Plastic Washer on Mirage 180 Spine-How loose?

Hi all,

I’ve noticed that the plastic washer on my Mirage 180 Drive spine is very loose and just kind of flapping around on the spine. I can’t see that it would give any protection to the bearings (sand, dirt, etc) as it doesn’t sit firmly in the end bracket. I’ve taken the spine apart completely and there’s no grease or lubricant of any kind in the bearings.

Is this normal? Or do I need to replace the spine assembly? I’ve owned it for the last three years and haven’t noticed the loose washer before.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated!

That washer on my Mirage drive was always fairly loose. I think it may be there more to keep the bearings from falling out than to keep out foreign material. I did have the washer get caught and mangled a fair bit when a couple of the bearings broke and things got out of alignment. After that the washer would occasionally catch on the chain and squawk pretty bad until I reset it. The first time I took it apart, there didn't seem to be any sort of lube on those bearings. I used a bit of white lithium grease when I replaced the broken bearings, but mostly because it made it easier to keep the bearings in place when reassembling everything.