Wheels Wheel has slight wobble?

[Hajuu]

Hey guys

Im not sure if this is the right section for this, so if its not feel free to move it or tell me, cheers!

Basically my rear wheel has always had a slight side to side wobble ever since I bought the bike.

It's not a huge problem as its not big enough for it to hit anything, but im afraid that combined with some heavy breaking its going to end up doing severe damage to my wheel over time, not to mention giving the ride a really soft feel

Anyone know how to tighten this up, as im not sure how the whole lockring/freewheel/axle system works.

Cheers.

 

[will_start]

Wheels can be balanced to remove wobble. (ask a bike shop guy)

I got a tool from a bike-shop, as I knew the motor would damage the wheel.
I tried to do mine (balancing) and sorta just tightened everything, and still had the wobble.

I put super-glue into the spokes at the wheel.
To stop the nuts "untightening".

They are not called nuts, just what I call em.

I ran that wobbly wheel for a long time.
Still worked fine.

Saftefy first, I bought a new wheel, then an electric bike...

 

[Hajuu]

hmmm, actually seems to be quite bad, even backing the wheel out to the max now (furthest back in the mounting seats so its in the widest part of the frame) doesnt completely eliminate rub.

Got a spare wheel hub thats in much better shape, going to swap it over tomorrow night probably.

 

[professor]

How about buying a spoke wrench and learning how to make the rim run true.
It is not that hard to do. Probably is a video on utube somewhere.
Spoke wrenches are inexpensive.
I set the wheel in an old fork into my workbench vise (spread the tubes some for a rear wheel).
Spin it and watch where it is closest to an edge. Tighten the spokes that pull opposite a little bit (how about a 1/2 turn at the center of the wobble, and a lesser amount where the wobble tapers off). When you get the hang of it- begin to look at the vertical run-out, in that case, you tighten the spokes at the highest spot or loosen the lowest ones.
Grab some spokes on a newer bike with your hand and see how tight they feel.
I shoot for a tension just under that (I don't know if it is right or wrong, but feel over tension is worse than under). My 2 cents.
I have straightened many wheels, even heavy curb hits on "Curb sale" (trash) bikes where I literally pounded the aluminum straight enough to be trued. No problem.
Give it a shot.

 

[DougC]

"Wheel wobble" is not real descriptive.

First you need to determine if it's just a bad tire, or the actual rim that is bent.

If it's the tire, just get another tire. If it's a bent rim you *may* be able to true the wheel to counteract it. I say "may" because this can involve tightening some of the spokes a LOT, and cheap wheels (and spokes) often will not take that well.

A good name-brand of spoke wrench will prevent you from chewing up the spoke nipples. DO NOT use pliers or a regular wrench as the nipples are brass or aluminum, and will get chewed and rounded off very easily if the wrench is not set at the exact width. .....Another way to avoid the chewing without a spoke wrench is to take the tire, tube and rim-band off, and then the spokes all have a flat screwdriver slot on the butt end (the end that sticks inside the rim, where the tire covers up).
~

 

[Hajuu]

Nah it's very bad now, probably because I didn't even realise that there was a problem until it was quite bad, plus it always had two broken spokes (It was just a cheap second hand bike).

I'm not one to give up but if I have a spare thats in perfect condition just sitting around, it seems like a no brainer . Also: I did know how to do that already (not that I ever have) but thanks heaps for trying to help

Plus it turns out I actually did the rubber gasket that attaches it to the spokes slightly 'wrong' - it's entirely effective, but meh, might as well fix it while im at it.

 

[Bozanceroz]

when the wheel is usually wobbly for me i just tighten up the lock bolt nuts just a bit on the actual rim itself and it fixes the problem

 

[Esteban]

To ME, wobble can be describing a warped rim/wheel that just needs truing using a spoke wrench ; a wheel that is loose at the axle bearing nuts ; or an incorrectly seated tire. If you have been riding with missing spokes you are doing more damage to the wheel , & the first description above may be the problem. It CAN collapse & throw you off the bike !! Needs to be fixed or replaced.

 

[Hajuu]

A spoke wrench probably could have fixed it, but like I say it wasn't going to be worth it. The tire was well seated, the bearing casings were correctly tightened, etc.

Yeah I think thats the whole problem - I didn't notice it until it was so bad that it was un-ridable.

Thanks for the help anyway guys, the new rim is in and working a lot nicer already.. I always thought it was normal for the ride to feel a bit soft, now I realise its not.

Just a quick question though, when turning corners, is it ok to ride it motorbike style, and lean around the corners while giving the wheel acceleration? I've been riding it like that since the start but it occurred to me that it might have partly been the cause of the wheel going bad?

 

[Hajuu]

Hmm. After readjusting my wheel and tensioner again (my new ones), i've run into an interesting problem..

Basically, with my old wheel, the hub was a uniform size which allowed me to slide the drive sprocket right upto the edge of the wheel. On this one, the hub was non-uniform in size, and thus I had to use the rubber gasket between the sprocket and the spokes/hub.

Now however, the chain even running the tensioner very close to the rear sprocket, I still get barely any clearance between the frame and the chain, and it also doesnt seem to like the angle the tensioner is on either.

The clearance of the chain seems to me to be ok, the tensioner is maybe a bit of a tight fit but it doesnt seem like itd cause any terrible issues.

Now my symptoms of the problem are that when I start riding, I am met with a very shakey, shuddery ride, with kind of like, smaller bursts of power. At higher speeds this becomes nothing and it runs as normal.

As far as I can tell there are three possible causes but im unsure as to which it is most likely to be..

1. The rear drive sprocket isnt 100% true
2. The chain is too tight
3. The tensioner isnt at the right angle and is causing the chain to stick, but power through it at higher speeds.

Any ideas?