Help - wobbly rear axle / wheel truing

Hello,

I thought my wheel was just a bit out of true, as I'd been lazily riding with one snapped spoke for a while, but on closer inspection the axle itself seems to revolve off-centre in the hub. I'm not sure how that's happened.

The spoke that needs replacing is on the geared side. I have a Sachs Maillard freewheel, which I don't have a remover for, and to add to my tool woes I neither have cone spanners with which to take the axle out. Is any one able to help me out, and also true the wheel whilst at it? I have a replacement spoke already.

I can pay cash/beer for time/expertise.

I'm based in Camberwell, so someone south would be good!

The wheel is an MA40 rim laced to a campag 36H hub.

Thanks

Ive got a couple of freewheel removers , not the older four pronged types, though. You can swing by if you like, Im in balham

Thanks for the reply. I'm 90% sure it needs a two prong remover, though I'm not with my bike to check at the moment. Do you also have cone spanners in order to remove the axle?

shikes i dont have that type either..my two are both multi splined
those two pronged ones can be tough to remove

I'm sure (hoping) the freewheel will come quite easily, but I'm concerned as to why the axle is turning as it is

I'm sure (hoping) the freewheel will come quite easily, but I'm concerned as to why the axle is turning as it is

Its prolly bent.. You are right to check it out.
You won't be able to true the wheel before you ensure the axle is straight.

I'd be wary of straightening an axle. I've seen too many broken ones to trust their strength after a bit of bending. Sounds like you've got a spaghetti al dente steel piece of crap. Running freewheels rather than cassettes produces more strain on the axle, so you might want to think about switching. Also, if the axle is bent, you may have twisted the dropouts, so that's worth checking out. I'd go for a higher quality "BMX" level strength one (in cromoly) - if you're lucky you might find a BMX one with the same dimensions/threads.

Cheers benbrangwyn

It happened once before, about a year ago. That time the axle had snapped clean through...

The thing about switching is that then I need to either get a whole new wheel, or rebuild the rim to a new hub. Either way it's unwanted expense. I like the MA40s so don't really want to lose them.

I saw that campyoldy has some on his site. Namely "Record 5spd rear hollow q/r axle bare-130mm+/- long" for a £5. Would that be OK, even though I'm running 6spd?