IronHorse rear cassette loose, help :)

ironhorse187 said:

When i went to wash it i realized that my whole rear cassette is really loose. like when on the bike i can wiggle the rear tire side to side about 1/4 inch! Im kinda new to bikes and i know this s not right. off the bike i can move the whole cassette around.

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You say that the cassette is loose, but you also say that you can wiggle the rear tire from side to side while riding. That suggests to me that something is going wrong with either the hub or the axle. But you seem to be pretty sure too that the cassette is loose. That may be true, but your previous statement suggests to me that there might be more wrong than simply a loose cassette.

If it is only a loose cassette, you can tighten it up with a cassette lockring tool. But given your description of the problem, I'm thinking that the problem is more serious; perhaps you broke the rear axle? If so, it'll need to be replaced. It could be that some part of the hub is damaged too.

Take the wheel off the bike and verify that the cassette lockring is tight (or not). Do whatever other poking and prodding that you feel comfortable with and report back with your findings...