1

The video shows that the play seems to be in the hub:

Is it the bearings causing this? Are they worn out or not adjusted?

What steps can I take to resolve this play?

3
  • Can't tell in the video - is your hub built with old-school cup-and-cone bearings or newfangled cartridge bearings ? Given its through-axles, probably cartridge bearings.
    – Criggie
    Oct 1, 2020 at 10:14
  • 1
    I was hoping for cartridge bearing buts they were cup and cone.
    – Greg
    Oct 2, 2020 at 8:30
  • excellent - those can be tweaked up in the home shop. All you need is a cone spanner that fits and a normal spanner of suitable size, along with grease/cleaner etc. You will not need a press or replacement cartridges (though replacing the bearing balls can be a good idea - they're cheap too)
    – Criggie
    Oct 2, 2020 at 11:59

2 Answers 2

5

Yes, this is play in the bearings. How to fix it depends on the type of hub you have.

'Cup and cone' bearing hubs have ball bearings between fixed cups in the hub and adjustable cones on a threaded axle. These can be adjusted to take out play.

Other hubs have pressed-in cartridge bearings. These just need to get replaced , you'll probably need a bike repair shop to do this for you as they will have the required tools.

You may be able to do some research and find what type of bearings you have, otherwise you'll need to start disassembling.

3
  • Thank you, it was so much easier than I thought: once I took the wheel off I hand tightened it and it's back to perfect.
    – Greg
    Oct 2, 2020 at 8:30
  • @Greg I'm thinking that "hand tight" is not a good level of pre-load for cup and cone bearings. If you can hand tighten them, they will back off too, unless you've tensioned the cone nut against its lockring nut.
    – Criggie
    Oct 2, 2020 at 12:00
  • Check out a tutorial like this youtube.com/watch?v=SnwVHPgpgVQ to make sure you adjust the bearings properly, it's possible to over pre-load and wreck the bearings. Oct 2, 2020 at 12:35
2

It looks like it needs some adjustment around the bearings, you need to pop the wheel and rubber gaiters off and you may be able to see any problem better ,

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