Hi everyone, the front wheel of my Brompton seems to have a lot of play in it left to right. A tightening of the bolts doesn’t improve it. Looks like it’s the hub, it’s done just over 800 miles mostly ridden around London. Any thoughts on how terminal this is for the wheel?
by NoWill4NoWay
3 Comments
It wont be great, get the bearing sorted as soon as. Mine has much less play than this but given its use im getting it done so it doesn’t get any worse
It’s the cup and cones that need titening. Take the wheel off. There will be nuts either side tighten them up and that will sort it out. Check back wheel too.
When you say you have tightened the bolts, I assume you mean you have tightened the axle nuts that hold the wheel in place. To me, given the relatively low mileage it looks like your hub cone bearings are loose and need adjustment. This is is something you can potentially do yourself (search YouTube for videos on how to adjust hub cone bearings and you’ll find plenty of videos), but you will likely need at least one cone wrench (preferably two).
It should be a cheap and quick fix at a bike shop as long as you haven’t ridden too far since it started wobbling. I recommend that you stop riding this until it has been fixed, otherwise it may damage the hubs (which will be a much more expensive repair).