Are pawls and springs generally the same for all hubs?
11-07-18 | 07:36 PM
#1
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Are pawls and springs generally the same for all hubs?
I had a spring that broke. Now I want to replace all 3 springs and pawls. Can I just go to the bike shop and purchase “generic” pawls and springs, or will they potentially be specific to my hub?
11-07-18 | 07:46 PM
#2
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From: PA
Bikes: 92 Giant Sedona ATX Custom
They vary widely brand to brand. You may get lucky and find a similar but your best bet is to go to a shop and ask them to dig in the old parts bins. Most shops will have a scavenge parts bin if they don't have it new. What happened to break it?
11-07-18 | 07:57 PM
#3
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Based on personal experience, the springs and pawls of a 1972 Regina Ora freewheel differs substantially from a 1990 Campagnolo Record Cassette hub or a 2002 Dura-Ace cassette hub. I have taken apart dozens of hubs.
Sorry to be skeptical, but maybe one in 10 shops has ever dug around in a freewheel/freehub body to the point where they have actually witnessed the springs and pawls. Maybe half have replaced freehubs, as an entire unit. Time is money, specifically a minimum shop rate of $75/hour.
Maybe one in 100 shops will be eager to take on this picky, specialized time-consuming work. Your best option is to find a co-op with a bucket of old freehubs/freewheels to scavenge.
Sorry to be skeptical, but maybe one in 10 shops has ever dug around in a freewheel/freehub body to the point where they have actually witnessed the springs and pawls. Maybe half have replaced freehubs, as an entire unit. Time is money, specifically a minimum shop rate of $75/hour.
Maybe one in 100 shops will be eager to take on this picky, specialized time-consuming work. Your best option is to find a co-op with a bucket of old freehubs/freewheels to scavenge.
11-07-18 | 08:09 PM
#4
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Thanks for the replies. I don’t know why my spring broke. I heard a bad creaking coming from my bike, I thought it was the crank. Sound got worse. Then finally it got to the point where my hub was no longer freewheeling. Rode it for about 10 miles like that. Got home and took the hub apart. One spring was snapped with half of it missing. I assume the metal got disintegrated inside the hub. And the sealed bearing on the drive side was completely jacked up. This is a hub with about 15k miles. The bearings had all been replaced once (both in the hub and the hub body). Plenty of grease in there. This is a FLO wheel. They are super cool, and when I asked for advice they decided to send me a free new hub body which will include the springs and pawls. But I was wondering if I would fix this on my own while I wait for this to arrive. After all, a man needs to ride his bike.
11-07-18 | 08:53 PM
#5
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I watched the FLO freehub servicing video on their website. The hubs and hub guts look like rebranded Sun Ringle. These are highly specialized parts.
At the shop yesterday we have someone whose abused 15 year old Shimano freehub had locked up solid. We dug through the 20 pound bin of used Shimano freehubs taken off of taco'd rear MTB wheels. $5 and 15 minutes later, we had a replacement freehub installed.
Some folks slag Shimano, but there are real positives arising from the vast inventory of Shimano replacement parts out there.
At the shop yesterday we have someone whose abused 15 year old Shimano freehub had locked up solid. We dug through the 20 pound bin of used Shimano freehubs taken off of taco'd rear MTB wheels. $5 and 15 minutes later, we had a replacement freehub installed.
Some folks slag Shimano, but there are real positives arising from the vast inventory of Shimano replacement parts out there.
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