Road bike... loose piece within rear hub

[Davey101]

Hi all,

I recently bought an almost new (done 10 miles) road bike on ebay and I've done another 200 miles on it, mainly commuting. Over the last few days it has developed a rattle and a bit of play in the rear wheel, so I've had the hub apart to have a look at it.

It's a 2008 BeOne Briza 1.0 and the hub is Beone branded. Fortunately I already have a cassette tool, chain whip and hub spanners although I've not actually had a hub in bits before. The bearings look ok and were all in place, and it turns out the loose piece is a short piece of tube or pipe, in between the hub and axle. If I tilt the wheel from side to side, this piece can be heard sliding along the axle and back again.

I've put it all back together and tightened it up to remove the play in the wheel. It all seems to spin ok but the piece in side is still loose and slides from end to end of the axle. Has anyone encountered this before?

 

[PpPete]

Remove it and run the wheel without ?
I don't see how it can serve any useful purpose.

 

[Landslide]

Are they cartridge bearings, or loose ball?
If cartridge, the tube may be there as a spacer, to prevent over-tightening of the bearings.

 

[Davey101]

They're loose ball bearings, 9 a side.

I don't know what the loose piece is but I'm inclined to leave it there, even if it's not serving any useful purpose.

 

[Davey101]

Ok, I've had the wheel apart again and got some photos. I can't get the piece out without removing one of the cups from the hub, which I'm not keen on doing. I couldn't see the piece before because it had slipped right inside and I maybe wasn't being thorough enough.

I've been able to get a proper look now, so I've noticed that the loose piece is threaded on the outside and is clearly meant to fasten on to the freewheel mechanism from the inside of the hub. It had come completely free of the freewheel in riding and was causing the rattling noise. I've never seen these before because I've not had a rear hub in bits before!

I'll not be able to refasten it without a very large allen key - I don't have one large enough.

 

[spandex]

It sounds like the locking bolt for the freewheel if it is it will take (I think) a 10mm allen

 

[spandex]

The only way it would come lose is if some one had striped the hub down and not put it all back right.

 

[Steve Austin]

What spandex said.

 

[Davey101]

Sounds about right... do all rear hubs have them?

 

[spandex]

Not all. Some have screw on cassettes which do not need them but they are mostly old or cheep bikes.

 

[Davey101]

Thanks again.

Like I said, I bought it from a guy who says he did 10 miles on it from new... so it's unknown whether it came from the supplier loose or whether he did it himself. I got the impression he rode (and sold) a lot of bikes, so it's disappointing either way.

Could much damage be done by riding it without the locking nut for a few tens of miles?

 

[spandex]

I do not know for shore as I have never seen one just come lose. But I would say if you do ride with it like that and you fill/hear anything stop right away!! before it kills the wheel or the frame.

 

[Davey101]

I don't plan on riding it again until it's all securely fixed but unfortunately the damage may have already been done.

 

[spandex]

There is no way of knowing with out having it in my hands but by the pic's you have posted it looks ok.

 

[Davey101]

So, I bought a 10mm hex key from Machine Mart yesterday, got it home and found that it's not big enough! Looks like a 12 or 13mm but it's difficult to be sure!

I made a few enquiries and it looked like I was going to be out of luck in finding a larger allen key at short notice, so I decided to drop the wheel into a local cycle shop and let them put it back together. I've asked them to replace the bearings and make a note of the allen key size while they're at it.

Hopefully I'll have my bike working again before the weekend!