New bike, strange grating noise: bent axle?

Hello all:

I bought a new M-Trax X3 six weeks ago
(http://www.raleighbikes.com/cyclespr...ails.aspx?ID=7) - yes, I
know its a R******, but the alternatives werem't quite right for me.

Anyhoo, when I got it I noticed that the rear hub wasn't set up quite
right. When you spun the wheel and held the seatstay, you could feel a
grate like there was some dirt in the bearings. Never mind, I thought, I
will get it sorted on my 100 mile service, and I carried on acquainting
my legs with hard exercise.

Over the past few days a grating noise has emerged, similar to that you
would hear if the front changer was rubbing on the chain. However the
noise continues when freewheeling and is thus nothing to do with the
drivechain. The noise is infuriatingly absent, however, when the bike is
unloaded, meaning I can't definitively track down the source as I have
to be riding the damn thing. I had a proper look last night, and I
suspect the rear axle is bent; the sprocket oscillates slightly when you
spin the rear wheel.

Before I take it back to the not-so-LBS (25 miles away), does anyone
have any thoughts on the cause?

TIA

Gaz

"GazK" wrote in message
...
Hello all:

Anyhoo, when I got it I noticed that the rear hub wasn't set up quite
right. When you spun the wheel and held the seatstay, you could feel a
grate like there was some dirt in the bearings.

At this point you should have had the bike checked - it clearly had a fault.

Over the past few days a grating noise has emerged, similar to that you
would hear if the front changer was rubbing on the chain. However the
noise continues when freewheeling and is thus nothing to do with the
drivechain. The noise is infuriatingly absent, however, when the bike is
unloaded, meaning I can't definitively track down the source as I have to
be riding the damn thing. I had a proper look last night, and I suspect
the rear axle is bent; the sprocket oscillates slightly when you spin the
rear wheel..

An oscillating sproket doesn't necessarily indicate that anything is amiss

Before I take it back to the not-so-LBS (25 miles away), does anyone have
any thoughts on the cause?

A visit to the LBS is the best course of action. The bike is new. It has a
fault. They should fix it under warrantee.

in message , GazK
') wrote:

Hello all:

I bought a new M-Trax X3 six weeks ago
(http://www.raleighbikes.com/cyclespr...ails.aspx?ID=7) - yes, I
know its a R******, but the alternatives werem't quite right for me.

Anyhoo, when I got it I noticed that the rear hub wasn't set up quite
right. When you spun the wheel and held the seatstay, you could feel a
grate like there was some dirt in the bearings. Never mind, I thought,
I will get it sorted on my 100 mile service, and I carried on
acquainting my legs with hard exercise.

Over the past few days a grating noise has emerged, similar to that you
would hear if the front changer was rubbing on the chain. However the
noise continues when freewheeling and is thus nothing to do with the
drivechain. The noise is infuriatingly absent, however, when the bike
is unloaded, meaning I can't definitively track down the source as I
have to be riding the damn thing. I had a proper look last night, and I
suspect the rear axle is bent; the sprocket oscillates slightly when
you spin the rear wheel.

Before I take it back to the not-so-LBS (25 miles away), does anyone
have any thoughts on the cause?

24 speed triple, so that's an 8 speed cassette. Surely no-one ever made
an 8 speed freewheel? Axles on cassette hubs should not bend, although
on a Raleigh nothing is impossible.

Given you've got a grunching when freewheeling, I'd be suspicious of the
rear wheel bearings.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; no eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn.
;; Jim Morrison

GazK wrote:

Before I take it back to the not-so-LBS (25 miles away), does anyone
have any thoughts on the cause?


It might be something as simple as a lack of grease in the wheel
bearing. I had it once on a bike after a heavy rains shower - I was
convinced that I had a broken ball bearing in the front wheel as I could
hear it grinding and feel it through the handlebars but the wheel spun
freely when not loaded. When I took the bearing apart it was fine
although lacking some grease, the addition of which cured it for many
miles. The grinding was just unlubricated ball bearings rubbing against
each other.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

Simon Brooke wrote:

24 speed triple, so that's an 8 speed cassette. Surely no-one ever
made an 8 speed freewheel?

Sheldon's got some:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/freewheels.html#8

Tom
--
Return address is dead. Real address is at
http://toomanybikes.com/address.jpg

GazK wrote:
Hello all:

I bought a new M-Trax X3 six weeks ago
(http://www.raleighbikes.com/cyclespr...ails.aspx?ID=7) - yes, I
know its a R******, but the alternatives werem't quite right for me.

Anyhoo, when I got it I noticed that the rear hub wasn't set up quite
right. When you spun the wheel and held the seatstay, you could feel a
grate like there was some dirt in the bearings. Never mind, I thought, I
will get it sorted on my 100 mile service, and I carried on acquainting
my legs with hard exercise.

Over the past few days a grating noise has emerged, similar to that you
would hear if the front changer was rubbing on the chain. However the
noise continues when freewheeling and is thus nothing to do with the
drivechain. The noise is infuriatingly absent, however, when the bike is
unloaded, meaning I can't definitively track down the source as I have
to be riding the damn thing. I had a proper look last night, and I
suspect the rear axle is bent; the sprocket oscillates slightly when you
spin the rear wheel.

No, this sort of oscillation isn't caused by a bent axle, because the
axle does not turn.

Likely the attachment of the "freehub" body to the hub shell.

Before I take it back to the not-so-LBS (25 miles away), does anyone
have any thoughts on the cause?

Take it back, you probably need a new wheel. Off-brand cassette hubs
like this are generally not reparable because parts aren't available.

See if you can get an upgrade to a genuine Shimano hub...nothing else
comes close in quality and reliability.

Sheldon "K7" Brown
+----------------------------------------------------+
| If you like baby-boomer rock music, you'll love: |
| http://wolfgangsvault.com |
+----------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Thanks for all the responses. Bike is back at LBS and they have
promised to look at it... guy with spanner was muttering about bearings
when I left.

I have decided that I will get shot of the un-named wheels ASAP as
suggested by Sheldon. Luckily my colleague, who gets all his kit at
knock-down prices from his race sponsor has promised me a pair of
Bontragers he "doesn't want". Needless to say he is on my Christmas
list from now on...wonder if he's got any Campag?