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Bicycle gurus: how do you fix this?

NuclearNed

NuclearNed

Raconteur
I have a really cheap bicycle that I bought when I first got married, so I'm fully prepared to accept the fact that my problem may not be fixable.

The "axle" around which the pedals rotate shifts and wobbles just slightly as the pedals turn. This causes my rings to just slighly rub my derailleur when my right foot is pushing down. This has caused my chain to come off a few times lately, particularly when I am pushing really hard going up a hill.

I've looked at the pedal assembly, and I can't seem to find any way to open up the axle part. On my wife's uncle's more expensive bike, it looks like this same part can be opened up and maintained. I'm pretty sure that something just needs to be tightened if I can just crack open the part.

Any suggestions?
 
need a new bottom bracket... probably best to have a shop do it.. I can't really explain how to get it open as AFAIK not all are the same (I've only ever done it once) but I had the same problem on an old bike...
 
Sounds like the bearings/bushings have gone. Best off taking it to a shop as they'd have a range of sizes of bearings if they differ. Having said that, you might be wasting your time spending money on a bike that's already begun to fall apart.

I recall that all the cheap bikes I ever owned would have loose headsets (bearing set that the handbars go though in the frame) so there was always a couple of mm of travel there. Always annoyed me. Wheel bearings would always go, and the gears never worked properly after about 3 months. I really don't regret blowing £500 on a decent bicycle, it feels so solid and can take abuse and keep on working!
 
the bottom bracket needs to be tightened. there should be 2 rings around it but it requires a special tool (spanner) to lock onto
 
Sounds like the pedal bearings are shot...

Had to replace them on mine a while back.

/not a bike guru
 
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