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Winter Freewheel Woes

Old 02-09-10, 12:32 AM
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Winter Freewheel Woes

It seems that my freewheel is not so "free" anymore. Riding home the other day I noticed that after coasting for any distance and then trying to pedal again the cranks spun freely, surprising the hell out of me. Since I am not using my toe clips and am running just platforms for the winter my feet nearly came right off the pedals. Luckily I avoided what likely would have been a painful spill (I am seriously considering a pair of Power Grips to keep my feet on my platforms). I suffered with the problem today and when I got home I gave my freewheel the acid test - I pushed the bike forward and sure enough the freewheel, and in turn the chain and crank, turned in time with the rear wheel. From what I understand this indicates a seized, or sticky freewheel.

I do most of the maintenance on my own bike but I've never serviced a freewheel. Some searches here turned up some tutorials on how to service one but I would like to avoid that if possible; does anyone have any suggestions on how to "free up" my freewheel without having to remove it and repack all those bearings? BTW it's an 8-speed Shimano cassette on a generic hub.

Thanks for the input.
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Old 02-09-10, 07:32 AM
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So it will coast, but then when you try to pedal it does not engage? Or do you mean then when you no longer have downward pressure on the back pedal, the pedals spin?

If the former, you need a new freewheel. If the latter, you need new grease or something. I had that happen once, and a tech at my LBS sprayed something into the freewheel, spun it a few times with a chain wrench, and it was good for another few years.
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Old 02-09-10, 08:28 AM
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Originally Posted by RobertFrapples
So it will coast, but then when you try to pedal it does not engage? Or do you mean then when you no longer have downward pressure on the back pedal, the pedals spin?

If the former, you need a new freewheel. If the latter, you need new grease or something. I had that happen once, and a tech at my LBS sprayed something into the freewheel, spun it a few times with a chain wrench, and it was good for another few years.
I could've sworn there was another thread in the last month or two mentioning that the former can happen on occasion in cold temperatures. The grease becomes too thick and prevents the hub from re-engaging or something? I might be misremembering.
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Old 02-09-10, 09:26 AM
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Just for clarification what happens is that when I coast, the freewheel continues to rotate, putting slack on the chain. When I try to pedal again I have to take up the slack first before a solid connection is made between the crank and the cassette. It's not totally seized - I can pedal backwards but it's not smooth; it hesitates and the derailleur jumps and springs back into place whenever the freewheel lets go. I wish you knew what the LBS tech sprayed into your freewheel, RobertFrapples. It sounds like the easy, albeit temorary solution to my problem. I am willing to overhaul the wheel in the spring - I just want it to get me through the winter without having to take it apart. I have another bike but it has slicks and I am not willing to ride without my studs. Unfortunately the wheels are different sizes so I can't swap the tires and I don't want to buy another set of studded tires just to get me through the rest of the season.

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Old 02-09-10, 12:15 PM
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It's probably frozen. I've had that happen a number of times. If you get any water in there it'll freeze up and the pawls won't do their pawl thang. You might just let it dry out and warm up someplace warm for a day or so and it'll probably be fine.
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Old 02-09-10, 03:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Thulsadoom
It's probably frozen. I've had that happen a number of times. If you get any water in there it'll freeze up and the pawls won't do their pawl thang. You might just let it dry out and warm up someplace warm for a day or so and it'll probably be fine.
You may be right. The problem seems to have corrected itself. I even got that nice clickety-click sound back when I pedal backwards. Unfortunately, temps have really been fluctuating in my area lately; all this thawing and freezing is really wreaking havoc on my drivetrain and cables. I guess you could say it's a sticky situation. I'm not confident enough in my ablilities to go fixed gear, or even SS; I'm too old and too much of a Clyde. Maybe an IGH for next year
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Old 02-09-10, 06:18 PM
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bingo bango boom, water in the freehub.

If you don't have tools take it to a shop, get them to flush and relube the freehub... should take a day or two.
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Old 02-11-10, 06:53 AM
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If the freewheel spins and puts that much slack in the chain, maybe your chain is too loose?
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Old 02-11-10, 09:45 AM
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With an 8 speed cassette you have a freehub, not a freewheel.

In either case I would remove the cluster and address what is more than likely some water contamination and it needs to be flushed a re-lubed, preferably with a synthetic marine grease which will resist water and will handle the coldest temperatures you can imagine.

With freewheels I have a snappy little grease injector that threads into the back and with a grease gun I can reload the grease, after flushing it out of course.

Freehubs are easier to service if you have the right tools... the Park website has an excellent how to on this and will save me a bunch of typing.

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=45
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Old 02-11-10, 10:04 PM
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Thanks for the link, Sixty Fiver, and for the education. Freehub, eh? I'll have to remember that. As for slack in my chain it comes as a result of the derailleur doing its job and compensating for the tension created on the bottom half of the drivetrain. Once the freehub finally gives it snaps back into place and everything goes back to normal. Anyway the freehub is working fine now but I will definitely overhaul it as per Sixty Fiver's and Park's instructions. BTW what exactly is the difference between a freewheel and a freehub?

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Old 02-11-10, 11:59 PM
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Originally Posted by irclean
Thanks for the link, Sixty Fiver, and for the education. Freehub, eh? I'll have to remember that. As for slack in my chain it comes as a result of the derailleur doing its job and compensating for the tension created on the bottom half of the drivetrain. Once the freehub finally gives it snaps back into place and everything goes back to normal. Anyway the freehub is working fine now but I will definitely overhaul it as per Sixty Fiver's and Park's instructions. BTW what exactly is the difference between a freewheel and a freehub?
Freehub the ratchet mechanism is inside the hub, with the freewheel the ratchet mechanism is inside the cassette.
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Old 02-12-10, 12:11 AM
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Freewheels thread on to the hub while a freehub is attached to the hub and the cassette is fitted to that... the bearing support on a freehub is also much better than on a freewheel.
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Old 02-12-10, 12:16 AM
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Originally Posted by Sixty Fiver
With an 8 speed cassette you have a freehub, not a freewheel.

In either case I would remove the cluster and address what is more than likely some water contamination and it needs to be flushed a re-lubed, preferably with a synthetic marine grease which will resist water and will handle the coldest temperatures you can imagine.

With freewheels I have a snappy little grease injector that threads into the back and with a grease gun I can reload the grease, after flushing it out of course.

Freehubs are easier to service if you have the right tools... the Park website has an excellent how to on this and will save me a bunch of typing.

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=45
Out of curiosity what kinda marine grease are you putting in there? I usually just put some various chain oil in... are you using the freehub buddy to squirt it in?
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Old 02-12-10, 12:54 AM
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The freewheel tool is ancient and I am not sure where it came from originally... running synthetic oil into the freewheel is also acceptable but the grease works better in wetter environments.

I get most lubes at Canadian Tire since it is just a few minutes from my home and shop although I picked up some Shell SRS 2000 winter grade through my old employer.
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Old 02-12-10, 08:56 AM
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Thanks for mentioning the difference, sixty-fiver.

I don't have a free hub so that might take a bit more oil, but for free wheels here is my quick fix. I just lay the bike on its left side and spin the wheel. Drizzle oil between the moving and the stationary part of the sprocket until it comes out the other side.

Really nice fast improvement, works winter or summer.
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Old 02-12-10, 09:57 AM
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Originally Posted by Closed Office
Thanks for mentioning the difference, sixty-fiver.

I don't have a free hub so that might take a bit more oil, but for free wheels here is my quick fix. I just lay the bike on its left side and spin the wheel. Drizzle oil between the moving and the stationary part of the sprocket until it comes out the other side.

Really nice fast improvement, works winter or summer.
That works too... it is really dependent on your riding conditions as more wet or cold weather riding always means more service is needed and if you use oil lubrication the service intervals will be more frequent.

Up here any bikes that get ridden in the winter should use synthetic lubricants as our temps can fall below the operational range of standard grease and oil which is usually okay to -25C or 0F... with synthetics you can enjoy smooth running at -40 and beyond.

You can really feel the difference in how smoothly a bike runs at lower temps when you use semi of full synthetic grease.
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Old 02-18-10, 06:53 PM
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Originally Posted by Arcanum
I could've sworn there was another thread in the last month or two mentioning that the former can happen on occasion in cold temperatures. The grease becomes too thick and prevents the hub from re-engaging or something? I might be misremembering.
I was the OP in that thread (see- Cassette problems @ -25f in the bicycle mechanics threads) After much input it was decided that the grease in the free hub was too thick and needed repacked with a lighter grease. There are some very good links in the OP. A complete disassembly was required. I was too lazy so I just removed the axle assembly and bearings and then rinsed it with good, clean solvent, and lubed it with an all season lube. I haven't had any problems since but I haven't rode in those temps again. (Thank God) -15f is about the coldest since.
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