Bicycle Mechanics - lubricate new freewheel?

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bfromcolo
04-02-07, 11:26 AM
I am replacing my chain rings, chain and freewheel. Is everything good to go from a lubrication stand point, or should I lubricate the freewheel before installing it?
Sorry if this has been touched on before, every search I ran resulted in 500 hits and I could not find what I was looking for.
Thanks
MichaelW
04-02-07, 11:39 AM
Do you mean a rear freewheel, a freehub or just the sprockets?
bfromcolo
04-02-07, 11:40 AM
It's a 7 speed freewheel on an old Trek.
bfromcolo
04-03-07, 10:18 AM
Well either its not as dumb a question as I thought since no answered it, or its a really dumb question since no one answered it....
Let me try again. I am replacing the 7 speed free wheel on an old Trek road bike. Are these things lubricated from the factory or do I need do something before I install it?
Thanks
Evoracer
04-03-07, 10:30 AM
There's some Phil Wood goo that's good for quieting down the ratcheting mechanism if it's loud. But other than that, you're good to go.
MichaelW
04-03-07, 11:28 AM
A factory-new screw-on freewheel needs no lube. If you use it in harsh conditions you can flush all the gunk out with a squirt of wd40 (through the large-cog end) then drizzel some bike oil in the same gap.
Some higher end Sachs models were sealed and need no cleaning.
Sheldon Brown
04-03-07, 11:55 AM
I am replacing my chain rings, chain and freewheel. Is everything good to go from a lubrication stand point, or should I lubricate the freewheel before installing it?
It's quite important to lubricate the freewheel/hub threads but the freewheel mechanism is lubricated at the factory.
The freewheel is actually the least important bearing on the bike, because it only turns when you are coasting, and when you are coasting there's basically no load on the bearing.
See also: http://sheldonbrown.com/freewheels
Sheldon "Tick Tick Tick..." Brown
bfromcolo
04-03-07, 12:51 PM
Thanks!
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