Looking For A Cheap Back Wheel (MTB,Halfords Apollo) 27.5"

[Lovacott]

I'm on my 2nd set of hub bearings and 2nd axle on my Halfords Apollo hard tail MTB.

Every month or so, I find I develop a slight wobble in the wheel and tighten the bearings a touch to take out the slack. I've replaced the axle and cones just in case the originals were not quite true. Still the problem persists?

I've come to the conclusion that maybe the hub itself isn't that great (the cups misaligned?) so I'd like to start from scratch with a new wheel.

I'm not looking for anything light, aerodynamic or pretty to look at. It just has to marry up with the bike and work.

A couple of questions...

1. Is there such a thing as a wheel which costs less that £50 (the whole bike can be bought for £250).

2. Apart from obvious things like wheel size and brake type, what other parameters are used to determine the correct wheel? What do I need to search for online?

Cheers.

 

[fossyant]

Decathlon may have their own stock stuff ? £50 is pushing it, but possible - ebay ?

 

[weareHKR]

As @fossyant said above, or perhaps try your local FB bicycle groups!

 

[Lovacott]

Decathlon may have their own stock stuff ? £50 is pushing it, but possible - ebay ?

My "problem" is that my commuter bike cost me £140 new (five years ago) but I've spent more than double that amount in the last year keeping the thing on the road.

I've upgraded the groupset and BB, Disc brakes, cables and shifters.

With the front wheel, all I've done is clean it up and grease the bearings and it's perfect. No trouble at all.

The back wheel is a different story though. Every 500 miles or so it develops a wobble and I have to take it off and adjust the cones.

I can pick up a brand new version of the complete bike for £250 but all the wheels I find online are £100 plus? It seems disproportionate?

 

[Big John]

I work for a bike charity and I know we're not the only bike charity in the UK. Take a gander on Google to see if there's a bike charity near you. For £50 you'd get 5 wheels from us lol. However, we may not have too many 27.5's. They also give free advice too if you're lucky enough to find one.

 

[Lovacott]

I work for a bike charity and I know we're not the only bike charity in the UK. Take a gander on Google to see if there's a bike charity near you. For £50 you'd get 5 wheels from us lol. However, we may not have too many 27.5's. They also give free advice too if you're lucky enough to find one.

I'd be interested in helping out at one. Is there a website for the organisation you belong to?

 

[Big John]

Ours is a one-off and not part of an organisation. It's called Back2bikes and is in Stafford. It's like working in a bike scrapyard and as a volunteer I'm on a never ending learning curve. We get to work on all sorts. We have one Cytech qualified mechanic who teaches us the rudiments of fettling. We also get to use the proper tools and pick up a few tricks of the trade as we go along. If cycling is your hobby and you enjoy a good fettle then it's a great way to spend a few hours a week of retirement 😉

 

[keithmac]

I bought my lad a 26" rear wheel off Ebay last week, looks fine. £45 iirc.

 

[Lovacott]

Ours is a one-off and not part of an organisation. It's called Back2bikes and is in Stafford. It's like working in a bike scrapyard and as a volunteer I'm on a never ending learning curve. We get to work on all sorts. We have one Cytech qualified mechanic who teaches us the rudiments of fettling. We also get to use the proper tools and pick up a few tricks of the trade as we go along. If cycling is your hobby and you enjoy a good fettle then it's a great way to spend a few hours a week of retirement 😉

Cycling is pretty big locally but there is no such charity in the area.

There are quite a few boarded up shops in town which would make good HQ's and I can get hold of a fair bit of start up funding to set something up.

 

[vickster]

Cycling is pretty big locally but there is no such charity in the area.

There are quite a few boarded up shops in town which would make good HQ's and I can get hold of a fair bit of start up funding to set something up.

Go for it then