Originally Posted by
grumpus
If you think a whole new wheel, or a wheel build with your existing rim, is cheap then go for it - it's generally a superior system
I don't have experience of your freewheel but generally freewheels have shims to set bearing play - if you're lucky removing one or more of the shims will reduce the play without making it too tight. There are usually a couple of dents on the front plate that can be turned with a pin wrench or tapped with a punch to unscrew the plate, that's where you'll find the shims (possibly multiple, possible different thicknesses, if any). You'll also find lots of balls and springs and pawls that will try to escape, so work over a towel to catch them - hopefully you can remove the shims without making a big mess. Remove a shim, replace the front plate, check the spin, repeat as necessary.
NB I don't recall if the front plate is right or left hand thread. If nobody turns up to put me right, and you can't see the end of the thread, then try both directions.
I'll give that a shot. It seems unintuitive that
removing a shim would reduce play, but I'm no professional mechanic. If 15 minutes of DIY can fix it for free, then I'll give it a go first. From what I've heard in places, this knocking problem is common in new freewheels from Shimano and others, so replacing it might not fix the issue. But of course, maybe that was just someone who likes to say "they don't make them like they used to?"
Re: Iride01 – I'm reasonably sure that that is not the case, as the knocking sound only happens when the drivetrain is engaged and is there even when I am pedaling very smoothly.
Re: cyccommute – I don't think Brandt is talking about the same sort of wobble there. The play/wobble I'm talking about can be felt if you take the freewheel off the bike, hold the freewheel body with one hand, and try jiggling the cogs with the other. Not saying that there isn't also some eccentricity in the hub-freewheel threading, but that is a separate issue from the one I'm trying to solve here