Freehub Woes

AndyBike

Shimano M525 hub/freehub.

Freehub - first factory fitted took 5 months before being destroyed symptoms engaging whilst rolling without turning cranks. New one fitted, may have overtightened it a bit, minor freehub drag. Freehub lasted 3 - 4 months before not engaging at one position of freehub for 1/2 to 3/4 turn of pedals.

Is this just crap kit, poor fittiing, heavy riding (14 stone don't use big ring), poor technique?

Can any one help, i am about to fit/get fitted 3rd freehub.

supersonic

Unlucky I would say! You can sometimes flush through with GT85 and free the pawls, then drip oil into them to get them going again.

scazzer

Hi,dont mean to hijack your post Andy but im having probs with mine and rather than stick another post up thought i would ask in yours

wot it is,about 3 weeks ago i had prob with freewheel sticking when coasting without turning pedals causing chain to back up ,took it back to shop as it still under warranty.To get it done sameday i had to pay for new freewheel to be fitted and then they send knackered 1 back and get confirmation from shimano that it is covered and they will then put the money back in my account,ok im happy...........

until now,ive used the bike maybe dozen times just for short commute journeys and now the freewheel is making a sort of ratchet sound when freewheeling :x ,so does any1 think this could happen to a new freewheel which has about 50 mile done to it,or like me :shock: do you think they have managed to free the old 1 with GT and put it back on,cos like the bloke in the shop said to me that they have never had to replace any of these (LX hub).
Sorry if in wrong place but would like to know wot the tech pro's think b4 i kick off big time with them.....cheers

Shorty12

I've just got provlems with my hub

konanige

I know this might sound a bit extreme what with the credit crunch and all, but I had the same problem with shimano freehubs, I was 17 stone and quite strong in the leg and most of the time Id be lucky if I got three months out of one, couple this to the task of servicing the bearings every month I was to say the least FED UP! So on the phone I was to STIF BIKES where I purchased two bling HOPE PRO2 hubs conected to the rims of my choice. That was 2 years ago and I havent even looked at them since and they are still running as sweet as ever. I know it sounds costly but when your paying out 30 spons every three months for freehubs it is a wise investment that I can thoroughly recommend.

AndyBike

Scazzer, no probs with your post seems like this is a prob for a few of us.

After posting the question I replaced my free hub with new and thought I would see if I could identfy the problem/damage with old one by taking it apart. Couldnt get in and damaged the bearing retainer.

A couple of days later, after reading about cleaning them on the Park Tools site as well as supersonics advice, I though i'd flush it out and see what happened, bloody thing engaged fine, so must have been gunged up.

I am finding myself for so far not too impressed by Shimano kit. Freehubs that break or gunge up easily, hubs (cup and cone) that require constant attention, and my rear mech (XT) only works well with £35 (Ride on) cables.

I got a Hope Vision 4 lights last year, well impressed, Hopes customer service has good reviews so I shall be going for some hope hubs/wheels nexttime the freehub packs up.

ride_whenever

The beauty of the hopes is that the freehub is user servicable, and if the springs go you phone them up and they'll post you new ones next day for free!

that said I've got two shimano hubs running ss conversions and they're doing fine, my hope only lasted 3 months before the springs died, but they're much better now!

My flatmate has an xt hub which he's had no trouble with and my gf has three shimano rear wheels, all of which are fine even after a couple of years.


With regards to the cup and cone fiasco, get some cone spanners and maintain them yourself, it isnt hard and if you really snug the lockring in tight then they don't unwind at all.

stumpyjon

Sounds bad guys but in Shimano's defence freehubs are something I've never had any issues with. Deore on my Stumpjumper is nearly 2 years old, 1000 plus miles of fairly hard riding and the XT on my hardtail is nearly a year old, 350 miles and again no problem.

That said I've just serviced the Stumpjumper and flushed the freehub through with GT85 for the first time and relubed it. Probably seize now :roll: .

AndyBike

Thanks, I do all bike servicing myself including the hubs, finding the sweet spot with the cup and cone is somthing that takes some getting used to - frustrating.

I have been suprised how fragile bike nuts and bolts etc. are. I have stripped a threaded rod/spindle on the hub tightening the locknut against the cone nut (comes from being a plumber in a previous life) it had come loose after factory fit - time to get a torque wrench.