Noticed a slight wobble of the wheel, sounds like the ball bearings have a need for love, but since I've never taken apart a freewheel, what do you think I need? (Aside from taking down the cassette)
I suppose this is not meant to happen
byu/actLikeApidgeon inbikewrench
by actLikeApidgeon
8 Comments
Tighten the axle, if it’s loose bearings inside, then it’s probably cup and cone bearings which is easy enough to adjust. 2 spinners is all you need, just make sure it isn’t too tight
That’s a casette, not a free wheel. The wobble is because your cone nuts are not properly tightened against the bearings. You need speciality tools to remove casette. Should probably go to a bicycle shop, easy fix. You might need to replace bearings and potentially cone nuts and races as well
If you have disc brakes youll need a way to remove the rotor to set the tension after, a fairly thin 15 or 17mm wrench to set the tension is also good to have. If you find water has penetrated you need to check for pitting, other than that id grease it up put the balls back in and tension correctly, lots of good videos online for this sort of thing.
I hade a similar problem and waited to long = new wheel was necessary.
Visit a reputable shop. Rear hub adjust 25$. May charge 15$ more for cassette install, because it needs to be removed.
Good catch, hopefully no permanent damage yet.
I’d overhaul the hub/axle bearings asap.
If you have a pair of cone spanners & a cassette removal tool the chances are all that needs is a clean & regrease. First time it’s a bit fiddly but once you have done it a couple of times its a 10 minute job.
There are loads of decent videos on YouTube showing you how to regrease & agjust cup & cone bearings.
Dudes ive pulled bikes from embankments drain ditches sticker bushes the sides of barns that were 30 years old and pulled the axels cleaned em up and flung a fingers dip of grease set the cones and rolled like a marble on glass.
If you happen to actually run into pitting or exessive gunked up barrings and race pack a bunch of toothpaste or polishing goo and spin em up or ride on em and snug them a tiny bit not binding but not free and then pull em and clean up with a splash of vinegar then grease and go. Hit your local thrift stores and find the box with all the blade wrenches for various saws and power tools, find the one for pedals 5/8 or 9/16 then find some for cones 11 mm 7/16 1/2 13 mm if theyre as-smidge small a file will fix ya in a few swipes and often times theyll give these away at yard sales or get all 5 or 6 for a buck