the hardware store and get replacement bolts, washers and lock-nuts for the sprocket before you do anything. Don't use the cheap chinese bolts, nuts and washers because they will break. also invest in some blue loc-tite and use it on the bolts for the sprocket even tho you are going to use lock nuts. as a matter of fact, you should use loc-tite on as many nuts & bolts as possible and you shoud replace as many nuts & bolts as possible with higher quality ones.


well, this method works, but in some instances the rubber will make the sprocket too far out (making the chain alignment be off). it's a trial and error thing and you juyst have to mess with it.
sometimes you put the sprocket on with the dished side out and then find out later that it needs to be flipped over to get the chain alignment right.
Patience IS the key , as Irish john said, but there's also some trial and error to get it right.
you can't just go around the sprocket and tighten all of the bolts in order. you have to do a cross pattern to spread the load across the sprocket (which will help keep it straight). you also have to concentrate on trying to make the sprocket as centered on the hub as possbile so there's no up & down movenent as the sprocket spins. once you have the sprocket bolts snug, spin the wheel and watch the sprocket. if you see the sprocket going
"up & down" as the wheel spins true, then you have to adjust the sprocket and make it centered more.
These sprockets wil never be perfect on the hub because of poor machining, but you can get it very close.

as for the metal peices overlapping, i wouldn't worry about it. Mine overlap on both of my bikes and they're fine. They've been that way for about 2 -3 years....no problems.
more importantly is the bolts, nuts and washers that you use, the use of blue loc-tite, getting the sprocket as centered as possible on the hub and getting the chain alignment straight.
 
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I never said tighten bolts as you go around. I said tighten in a cross pattern. But put the bolts on initially any way you like cos you only put them on 2 turns so you can adjust the sprocket before it gets too tight. I've never had a bolt break - the force on each bolt is minimal because the rubber sandwich bears the torque forces. I agree a clamshell sprocket fix is ideal but they don't fit on geared coaster hubs or many hubs for that matter.
I use a clamshell if I can and the rubbers if I can't. I can get the rubber method pretty accurate - as accurate as a clamshell but bear in mind that all of these sprockets are not exactly round and neither are chainrings on the pedal cranks exactly round. That is how it has always been. I have had the rubber perish after 3 or 4 years but I haven't had the bolts coming loose because I don't overtighten them. If you overtighten them they will come loose and the sprocket will have more wobble from the start and the fix will not be as good as it should be. Experience is the best teacher I find. Same with truing wheel.
I make my own clamps for the big Shimano Nexus multi-geared hubs and they are pretty good if I install them myself using the method I described above. Never had one fail yet but if your hub can take a machined alloy clamp onto the hub itself then use that but no sprocket wheel is exactly round and chain tightness will vary - the key is to minimise the amount of up/down hopping during installation. Minimising the wobble is similar to truing a wheel and there's a bit of a science to it.
 
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