Tradarcher

I have a lightly used set of vuelta corsa lite wheels and all of a sudden the hub on my rear wheel does not want to spin freely anymore. There is no grinding or noise when I do turn it but it will not spin easily . Any ideas what it may be?

bargainguy

Cones too tight. Do you have the appropriate cone wrenches to service it?

If you've been riding in foul weather and water has infiltrated the hub, that could leach out whatever grease was in there. Probably not the main reason for not spinning freely but could be a contributing factor.

FBinNY 

Not enough info.

Could be tight cones, could be something jammed behind the cassette or elsewhere, or it could be corrosion.

Also, there's freely and freely, and your definition may differ from mine.

The "suddenly" in this has me wondering, because most causes other than something like a string wound up behind the cassette don't suddenly make hubs bind.

Secret Squirrel

Ok, I will throw in my guess. Suddenly.... Bent axle

Andrew R Stewart 

Look for the easy stuff first. Like is the brake rubbing on the rim or the tire on the frame. Have you removed the wheel from the bike and tried to spin the axle in your fingers? How about the freehub/cassette? Anything jammed/wound up tight behind the cog set? Have you tried to reinstall the wheel to reconfirm it's problem?


Assuming that the rim/tire/brake/frame rub is not happening it's likely a hub/axle issue. But without actually having it in my hands to feel and start the tear down I can't really add more specific advice. Not all bearing damage results in rough or noisy function. Seals can dislodge or tear and migrate.


Keep us in the loop as you find out what's actually going on. Andy.

Tradarcher

Well the bike has been taken apart for a while and the parts have been in storage. I mounted the wheel earlier to make sure I had tire clearance with a new set of tires. After spinning the wheel it made about 3 rotations then stopped by comparison I spun the front wheel and continued to spin for over 6 minutes

Jon T

Sounds like a classic case of bearing/lube/ cone adjustment.
Jon

cny-bikeman

Having an idea what it is does not serve much of a purpose. You need to take action yourself to find out what it is.

1. Adjust the cones
2. If that does not work overhaul the hub.

Tradarcher

I don't have come wrenches but I can get some. How hard is it to adjust them?

FBinNY 

In all fairness, after the OP gave the details that it was "sudden" when he took the bike out of long term storage, the situation changed somewhat.

Cones don't suddenly change adjustment sitting is storage, so it's most likely that he's seeing viscous drag owing to dried or thickened grease, possibly at a seal interface.

My solution before picking up a wrench is to put a drop (only 1 drop) of oil where the axle emerges on each side, slowly spinning the wheel or axle to help it wick in and see if things begin to improve over the next dew minutes.

ONLY if the added oil doesn't help would I look any further.

FBinNY 

Read my post above before crossing this bridge. As I said, cones don't magically become misadjusted in storage, so if they were OK going in, they're still OK coming out.

Tradarcher

Ok will do. Would using the wheel on a ss bike change anything? I use a Shimano quick release and I have to clamp it pretty hard to get the wheel to stay put when pedalling up big hills

trailangel

^^ That'll do it

bargainguy

Yup. The quick release lever provides the final bit of compression on the cones, so if you're really jamming on that QR, you're compressing the cones way past normal tension. This is why singlespeeds and fixed gear bikes typically run nutted axles in the rear, less prone to slip in the dropouts.

Tradarcher

the hub won't spin much even when turning it by hand out of the dropouts. But I guess the repeated clamping of the qr has damaged something. Im pretty sure my hub has sealed bearings and not loose. Does it still have cones?

Tradarcher

Can the qr be changed to a bolt axle?

FBinNY 

Take it slow. You still don't know of there's any damage.

As a rule, damaged bearings feel rough, If they're just stiff but turn pretty smoothly, they're OK and most likely you're just feeling dried grease.

But, yes, the cones might be adjusted, or that hub design doesn't allow it, but we can't say either way without more info. Same with conversion to solid axle with nuts.

Stop being a bumblebee and flitting around. Take the time to analyze what the problem is, and what kind of hub you have, then consider the specific options that may apply.

Tradarcher

Ok I'll try the oil first

maddog34

Vuelta uses cheap lousy grease... wheel sat around for a length of time, grease went bad.... pretty simple... if you have the tools, and know how to adjust axle bearings...

Tradarcher

I put a drop or so of oil and it freed it up some. Still not spinning as freely as the front but it is actually spinning relatively easy now.

FBinNY 

It's magic.......

Tradarcher

Will it continue to loose the more I use it?

FBinNY 

Up to a point.

Specifically to the extent that stiff grease was holding it back. But once the grease Issue gone, then it's either as good as it'll, unless it can be adjusted a bit better.

My point was to try the simplest fix appropriate to the problem before doing other more complicated, possibly unnecessary, repair.

Tradarcher

Ok sounds good to me. I will use it as is during the winter and as long as it holds up I will plan on rebuilding it by the spring if need be. thanks for the help