Rear Wheel Wobble

[StephenBoynton]

I have recently noticed a wobble in my rear wheel. After cleaning/ lubing my chain last night I can feel a wobble while holding onto the saddle and lifting the Rear wheel off the ground when the tire is spinning at a high speed. I do not believe the wheel is out of true bc you can barely visualize any movement side/side with the wheel while spinning. Nor does it have any serious give when you try to pull on the wheel side to side (no more than the front wheel).

The wobble is only felt after a few hard peddles with this wheel lifted off the ground. I am farily new to road biking - is this common or do i have a loose hub/ axle?

I had the bike in for a tune up last week. I have only switched out the rear wheel a hand full of times since in order to use my trainer specific wheel set up. We did have a hard 45mile ride yesturday through rain/ mud. Maybe that is affecting the spin? mud/dirt?

Any thought?

[torquer]

Sounds like you only notice it with the wheel off the ground, but not while riding, right?
Maybe water got inside the rim? You could give it a few days to dry out on its own, or take the tire and tube off and see if anything drains out.
That would also give you a chance to see how evenly balanced the wheel is when you spin it slowly.

[StephenBoynton]

Sounds like you only notice it with the wheel off the ground, but not while riding, right?
Maybe water got inside the rim? You could give it a few days to dry out on its own, or take the tire and tube off and see if anything drains out.
That would also give you a chance to see how evenly balanced the wheel is when you spin it slowly.

Yes it is only noticable while the wheel is off the ground, it can not be felt while riding.

Water in the rim actually makes sense. I was hearing a swooshing sound when i would first start to peddle hard. I had no idea what it was, but water in the rim makes sense. The wheels are Shimano RS-10, stock on my Cdale Caad10. Is it common for these wheels to collect water?

Appreciate the feedback i will remove the tire and tube and try and "drain" the rim.

[FlashUNC]

Wheel out of round?

You'd notice a loose hub whether the wheel was spinning or not. So that's not a likely culprit.

But a lopey wheel makes me a think you've either got a flat spot in the rim or it the wheel is out of round somehow.

[rePhil]

or it's the tire

[StephenBoynton]

What about water in the Rim as ^^ had suggested?

[josephr]

or it's the tire

more likely....tires aren't necessarily known to be completely balanced. If you put any bike on a stand and crank it you're going to notice some sort of imbalance.

[StephenBoynton]

more likely....tires aren't necessarily known to be completely balanced. If you put any bike on a stand and crank it you're going to notice some sort of imbalance.

Your suggesting that the tires are creating the wobble?

The tires have only about 800 miles on them. This is the first time i had noticed the wobble. It was also the first time I rode hard through a thunderstorm for 45 miles.

[josephr]

the term "wobble' here is sort of subjective....its kind of hard to tell on the internet ya know. Could just be that regular ole wobble that just happens or you could have something serious. The Shimano RS!10 is an entry level wheel and is a pretty sturdy piece of equipment with pretty smooth hubs. If you're that concerned about it, take it to the LBS and let one of their techs look at it.

[StephenBoynton]

the term "wobble' here is sort of subjective....its kind of hard to tell on the internet ya know. Could just be that regular ole wobble that just happens or you could have something serious. The Shimano RS!10 is an entry level wheel and is a pretty sturdy piece of equipment with pretty smooth hubs. If you're that concerned about it, take it to the LBS and let one of their techs look at it.

Greatly appreciate the feedback!

[Peter P.]

Take off the tire and tube and repeat your little test. If you still feel the "wobble", then it's because your rear rim is built with a splice to hold the ends of the rim together. This internal splice adds a few grams and throws off the balance of the wheel. No big deal as it's likely not felt while riding.

If however, the wobble goes away with the removal of the tire, then it's the tube's valve which is throwing the wheel off-balance. Again, not something to worry about.

I'm also going to assume you don't have a computer magnet secured to the rear wheel spokes, which could cause the problem as well.

[StephenBoynton]

Problem resolved itself . Culprit = Water in the rim. No more wobble.