Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - wobble on the front wheel

i got my iro mark v pro.. like a month and a half ago and i just noticed that the front wheel has a wobble. i dont notice it from riding, it rides great but when i flip over the bike and spin the front wheel it has a bit of a wobble on it. is this normal.. orrrr should i try to use the warranty and get another front wheel.

-thank you

you should true the front wheel up.

Just take it to the LBS to be trued. It happens to all wheels.

true it up? whats that do.. i'm a bit of a newb.. still learning a lot :) and how much does it cost?

Truing is adjusting the tension in each spoke so your wheel is round. $20

Does it wobble as in the rim is bent or wobble as in the the hub shifts back and forth on the axle? Either way its a pretty simple fix. Odds are that whatever is wrong with the wheel has to do with it needing a slight tune up and nothing to do with it being defective.

Does it wobble as in the rim is bent or wobble as in the the hub shifts back and forth on the axle? Either way its a pretty simple fix. Odds are that whatever is wrong with the wheel has to do with it needing a slight tune up and nothing to do with it being defective.

im pretty sure it's not bent... b/c i havent really been riding it hard where it would bend. it looks more like the wobble shifts back and forth in the axle. if you look at it from the top it just looks like its shifting left to right..

Well if thats the case then you are in luck. You just need to tighten the nuts on the side of the hub that secure its place on the axle. Here is some basic info on how to service the most popular type of hubs/bearings:

http://sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html

If you have a sealed cartridge bearing then you just need to tighten the retaining nuts on either side of the bearing cartridges (but not to tight) I think. I don't have much experience with sealed cartridges so I'll let someone else correct me on that one.

I'm not sure that you would notice a hub wobble by just spinning the wheel though unless it was bad. Its hard to tell whats wrong from your description. If you really have no idea what you are doing you should consider taking to the bike shop. They will probably tell you whats wrong with it for free then you can decide if you can fix it yourself or if you should pay them to do it.

awesome, thanks for the help guys. <3

im going to try to work on it right now and if that doesnt work ill probably make a trip to my LBS tomorrow to see

Take it to the bike shop.

It doesn't sound like the axle is loose, but to be sure, try wiggling the wheel at the rim/tire back and forth towards the fork legs, if you feel any play there it needs to be tightened up. If you spin the wheel and you can see the rim seem to drift back and forth it is a matter of needing to be trued by adjusting spoke tension, something your LBS should probably do until you become more familiar with your bike.

yeah, just take it to the bike shop. all that happens when a wheel like yours is untrue is the spokes aren't tensioned evenly throughout and it causes the rim to warp; nothing to be alarmed about.

It is not a bad idea to have any new wheel trued and or check after 5o miles or so. your prob sounds normal

Also I have heard that shipped bikes often need to have the front wheel trued, since they are left slightly lose for shipping (don't know if this is true or not)

Take it to the bike shop for now, but if you plan on riding consistently, learn how to true a wheel yourself, it will save you a LOT of money in the long run. If you have a bike co-op nearby, go there and they will be more than happy to show you the ropes.

Buy a cone wrench.

orrrr should i try to use the warranty and get another front wheel.

-thank you

Definitley get a warranty replacement. Out of true wheels are garbage and cannot be fixed.

It is not a bad idea to have any new wheel trued and or check after 5o miles or so. your prob sounds normal

Also I have heard that shipped bikes often need to have the front wheel trued, since they are left slightly lose for shipping (don't know if this is true or not)

Lose for loose. They cycle is complete.

If by "lose" you mean loose spoke tension, it's more accurate to say that it is usually not loose, but that the tension varies over the entire wheel at an unacceptable level (difference between tight and loose spokes is too great). Add to the fact that they also usually aren't stress relived, since they were never touched by a human, you will get out of true wheels the nanosecond it hits pavement.

A good bike shop will have prepped these ****ty wheels before it goes out to a customer. Online - that's anyones guess.

If this is the case for the front wheel, it almost certainly is true for the rear. If you want to see how shimano builds good wheels out of the factory, take a look at this feature:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=tech/2008/features/shimano_wheel_factory08

Definitley get a warranty replacement. Out of true wheels are garbage and cannot be fixed.

ermmm you serious? so.. even if trued.. it wouldnt be perfect ever?

ermmm you serious? so.. even if trued.. it wouldnt be perfect ever?

Not true (pun intended). Every factory-built wheel I've bought in the last 10 years has gone out of true. This is because they are either not properly tensioned or not properly stress-relieved. De-tensioning and properly tensioning and stress-relieving the wheel will fix it if it's just out of true.

The important question is, while holding the wheel still in the fork, can you wobble it back and forth? If there's no wobble when you do that, the earlier poster who recommended tightening the hubs was wrong. If you only notice the wobble when spinning the wheel, it's simply out of true. If you want to learn how to build and true wheels, either buy the book The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt, or look at Sheldon Brown's web page.

ermmm you serious? so.. even if trued.. it wouldnt be perfect ever?

I was just joking...

see if there is any play in the axle

Stop confusing this guy everyone. Pennywize just go to your lbs. Anything you do to your wheel with the level of skill you currently have will probably be bad for it. Seeing the guy true the wheel in front of you will make everything make much more sense.

Stop confusing this guy everyone. Pennywize just go to your lbs. Anything you do to your wheel with the level of skill you currently have will probably be bad for it. Seeing the guy true the wheel in front of you will make everything make much more sense.

Really, there's nothing to be afraid of. There is nothing difficult in either operation. I've never watched anyone true a wheel, and I have 50K miles on the first wheelset I built, and I've only had to make minor truing adjustments on it once.

Assuming the wobble is actually from the wheel and not something else like a non-fully seated tire or defective one.