I took my wife's bike in to have the wheel bearings cleaned and packed and to have them grease the freewheel. The bike is a '79 Miyata 710 with a Suntour freewheel. There was nothing wrong with the bike; I just wanted it serviced because she wanted to start riding it again.

When I got the bike back, the mechanic told me to keep an eye on the freewheel as he said it needed replacing. His evidence was that the pedals rotated when the bike was rolled forward instead of just freewheeling. I just chalked it up to him packing too much grease in the mechanism as it didn't do this before I brought it in.

However, today I was oiling the chain on her bike and it was much harder to hand-pedal her bike backwards (to move the chain) than it is on my bike. I also have a freewheel on my bike. I can throw my crank backwards and it will spin about 2 revolutions. Hers will move maybe 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn.

The wheel, when lifted of the ground, seems to coast OK, but not as well as mine.

Question. Is this freewheel toast, is it over-packed and in need of cleaning or should I just ignore it.

TIA,
Eric