This is on a 1980s (I think) VeloSport 12 speed, which was recently restored by the person I bought it from.
I notice this wobble in the freewheel / cassette (just learning bike terminology) when the wheel is spinning.
The wheel is properly mounted in the dropouts, I believe. There is no play, or perhaps an almost imperceptible amount of play, in the hub. The wheel is slightly out of true but I don't see how that could cause this problem.
Any insight appreciated. What should I look for? How best to fix? And is it ok to ride in the meantime, until I can get to it?
Fwiw, I can be hard on bikes (and these tiny wheels) as I'm well over 250.
Thanks!
by oberlino
3 Comments
Completely normal freewheel wobble.
it’s normal and seemingly unfixable unless you go for a different set-up. i have more wobble than this and it drives me crazy and keeps me up at night, but no issues otherwise
Since you’re asking what it is, and not whether it’s normal:
If you had a freewheel hub with none of this effect, to get there you would need perfect alignment of the freewheel mounting threads on the hub shell with the axle, then the threads on the freewheel inner body would need to be perfectly aligned with its bearing system, and the cog mounting splines/threads of the freewheel outer body would need to be perfectly aligned with the bearing system. Instead one or more of these are typically not achieved, and the wobble is what results. Pressed flanged hubs get it the worst because most are garbage.
Truly nice freewheel rear ends are not that often seen these days, but have less of this. Even then, there’s usually some wobble visible.