Back wheel loosens!

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ethan5

New Member
Hi, Having got a road bike of ebay, I had the bearings replaced; after about a week I noticed that the back wheel was loose, although I'm pretty sure it wasn't when I collected the bike from the bike shop, so they re-tightened it. Yesterday I noticed that it has loosened again; do you think there's a problem?
Thanks for your time. I'm enjoying cycling since I invested in cycling shoes and a decent bike; it's a six year old Orbea Larrau but it's lighter than many a £600 bike I've seen in shops.
Also, would there be any improvement to the bikes operation if I changed the rear mech, from the current Shimano Tourney, to something different?
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
loose in the dropouts? or the bearing housing in the hub (dont know the technical name :smile:)?
 

accountantpete

Brexiteer
Do you mean that there is play in the rear wheel? If so try tightening the QR so that it makes a mark on your hand as this sometimes gets rid of the problem - otherwise it's a problem with the cones/hub.
 

gavintc

Guru
Location
Southsea
Getting the bearings replaced may not necessarily have solved the problem. If the cones are badly pitted, the new ball bearings will still not work correctly and the shop may have allowed a little bit of free play to allow the wheel to run smoothly.
 

e-rider

crappy member
Location
South West
it's also possible that the shop isn't doing a good job. take it to someone who knows, explain the problem and get them to inspect it - it should be easy to see if the wheel is knackered or not.
 

PpPete

Legendary Member
Location
Chandler's Ford
I had a hub that worked itself loose no matter what I did - and I do know how to service loose bearing hubs, tighten locknuts etc.
It was one on which I'd swopped out the hollow axle & QR and put in a solid axle for use on a budget fixed wheel project.
I'd get it adjusted perfick, tighten it up the locknuts, put it on the bike, check it was stil right, no play; then a mile down the road it would have undone itself so that the rim had noticeable amount of play.
It was pissing me off so much I rebuilt the wheel around a different hub - and lo, the problem disappeared. Never did figure out why.
 
OP
OP
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ethan5

New Member
Thanks everyone!

I'm replacing the rear hub as it shows play when everythings tightened up. Thanks for your replies.
 
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