Weird Oscillation
 

I'm not quite sure what the right word for this is... but picture the side to side oscillating motion of a wheel that's out of true. Now apply that same motion to a 6-speed IRD freewheel that is mounted to a wheel that is in true. The wheel spins fine, but there's a slight side to side oscillation in the freewheel. The wheelset and freewheel are both brand new. I got them to fix up an old Peugot mixte frame bike.

The freewheel was definitely threaded on correctly and as far as I can recall, the old freewheel did not have this kind of oscillation.

Any ideas?

I have noticed a little oscillation in freewheels before, and was concerned, but they worked fine.

I dont notice any on my vintage bikes, but my specialized MTB's 8 sp cassette (i think it is atleast) oscillates some

Normal

Normal.

Well it's reassuring to know it's a normal thing. It hasn't caused any problems and I suppose that's all that matters. But out of curiosity, does anyone know why it occurs?

I think a bent axle causes this. Most of mine do it.

The axle is stationary.

A modicum of cluster "float" is indeed perfectly normal.