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Rear Wheel Drag / Friction?

PsychotextPsychotext Posts: 145
edited October 2012 in MTB workshop & tech
I was cleaning up both mine and my nephew's bikes yesterday when I noticed that his seems to have some sort of issue which causes the rear wheel to stop pretty quickly after you spin it. The best example of this I can give is that if I spin mine and his at the same time, and with roughly the same force, his wheel stops spinning after about 7 seconds, and mine after about 30 seconds. You can even feel it when just pushing the bike along. His feels sluggish.

Is there anything I should look at to try and solve the problem? He's quite new to mountain biking and struggling badly with hills so I'd hate to think he's working harder than he needs to be. I've checked the brakes and there's no rubbing, and there doesn't seem to be any contact anywhere else either. There's no mud or grit that I can see.

Mine has a different hub to his, some old Shimano Parallax thing on mine vs an All Terra hub on his.

Any ideas?

Posts

  • benpinnickbenpinnick Posts: 4,148
    If its not brakes then it's only bearings or freewheel. Take the wheel out and feel the axle move. Does it spin freely?
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • PsychotextPsychotext Posts: 145
    I shall give that a go and report back (probably on Wednesday as I wont be around until then).
  • haf1zurhaf1zur Posts: 124
    i had a similar issue on the front after changing tubes, turned out I tightened the inner nuts too much
    http://www.facebook.com/BringBorisBikesToNewham
  • PsychotextPsychotext Posts: 145
    Right, I took the wheel off and it seemed to turn OK when I tested it.

    Oddly enough, I put it back on and it seems much better. I guess there must have been some grit somewhere that I couldn't see because it's much, much better now. Oh well, one of those things I guess. Thanks for the advice. :)
  • The RookieThe Rookie Posts: 27,802
    Maybe it wasn't right in the dropout and the brake binding because of that?
    Current steed - Whyte T129, 2013 frame, mongrel Revelations, Giant dropper, Stans S1 wheelset. 12, Magura Trail Sport brakes, 1x11. 12.8Kg
  • PsychotextPsychotext Posts: 145
    Could be. My nephew has never removed / replaced a wheel before so there's every chance it wasn't put back right.
  • benpinnickbenpinnick Posts: 4,148
    Could be a cone issue. Is the hub cup and cone or sealed bearing do you know?
    A Flock of Birds
    + some other bikes.
  • PsychotextPsychotext Posts: 145
    No idea, hubs are just what came with the bike. I reckon it'll do OK until he decides to start upgrading.
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