Bicycle Mechanics - "Sluggish Rear Wheel"

I took my bike into the LBS to have the rear wheel trued and a spoke replaced.

I took it for a ride today, and it felt rather sluggish like the brakes were slightly grabbing, but I checked and they are perfectly aligned.

I put the bike on the trainer and tried to spin the wheel. Even when it gets up to high RPM's, it decelerates MUCH more quickly than it was in the past.

What could the problem be? (Not the brakes, wheel is now true, not rubbing at any time) Is it in the hub or cassette? I don't know.

I am looking for a new LBS because I dont feel this one stands behind their work, but am also working on learning how to fix my own. I just did not have time to true the wheel this time.

Thanks!

The wheel all the way in?

-Middi-zon

Could be the cones. Remove your rear cassette and check the tension on the cones.

You don'teven needto pull the cassette, just remove the wheel from the frame and turn the axle end with your fingers. If you get a lot of resistance, the hub is adjusted to tight.
If the axle is smooth then turn the cass. tomake sure it moves freely counterclockwise and the ratchets engage clockwise.
If they pulled the cass. to replace the spoke and reinstalled it with the spoke protector not installed right that would caue drag. It would also probably feed chain over the cass.
The shop really should back up their work, sometimes a new guy fixes stuff and makes a mistake, for that matter sometimes a pro makes a mistake. A shop has to protect its rep
And sometimes a customer won't notice an existing problem until he gets something else fixed and then on that first ride is looking more closely at his bikes behaviour.

Rev.Chuck is correct. make sure some bonehead in a hurry did not tighten it too much. A small amount of excess torque will create a lot of drag.

I'm betting some shop monkey overtightened your cones.

Is loosening the cone a bit something I can do myself?

Thanks for all the input everyone. I am in the process of learning to do more work myself so I can give my bike the TLC it deserves.

Matt

Yes you can. To do it right you really need a vice and an axle vice to hold the, you guessed it, axle, a 17mm open end wrench, and a 15mm cone wrench. You can get away with out the axle vice but it would help to at least have someone hold the axle while you are adjusting the cone and lock nut.
On the side opposite the cassette are the parts you want to adjust. There may be a rubber cone over the lock nut and cone. Just pop this off with a screwdriver. Holding the far end of the axle steady, break the locknut loose(counterclockwise), then turn the cone maybe 1/4 turn counter clockwise, tighten the locknut and check the axle play. Repeat as needed.
The reason to hold the axle steady is so you can tell how much you are turning the cone to reduce guess work as to how much change you make each time.