Bike Repair Tips and Tricks

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My cassette seems to be wriggling off the freehub? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 week ago by flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works to c/bike_repair_tips@sopuli.xyz

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I'm not sure how this happened but it explains why my shifting has been awry lately!

What I don't understand is how there's any room without "flaring" the stays of the frame outwards? It looks like the hub shell and body are separating, as well as the cassette and hub 🫤

This is an aggressive hardtail I've been having a ball on after having my full squish stolen, but I was confident the cassette and spacings were OK as i built it under the guidance of my pedantic mechanic friend (gosh, I'm hitting the stereotype, aren't I?)

Our main trail we ride regularly crosses a river a dozen times, so I hate to think what's going on with the bearings in there!

So I'm curious if anyone had thoughts in how I'd hit this wrong (going by the pic alone, it looks almost like I've put non-boost parts into a boost frame, but thats mental and it was snug and fit right - there was no loose play. Yet, here I am...)

Also, since the bearings are essentially exposed and I don't know when it started, it might have been like this for a while? Certainly shifting has been something I've put up with for some weeks now... So what damage am I incurring when I've been riding on it?

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[–] cubism_pitta@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (1 children)

It's possible that something in the hub loosened enough and forces from the play could've wedged hub parts towards the dropouts

If the hub doesn't have sealed bearings, does the back wheel have a lot of play? Hub bearings could be worn if it's been open enough in that part to dry out.

If not then it's possible nothing is damaged but you should repair it before riding for the sake of any bearings and your wheel it self

[–] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Thanks for the ideas. The wheel doesn't have play but the cassette sure does - far out, that's not pretty!

[–] cubism_pitta@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Haha take it apart :) good news is that the hub bearings are likely good

I don’t have anything with freewheels so my understanding is weak but it’s likely that the freewheel is just loose

[–] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So it gotten worse :)

I've realised after taking the wheel off that the rotor has been skimming the brake adapter and the bolt washer is also skimming the rotor. So I'm guessing the way the hub has "swollen" has flared out the stays slightly and skewed everything off 😐

[–] cubism_pitta@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

yeah, there can be a lot of forces at play.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/steel-frame-repair.html

The string method outlined in that link can be used to assess how out of shape things may be

[–] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

LBS has pointed out it's a boost frame but not a boost hub - whoops!

Its good to be humble, I guess

[–] cubism_pitta@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Oh man, glad you got that sorted. I didn't consider hub spacing being off. Thanks for the updates!

[–] cubism_pitta@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

I want to add that I am no expert mechanic but did this on a bike that had to be junked for other reasons but was able to straighten the backend out