Bicycle Mechanics - Freewheel in reverse

My road bike had been in storage for several years. I just had it made road-worthy with a full service tune-up. I have noticed if I move the crank backwards the chain slackens up and the the rear derailer will flex upward. Secondly if I roll the bike the pedals turn with the rear wheel. I am a total novice with road bike mechanics ----- is this an issue with the freewheel hub? The bike is a 1991 Nishiki with Shimano Engage components. What do you advise? Thanks in advance ----- Spkt

Grease the hub bearings, bottom bracket, headset, pedals, lube the chain and ride it.

Al

Grease the hub bearings, bottom bracket, headset, pedals, lube the chain and ride it.

Al

Great advice, except it does nothing to address the problem.

The grease inside the freehub mechanism has dried up. The easy fix is to drip light oil into it and spin until it frees up; the correct fix is to open 'er up and clean 'er out.

Look: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=45

rmfnla probably has it. less likely, but if the rear derailleur or hanger was bent in storage from falling over or whatnot, sometimes it can cause similar symptoms.

rmfnla probably has it. less likely, but if the rear derailleur or hanger was bent in storage from falling over or whatnot, sometimes it can cause similar symptoms.

Very true, but there would probably be shifting issues as well.

I'd do wd40 into the freehub, followed by light oil

Thanks for the replies. I'll try the penetrating oil and see what happens. Spkt

A little shot of PB Blaster and the free-wheel is spinning like nobody's business. One more question for now but what kind of oil is recommended for lubrication of the FW? I have Marvel Mystery Oil on hand, which is relatively lite. Is Tri-flo a good choice? Spkt

I would go with the Tri-flo, motor oil also works just fine.

:beer:

I see a lot of people on here "de-gunk" with WD-40 and then lube with oil (Specifically on freewheels and older rapidfire type shifters). I personally can't deal with the smell of WD-40 so I just use oil to loosen it up and it's always worked fine. Does the wd-40 then oil technique really work that much better?

I see a lot of people on here "de-gunk" with WD-40 and then lube with oil (Specifically on freewheels and older rapidfire type shifters). I personally can't deal with the smell of WD-40 so I just use oil to loosen it up and it's always worked fine. Does the wd-40 then oil technique really work that much better?


Personally, I give the freewheel or freehub body a bath in mineral spirits first. I submerge it, agitate it, let it sit for awhile, agitate it some more, maybe changing out the mineral spirits along the way, etc. Then spin it and let it dry at least overnight before dripping motor oil into it. All I can say is that the bath of mineral spirits gets awfully dirty, so I must be flushing dirt and gunk out. Maybe it's not that important, but it seems logical to me.

That sounds fine if it were my bike... but seems a bit on the labourious side when we're talking about tuning up someone's $30 junker that they'd be satisfied with if it "works"

That sounds fine if it were my bike... but seems a bit on the labourious side when we're talking about tuning up someone's $30 junker that they'd be satisfied with if it "works"

Time consuming yes, but really there's very little labor involved. Mostly it's about letting the solvent clean the freewheel.

Time consuming yes, but really there's very little labor involved. Mostly it's about letting the solvent clean the freewheel.

That's true... but I can see it now, the bucket's going to get knocked over and even if it doesn't i get to play "which freewheel goes with which bike" the next day... all for a freewheel that can be replaced for $5!

Most shops will soak it in the death tank, blow it out with the air hose and follow up with oil.

Fast, easy & effective.