Got an old beater bike. The chain skips frequently under load and it makes lots of noise. I was working on getting it to stop dragging against the derailleur guides when I noticed the whole rear cassette wobbles when coasting. How much of a problem is that? Can I ignore it?
Gut tells me this isn't quite right. Relatively new to wrenching on these
byu/bluejay__04 inbikewrench
by bluejay__04
12 Comments
Go to a bike shop and get a spacer for the cassette. They usually come in a variety of thickness 1mm onwards. Try to figure out how thick you need yours.
The wobble of your freewheel is absolutely normal. They are cheap and aged components. But if it is skipping when pedaling it is likely done and worn.
That is VERY normal on a freewheel hub. It’s just a low tolerance thing with all the different things being on slightly different axes
if RD is properly set up, then likely freewheel is toast at load. Just visually, those teeth look worn. Not uncommon.
Chain skipping could be from a few things:
1. Worn chain
2. Worn cassette/freewheel. You have a freewheel on this bike. Google the different. Chain and cassette wear together. If you wait too long to replace your chain, you’ll have to replace your cassette.
3. Poor derailleur adjustment/b-screw adjustment.
Most likely, you need all the above.
The wobbling while coasting is unfortunately pretty normal. Brand new ones out of the box would often do that.
Source: Former bike mechanic
That is not a casette but a freewheel. A cheap one quality wise, but also a cheap one to replace. From the looks of your smallest cog, it’s worn. In needs to be replaced together with the chain.
Your bearings are probaly toast. Is the cassette loose by hand?
As others have said the wobble is normal for those freewheels and isn’t a problem. It is a pure chinesium freewheel so the quality is not going to be the best.
But the rear derailleur setup looks really off. The distance from the jockey wheels to the high gear is really far. Go check out parktools for some guidance on how to set/reset the rear shifting. That looks like a counterfeit “shimano” RD.
Those are super cheap to replace, after you’ve tried to dial in the shifting and the RD position.
Totally normal!
Perfectly normal in New components. Every so often put few drops of motor oil in there while wheel is horizontal. Rotate it few times before standing up.
Freewheels float like that, especially the cheapies.
A bent or broken axle can cause that wobble.
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