ennchicago

I was replacing the chain and cleaning the drivetrain on my girlfriend's bike, and took off the rear wheel to do so. After re-assembling it, the rear wheel will barely turn. I think the problem is that when I put the wheel back on I rotated the arm to line up with the bracket on the chainstay, not realizing that this also adjusted something inside the hub (I guess?).

I'm having a hard time figuring out how to undo what I did. Sheldon Brown's site talks about "use a hammer to rotate the reaction arm back to its proper position" but I have no idea what the proper position is. Simply turning the arm one way or another while holding the wheel and sprocket fixed does not seem to have any effect.

The hub is a Shimano CB-E110, if it matters.

hueyhoolihan

the brake arm on some, maybe most, coaster brakes moves the non-drive side bearing cone, if the locknut is not tightened properly on either side, the bearing adjustment can easily, and more importantly, unknowingly be disturbed by forcing it to move. caveat gorillini. people can get away less than tight locknuts because most coaster brake hubs use axle nuts to attach it to the dropouts, and if done without disturbing the brake arm can be, temporarily at least, workable.

i would probably tighten the non-drive side locknut while holding the brake arm, just to make sure it's tight. then use the drive side to adjust the bearings. you know, loosen the locknut, tighten the cone to taste, hold the cone with a cone wrench and put a couple of grunts into the locknut.

ennchicago

Thanks. I don't have the right cone wrench but I was able to make the adjustment using the brake arm, holding the cone and locknut on the drive size with a pliers wrench--not ideal but it seems OK.

wschruba

Slip a pipe over the reaction arm, and then tighten the locknut against it. Use an adjustable wrench if you have to.