Hello, first time poster looking for some help.

I just moved to Chicago and brought along my bike - it's a Raleigh C-40 that hasn't seen regular use in 10 years. It was definitely a kid's bike - there's a little wear and tear, but for the most part it's just fine for my 6-mile daily commute. Or it was. I rode it for a week or so, then on the way home one night, the front wheel was horribly wobbly. I tried to tighten (what I now know as) the QR skewer, but it didn't help. The wheel was still very wobbly.

When I got home that night and took the wheel off, I noticed there were two black nuts, one on either side, that were somewhat loose. I tightened them, and put the wheel back on. Now when I tightened the QR skewer and closed it, it's still loose. I even held the nut with a wrench and tightened the screw, but still it's loose enough that when I test rode it the lever would spin along with the bike wheel. The wheel doesn't wobble quite so much anymore, but there's still a little play in it.

Any ideas what to do/how to fix it?

Trust me not. The two black nuts you refer to are lock nuts. Inside them you should see two washers and then the 'bearing cones', they will have two flats with the rest being round. It sounds like your two black nuts have loosened followed by the cones. You need to re-tighten the cones, whilst checking that the bearings do not bind, and then re-tighten the lock nuts to fix things in place. Two spanners are recommended. One holds the cone at its set position and the other tightens the lock nut. You might take this opportunity to take it to bits, clean it and put some new grease in.

Someone with more experience may be along soon.

It doesn't sound like you are too familiar with the inner workings of a bike axle and lock nuts and cones and adjustments. Please find a bike co-op or a bike shop and have them either fix it for you or have the bike co-op properly teach you how to repair the front axle.

It is very dangerous to ride on front cones that are loose, they could tighten up against each other and lock up the front wheel.

Head to a bike shop or co-op, or spend some time learning about cone wrenches and hub maintenance. Plenty of info on the web.

I'm in the danger zone myself. Take the advice of bobotech.. once you know you will need the equivalent of these,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cyclo-Tool-C...xgy_diy_text_y

Yeah, I never had much experience with bike maintenance. I was hoping it would be an easy-ish fix, but it doesn't sound like something I should be tooling around with right now. Thanks.

You know you want to though?.. or perhaps not.

Given it is about to fall apart and you will not be using it. Help it along. Take it to pieces and work out what the various bits do. They should make 'sense'.

It is an easy fix, but not an entirely obvious one. You need to understand how the cone and locknut interact, and you need to have a cone wrench that's slim enough to fit the tool flats on the cones.

Now - no. After you've done your homework on cup & cone adjustment, and gotten hold of a cone wrench - sure.

But if you're the kind of guy that's intimidated by taking the wheel off to fix a flat, then leave it to the pros. Some mechanical aptitude is required.

It's easier and better than having to replace the bearings or a tacoed wheel.

As a bona fide nerd, I'm always up for learning something new and taking matters into my own hands. Anywhere you can recommend that would be a good place to start learning about cones and locknuts and such?

sheldonbrown.com and parktool.com/blog as primary sources, plus Google, Youtube for extra support.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html

If you're taking it apart make sure you count the bearings out and count them back in again.

+10 This is actually a great job for someone new to bike maintenance. It only requires a couple of tools, grease and bearings are cheap, and it is necessary maintenance. Myself, I never reuse old bearings, I buy new ones on line for about 2 cents each. Typical is 1/4 inch bearings on the rear wheel, 3/16 inch bearings on the front.

While counting existing bearings is a good idea, if you do not know the bike's history, it can be misleading. I took a BB apart once, one side had 8 loose bearings, the other side 10. So which number do you pick?

Neither. That BB needed 11 per side.

As I recommended above, to someone new to bike maintenance, find a CO-OP. They have the tools, parts, and volunteers on hand to guide you through the process. Surely a town like Chicago is going to have some co-ops.