Bicycle Mechanics - Bent rear wheel parts

Managed to bend a rear axle this week. I thought the wheel was out of true, then I noticed the hub wobbling up/down etc. So I took out the axle (this is on a cheap walmart bike not a quick disconnect hub) and it was bent. Does this mean that the rest of the hub is bent too? Or just that I need to straighten the axle shaft piece (which I can do) and reinstall it?

Thanks. I'm just trying to keep this thing going until I can afford a *real* bike.

Take Care,

how did you manage to bend it?

if i were you i'd try to bend the axle straight and see what happens.

if you find that the bike rides reasonably well after bending the axle, you're probably fine for a while. But you won't be able to trust the axle's reliability too much after that. Don't get yourself out 100 miles from any help on that bike without a cell phone... :)

It might be better just to losen the nuts and rotate the axel 180 degrees in the drop out and tighten the nuts back up. The force that was originally bending it will then be trying to straighten it.

Probably just the axle is bent. How are you planning to bend it back straight without ruining the threads? If it was my bike, I'd get a new axle.

Its easy to bend it back. Put a nut on it on the ends and the bent portion. Hit the nut with a hammer (not super hard) until its straightened out. I will just get a new axle and reassemble it. I hate dumping money into this bike as it will be replaced rather soon. Oh well. Gotta have something to ride I guess!

I don't know how I bent it but I'm a relatively new rider, and I'm also very heavy at 300lbs so I'm not particularly easy on the bike. I think what really did it is when I was doing 30+mph down a hill yesterday and hit a pothole way too hard.

Thanks for all the helpful advice!