Whats wrong with my bike?

stevengeelan

I bought a GT Aggressor XC3 at the weekend. I've had it out a twice with no problems, but tonight when going down hill, if I stopped pedaling the chain would become slack and if I moved the pedals backwards the chain would move backwards? Whats the problem with this? Has the bike been set up incorrectly?

I apologize for the lack of a technical explanation thanks for your help.

rudedog

Not sure what you mean here - what would you expect to happen to the chain if you pedaled backwards?

supersonic

Sounds like a sticking freehub body.

My advice is to ride more: it should free up.

nicklouse

or a stretching cable.

stevengeelan

Maybe this will help you to diagnose this. When pushing the bike the pedals go round with the back wheel? How can I sort this out?

supersonic

The freehub is sticking. If it has not freed up yet then it needs replacing. They are non servicable (unless you really understand the workings, but they are not designed to be serviced).

stevengeelan

I will give the bike a real good long ride tomorrow and if it doesn't free up I'll take it back to where I bought it. Thanks for your help

rhyko7

"if I stopped pedaling the chain would become slack and if I moved the pedals backwards the chain would move backwards?"

let me guess when you pedal fowards the chain moves um fowards?

sorry but ive got no idea what your trying to say?

what you said just sounds normal behaviour of a bike to me :roll:

supersonic

Well, yes, the chain will freewheel backwards whent he cranks are turned that way, but the chain going slack may mean a sticky freehub, as does the cranks moving when pushing the bike forwards.

v23

Or gunked up, sticky jockey wheels

thomasali

spray some gt85 on the cassette, hopefully some will trickle into your freehub and help thin the grease thats causing your freehub to stick. We often have this problem on new budget stuff.