Wobbly cassette

[frenzal]

So today's job was to clean the drivetrain.
After cleaning off the chain, front sprocket and rear cassette I reinstall the back wheel, and give it a spin.
While the back wheel is freewheeling, the cassette wobbles.
What does this mean? Do I have a bent axle, or is something not tight enough? Any hints would be appreciated : ]

[sandman]

Frenzal

A little hard to say. Do you have the tools to remove the cassette and check the freewheel hub to see if it has play? Maybe take off the back wheel and grab the cassette and see if you can feel play in the freewheel hub ?

I found on my bike it was a combination of the cheap cassette and excessive play in the freewheel hub.

Cheers..Pete

[kukamunga]

I take it you're talking about a screw-on freewheel on your Superlite? I find that some do 'wobble' a bit

[il padrone]

I remember this sort of problem from years ago, with screw-on clusters. Is yours a steel or alloy hub?

It's not a bent axle, as the axle stays fixed, so the hub will not vary in its position as it rotates.

Lower quality pressed steel hubs can develop a deformity of the hub shell/flange as a result of heavy loading, I believe. Alloy hubs are generally built stronger (forged) and are less prone to this deformation. The deformation causes the freewheel boss to be misaligned with the wheel centre-line, and hence there is a wobble as it turns.

I'm not sure about the repair options, but for cheaper steel hubs the best answer was a new, better quality hub It could be upgrade time Of course if your chain runs well, and shifts correctly, just keep riding it.

If it's a cassette hub then I don't know what you've done