Hi
Like I said on another thread I bought a Sputnik a little more than a week ago.
The thing is that one of the guys in the shop recommended me to buy a lockring for my bike since he had messed up two hubs doing skid stops. Since I have Formula hubs do I need separate lockrings since they seem to come with some already installed? And what are lockrings for anyways?

I'm a bit new at this too, but the cog screws on to the hub clockwise and the lockring threads on to your hub counter clockwise which prevents the cog from flying off....especially when you put resistance (skid) againsts the pedals. Did I get it right senior members?

yes lockrings are to prevent the cog from flying off and if the lockring is not tight enough than the whole jam will pop off, stripping the lockring threads. unfortunately, more times than not, the hub threads will strip before the lockring threads so make sure its secure else you're out a rear wheel.

But is it possible that I already have one?
Is that it there?? If so why would tell me to buy one? I almost went back to buy one too afraid of messing up my hubs. Can ss/fg do without it???
https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1010/...f0065d7d_b.jpg

That thing that says "Lock" with the little notches in it is a lockring. Look, the cog screws on clockwise, and unscrews counterclockwise. Pedalling forwards tightens the cog, and pedalling backwards or just resisting the pedals loosens it. With no lockring, the cog will just unscrew as soon as you resist the pedals.

The lockring screws on counterclockwise, so resisting or backwards pedalling cannot loosen it.

You will get this 100% if you see the cog and lockring installed in front of you.

Singlespeed doesn't need a lockring because you cannot put reverse pressure on the ring---it just freewheels backwards, making that clicky noise.

Thanxs a lot...

the real question is why is a person working at a bike shop that is suggesting lock ring purchases to people who already have what they need
?

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any chance he was trying to sell you a lockring wrench
?

You can model this phenom by thinking of a jar of peanut butter. The lid is your cog, viewed from the bikes driveside. To "pedal forwards", just tighten the lid. To "resist", turn the jar clockwise while holding the lid stationary. Yep, the lid comes off, because peanut butter jars do not come with a reverse threaded lockring.


Doof is right though, the guy was probably tryiong to sell you a lockring wrench, which you should get if you don't have one. Vigorous forward pedalling by you will tend to tighten your cog even more than it already is, effectively loosening the lockring. Then, next time you resis the cog will spin back to where it was, slamming into the lr and potentially stripping the threads. Lots of people ruin hubs this way.

A lockring wrench fits in those little notches i pointed out to ya. Remember, the lr tightens backwards!

Nah, he didn't know I already had one, although he did told me I would need a lockring wrench but only when I said I'd probably want to do it myself. I think he was genuinely concerned about me loosing my hub to skidding.

the threads are cut into a fixed hub so that the motion of pedaling forwards will tighten the cog. the lockring is threaded in the opposite direction. the reason you should always ride with a lockring on the street is that if you skid or back pedal, the cog by nature of its design, will loosen. since the lockring is threaded in the reverse direction and butted up against the cog, the friction of the cog trying to loosen will cause the lockring to tighten, thus keeping the two immobile.

edit: mando already explained this, but yea...

Do definitely tighten the cog and lockring, even if the bike seems fine. It's meant to be pretty common for cogs and lockrings to not be installed as well as they should be on some new bikes. And tell that guy in the bike shop that he's a ****** for suggesting you buy a lockring when you already have one ;-)

wait... so this guy at the shop not only recommended you buy a lockring for a bike that already came with one (like pretty much ANY bike) but has blown it TWICE on doing skid stops WITHOUT a lockring?

Maybe the stock lockring is crap? A crappy lockring is harder to install correctly, and will probably lead to a stripped hub.