Problem with play in rear wheel

Hi, I've only recently started cycling again. After leaving university I
stashed my bike away and didn't touch it for 6 years. I recently decided it
was about time I dug it out from under the piles of crap hiding away in the
garage rafters and get active again.

This was about two months ago. I used it for around 1 month, then, realising
it wasn't going to be a brief passing fad I decided it would be worth
splashing out on a new bike (the old one was knocking on for 9 years old or
so, and the twist shift was annoying the life out of me). After a little
research I decided a Specialized Rockhopper would be ideal for me. I bought
the rockhopper 1 month ago, and was loving it until today.

I was heading out for a ride today but unfortunately, (or fortunately,
depending on how you look at it), I got a puncture no further than 200
metres away from my driveway. I headed back, fixed the puncture then while
refitting the rear wheel I noticed it had some play it, quite a bit
actually. Holding the wheel and moving it side to side I can easily get it
to knock against the pads.

The timing is quite useful, its going to be going into the LBS for its free
30 day checkup shortly and I'm sure they'll fix any problem for me. However,
I won't be able to get it to them for at least a week and in the meantime I
have a 12 mile daily off-road commute to work, which I'm really enjoying and
am loath to give up for a week.

Is this a problem I could potentially take care of myself? I've tried
searching for the solution but I can't seem to find a definitive answer. Any
help or advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm quite willing to get my
hands dirty trying to fix it myself if I only knew what I was doing!

Graham

"GR" shove@yourspam wrote in message
...
Hi, I've only recently started cycling again. After leaving university I
stashed my bike away and didn't touch it for 6 years. I recently decided
it
was about time I dug it out from under the piles of crap hiding away in
the
garage rafters and get active again.

This was about two months ago. I used it for around 1 month, then,
realising
it wasn't going to be a brief passing fad I decided it would be worth
splashing out on a new bike (the old one was knocking on for 9 years old
or
so, and the twist shift was annoying the life out of me). After a little
research I decided a Specialized Rockhopper would be ideal for me. I
bought
the rockhopper 1 month ago, and was loving it until today.

I was heading out for a ride today but unfortunately, (or fortunately,
depending on how you look at it), I got a puncture no further than 200
metres away from my driveway. I headed back, fixed the puncture then while
refitting the rear wheel I noticed it had some play it, quite a bit
actually. Holding the wheel and moving it side to side I can easily get it
to knock against the pads.

The timing is quite useful, its going to be going into the LBS for its
free
30 day checkup shortly and I'm sure they'll fix any problem for me.
However,
I won't be able to get it to them for at least a week and in the meantime
I
have a 12 mile daily off-road commute to work, which I'm really enjoying
and
am loath to give up for a week.

Is this a problem I could potentially take care of myself? I've tried
searching for the solution but I can't seem to find a definitive answer.
Any
help or advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm quite willing to get my
hands dirty trying to fix it myself if I only knew what I was doing!

Graham



http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/conewrenches.html

--
DTW .../\.../\.../\...

I've spent most of my money on mountain biking and windsurfing.
The rest I've just wasted.

"GR" shove@yourspam wrote in message
...
snip

Is this a problem I could potentially take care of myself? I've tried
searching for the solution but I can't seem to find a definitive answer.
Any
help or advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm quite willing to get my
hands dirty trying to fix it myself if I only knew what I was doing!

Sounds like the hub needs adjusting, but without looking at it personally, I
could not say for sure. If you are mechanically inclined, have the tools,
and instructions to the hub, 'potentially' you should be able to do it
yourself. If you do not have the hub info, you could probably download it
from the manufacture site.

A couple other things to consider. Was the rear skewer properly adjusted? If
it was, and if you had that much play, did it possibly do some harm to the
hub?