Back wheel moves from side to side.

[gavroche]

As the title says, I have just noticed that my back wheel moves about 5 mm from side to side when I lift the bike up. When under load, it doesn't seem to move, because of my weight. What could cause this ?

 

[iluvmybike]

Your hub needs servicing or adjusting

 

[Deleted User]

As above, don't leave it too long though as all manor of crap will get in there.

 

[fossyant]

Cup and cone - I'd be cleaning out checking bearings/cones then regrease and re-adjust. If cartridge bearings, you need new bearings. Fairly straight forward job, but you'll need the bearing code off the seals.

 

[fossyant]

One of the things I like about cartridge bearings, you don't scrap the wheel if the cones or bearing surfaces have 'gone'. Despite 'formula' hubs being relatively 'cheap', I do like how easy they are for bearing replacements, including the freehub. Just replace with 'better' bearings.

 

[Sharky]

Check the rear triangle tubes for any breakages etc.

 

[ColinJ]

I had a similar problem...

I heard a bit of a clunking noise from the front of my singlespeed bike today. It sounded like a loose headset but the headset turned out to be properly adjusted and in good condition.

Further investigation revealed that the problem was the front wheel.

Take a look at these 2 photographs; specifically, the gap between the brake block and the rim as I pushed the tyre to the left and right.

View attachment 418013
View attachment 418014
There was more than 2 mm of movement in the rim.

I took the wheel off and discovered that the lock nut had come loose on one side. The hub has sealed bearings and they were okay. All I had to do was to correctly adjust the hub and tighten the locknut. (I had mislaid my cone spanners and tried to do it without them, which resulted in an over-tight hub and a wheel that would barely turn! After finding the spanners, it was easy to adjust things properly and lock them in place.)