Pedals spin when rolling the bike forward
 

I cleaned my bike this weekend so I took the wheels off to get to some of the dirt. Anyway, when I finished, I noticed while pushing the bike forward, the pedals rotate-like a fixed gear. I attempted to turn the pedals backwards and it would move a bit then catch, like the chain was about to come off. The bike was fine beforehand.

I took the bike to the shop, and they think it is the freewheel. The wheels are Vuelta Corsa Lites that are almost new. Thoughts?

Start taking the rear hub/freehub body/cogs apart and see what you see. Moving things by fingers can often show a lot that mere spinning the wheels, still in the frame, won't. It's easy to assume that your cleaning either pushed crud deeper or part of a rag is now stuck in the freehub body, but we really don't know what's going on as we can't touch and see the bike/wheel. Didn't the shop offer to service the hub/freehub? Are you sure the ratchet is a freewheel? Andy

Agree with the LBS. Pull it, flush it, re-oil and re-install.
Jon

This alone does not mean anything. Happens all the time to every bicycle. This is a function of many different factors, like the amount and viscosity of grease in the freewheel, strength of ratchet springs, friction in the BB, friction in the chain and so forth and so on.

Actually the posts previous to Andrey are correct. BB/chain friction may affect how each acts when the freewheel has excess friction, but they cannot cause the described behavior.

that wasn't "alone"... note: "I attempted to turn the pedals backwards and it would move a bit then catch, like the chain was about to come off. The bike was fine beforehand."

i'd suspect damage during install, or debris in the area between the freehub and axle.

I'm with Andrey.

Pedals turning when you walk the bike may be a problem, but there's a very real possibility that it's meaningless.

This is about friction. Freehweels have internal friction and "want" to turn with the wheel. At the same time, the chain, RD pulleys, and BB have friction and want to stand still. So it's a question of balance, sometimes not so much about which has higher friction, as which has lower.

On my road bike, the balance is so perfect, that the pedals turn when in high gear, but not in low. They are also more likely to turn when the chain is newly oiled, than later.

The acid test isn't whether the pedals turn, but whether there's enough freewheel friction to slacken the upper loop more than very slightly when coasting.

Been out of town. Gonna try out some of the suggestions tomorrow. Like I said, my concern is that the wheel was fine before I cleaned it. I will report my findings. I do have an extra Novatec freehub that I can try. I think I heard that Vuelta uses Novatec hubs.

So what's the actual problem?

I had that issue on my '64 Legnano. I removed the wheel and sprayed penetrating oil into the center of the freewheel, not the axel, but the inner edge of the gear cluster. Spin the freewheel a few times, and it should free up. It may take more than one try. Worked for me, no further problems once it losened up.

Hold the pedal steady and roll the bike forward.make sure it is correctly in a gear, not beteeen two.
If the chain rolls around with the cog at the back significantly you may have problem. If it doesn't, oil the chain and ride it slowly and see what happens.

2 Rohloff IGH bikes , pedals turn when I walk the bike, with one of them.. I Don't let it worry me..

What concerns me is that when I pick the bike up by the seat and spin the rear wheel forward, there is tension. The wheel will roll a couple of revolutions and stop and the pedals spin as if it was a fixed gear. When I attempt to spin the wheel backwards, it will act as if the chain is binding.

I put another wheel on today and everything was fine. The shop was right. It is in the freewheel. I just don't know why since the wheels are about 6 months old.

And you put the other wheel back in to make sure it wasn't just cockeyed in the drop outs? At any rate, with two rears wheels, you should be able to feel if there is a big difference by spinning each cassette while they are off the bike.

All sorts of things can cause a not so free wheel (sticky freewheel).

Dirt, corrosion, dried grease, something jammed behind it, a damage or displaced seal, and more.

Most is easily enough diagnosed with a basic eyeball exam, though an internal issue wouldn't be. However, most cases are easily cured with minimal effort.

One thing you mentioned was that it started afer you cleaned the bike. So based on the timing, suspect either something you did while cleaning, or something stemming from whatever caused you to clan it in the first place.

My point is that new or old, the age has nothing to do with it. It's something that happened while riding or cleaning.

Caked up with paper towel and stuff will do it

It sounds like the Vuelta freehub body did not have enough lube. The only time I had this happen was with an old Velomax wheel with many miles on it. After putting some air tool oil in the freehub body, it fixed it. Ideally, I would want to clean and regrease the freehub body. But I don't have any tool to get grease into that area. I miss my old Phil freewheel body greasing tool. It use to screw onto the threads of an old threaded freewheel. Then I could screw on a tube of Phil grease and push it through the body. Would love to have something similar for freebub bodies but am not sure that it exists. The tool looked something like this:

http://www.jastein.com/Images/Freewheel.jpg

But with the newer freehubs, you probably have to replace the sealed bearings if you pull off the freehub body.

Edit: Park Tool has a nice page detailing the servicing of a few freehub types here: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...icle-section-6

Thanks for all of your replies. When I cleaned the bike, all I did concerning the wheel was to floss between the cogs with a rag. I didn't take the cassette off. When I put the rear wheel back on I tried to spin the crank backwards to wipe down the chain and the chain acting as if it wanted to come off. I spun it forward and noticed that the pedals continued to spin after I stopped.

When I spin the cassette of the wheel in question it is definitely not as smooth as when I spin the cassette after I put it on the spare wheel. I'm gonna take it to the shop and see what we can figure out.

OP here again. As I said earlier, I have an extra wheel (on the bike now till I get the issue resloved) and it has a Novatec hub on it. I tried to change it over to the Vuelta and it will not fit. The LBS owner said he took the Vuelta freewheel apart and cleaned it and put it back on and it still had the same issue. He didn't say that he re-lubed it or anything, just said it still was not right.

I bought the wheels in February from Nashbar. My choices, as I see them, are to send the wheel back, buy another freewheel, or try and get him to re-lube the bearings and see if that will work. The last choice would be the most obvious.

OP- When you do talk with those who can actually provide a solution to your problem (opposed to us here on the internet who can only provide lip service) I suggest you use the proper terms. You have a freehub/cassette system and not a threaded hub/freewheel one (according to the current Nashbar listing).


In this forum this mistake only makes us wonder down the wrong fork in the road. No big deal as, again, we're not the ones to solve this. But when you go to the retailer who sold you the wheels it's common sense to be fluent with your problem.


I suspect the LBS that tried to help you either did explain using the correct terms or that they too are happy to keep you in the dark by using your incorrect reference. If the latter is what happened then trying a different shop might be in order. Andy.

^^^Thanks. I was using the wrong term. I appreciate you taking the time to explain it without being snarky.

Update: No one had the freehub to replace the old one. Everywhere I looked said "no longer available." I sent the set back to Nashbar and ordered a set of Ultegra 6800s. They got great reviews. That is the second unrelated issue I've had with the rear wheel on the Vuelta Corsa Lites.

Take this with a grain of salt, since the culture in the OP's country could be different than in mine:
Just to give some slack to the LBS people - working with people is often tricky. One thing I've learned while working at a LBS (having my own now) is that it is not always wise to correct people - I've seen experienced mechanics stick with the term the customer had used, just to avoid any possible reason for confrontation/arguing. I prefer being corrected and I try to do the same for the others, as politely as possible, but not correcting the customer doesn't mean a LBS should be avoided - it doesn't really provide much clues about the quality of their service IMO.

While often holding the packaging & the new component during the describing of the situation, I politely transition the wrongful terms used & reference to the component's name that's on the package. Once that has been established, we move forward with the problem at hand.
For 90% of scenarios like above, it helps about 1 out of 4 folks that are not up to speed with describing the problem they might have, 1/2 the time...

I'm not familiar with Vuelta wheelsets. But a few minutes of searching got me familiar enough that they are a sealed bearing and use an A-Class(?) freehub. Looks to be a simple swap. Vuelta USA has the 10 speed in stock, but the 11 speed is out of stock, which is what you found.

My only thoughts on the LBS is why he didn't offer to order and replace the freehub, at your cost. My guess is that he really didn't really remove the freehub and clean it. May have had the idea you wouldn't want his service and would just send them back to Nashbar instead, which you did.

John