BMX WHEEL KEEPS COMING LOOSE

May 10, 2006

    I have a 20" BMX bike and I’m having problems with the back wheel. The wheel is always getting pushed up somehow, which causes the bike chain to become very loose. I loosened the bolts where the pegs are, to loosen the back wheel to where I can move it back where it should be. It will work for a little while and then it gets pushed up again.
    What’s the problem with it? Is there a way I can fix it?

Chris S.

Chris:
    Can you guess why no one has gotten rich diagnosing repair problem via e-mail?
    But let’s give it a shot. Obviously, the wheel gets loose. A nut on each side of the wheel’s axle holds the wheel on. I suspect that you have tightened not the axle nuts, but instead the nuts that hold on the pegs.
    Try removing the pegs completely, so you can see the axle nuts. (See a picture here.) Using an adjustable crescent wrench or a socket wrench (not pliers), loosen the axle nuts, push the wheel into the proper position (it helps to have an assistant hold it there), then tighten the nuts. (Don’t crank ‘em down real hard; just tighten them till they offer moderate resistance.)

Mr Bike

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