Bicycle Mechanics - Totally silent freehub when coasting - problem?

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Tyrell
03-31-09, 05:46 PM
The freehub on two of my bikes are totally silent when coasting. The GT Talera has been silent ever since I bought it (used). I just noticed my Trek 1420 freehub became silent today. No more tic-tic-tic-tic-tic as I coast. Both bikes still work fine but I was wondering if this is a sign of future problems? Anything I can do to remedy?

Only thing that has changed is I recently cleaned and re-greased the hub bearings on the Trek. Did the same on the GT shortly after I bought it used but it was silent when I bought it in the first place.

Wordbiker
03-31-09, 07:26 PM
It could be that the Talera has a silent freehub, but the Trek stopped making noise? That means your freehub pawls are sticking. Did you flush and lube the freehub when you greased the bearings?
z415
03-31-09, 07:27 PM
If it still works then I wouldn't worry about it.

z415
03-31-09, 07:29 PM
That means your freehub pawls are sticking.

If it is sticking, won't the OP feel it when trying to pedal? Seems like that many sticking pawls would be felt with you try to pedal and the pawls don't engage to move everything.
DieselDan
03-31-09, 07:30 PM
My RSX freehub went silent after servicing.
Tyrell
03-31-09, 07:34 PM
It could be that the Talera has a silent freehub, but the Trek stopped making noise? That means your freehub pawls are sticking. Did you flush and lube the freehub when you greased the bearings?

Nope. I performed the hub maintenance about a week ago and have ridden probably 100-ish miles before it became quiet. Really weird. It was clicking along as I walked it into my office building this morning but when I grabbed it to go home this evening it was quiet.
Wordbiker
03-31-09, 07:58 PM
If it is sticking, won't the OP feel it when trying to pedal? Seems like that many sticking pawls would be felt with you try to pedal and the pawls don't engage to move everything.


Nope. I performed the hub maintenance about a week ago and have ridden probably 100-ish miles before it became quiet. Really weird. It was clicking along as I walked it into my office building this morning but when I grabbed it to go home this evening it was quiet.

Some hubs have tighter tolerances than others. Greasing the pawls will cause them to stick open as grease or dirt holds the sides. They may still move a little and the hub may still engage and work fine, but the noise of them snapping back is gone.

Some Mavic hubs have especially tight tolerances and greasing them can actually cause them to fail. My rep told me it's something he's seen a lot of, and the fix is to use oil, not grease for the pawls. I've used Phil's Tenacious for that purpose ever since.
Tyrell
03-31-09, 08:47 PM
I'll look into some freehub service here soon. Thanks for the tip on using oil. The hubs on the Trek are 105's, btw.
Panthers007
03-31-09, 09:09 PM
One of my freehubs - a Shimano Ultegra - was utterly silent after I overhauled the hub(s) and packed 'em in grease. Now, many miles later, it has developed a quiet 'click' as it revolves. But I anticipated this, so I'm not freaking out over it. As long as it does everything it's designed to do - it can play Beethoven's 9th Symphony for all I care! :roflmao::eek::roflmao: