How much free spin should a wheel have?

WastedJoker

Hello,

Very very new to road biking. I have a new Boardman Comp Hybrid and before taking it out for the first time I was giving it a once over and noticed that the brake pads were catching on the brake disc. At least that is what I think the sound was!

I followed this guide: http://www.ecovelo.info/2011/04/15/a-fo ... sc-brakes/

Took a bit of fiddling to get it to the point where there was no rubbing and the brakes were responsive.

That got rid of the noticeable sound but that made me notice there's a softer sound when the wheel turns and now I've noticed that the wheels don't freewheel all that much when I spin them off the ground.

Can't decide whether I'm paranoid now.

Before I take it back to the shop for the guys to take a look, can anyone offer advice?

sungod

rear wheel especially may not spin freely when new, fresh grease in the freehub and bearings etc.

the front wheel should be much freer, but again the bearings will be fully greased which does add a little drag

it *is* possible that the bearings are a bit too tight, probably they will be cup and cone ones which are easily adjusted, but tbh unless you can feel roughness when turning the wheels slowly by hand i'd just ride it a while and see how it goes

WastedJoker

sungod wrote:

rear wheel especially may not spin freely when new, fresh grease in the freehub and bearings etc.

the front wheel should be much freer, but again the bearings will be fully greased which does add a little drag

it *is* possible that the bearings are a bit too tight, probably they will be cup and cone ones which are easily adjusted, but tbh unless you can feel roughness when turning the wheels slowly by hand i'd just ride it a while and see how it goes

thanks - I didn't think that the newness may cause that but now you mentioned it, it makes perfect sense.

declan1

As said above the new grease can restrict movement slightly, however if they still don't spin forever after a few rides then something's not right.

Anonymous

Guessing you are taking it back for its free 6 week check up, so get them to check it then ;-)

WastedJoker

Carbonator wrote:

Guessing you are taking it back for its free 6 week check up, so get them to check it then ;-)

Yeah.

Did a ride this afternoon - you can hear the sound of the axle in the hub on one of the wheels or it's brake disc rubbing on the pad

And the chain is rubbing against the derailleur!

Might take it back for the guys at Halfords to have a look.

rick_chasey

Halfords do not have a good reputation for bike maintenance and service.

Take it to a proper bike shop, and be clear what precisely you want them to look at ( and, importantly what you don't).

WastedJoker

Rick Chasey wrote:

Halfords do not have a good reputation for bike maintenance and service.

Take it to a proper bike shop, and be clear what precisely you want them to look at ( and, importantly what you don't).

I think I might just do that - there's a Darke Cycles in Sunderland. Any other bike shops I should consider apart from Halfords?

Dellsinho

I had similar issues on a hybrid comp last year, solely down to the disk/caliper setup. I'd take a guess that you're still having issues with the pads rubbing on the discs, common problem I understand, possibly a result of Halford's slap-dash assembly to get it out the door perhaps.

The BB5s will take some time to bed in - mine took a good few miles (maybe 50+?) to stop rubbing completely, and a few fiddly adjustments which started to become a real hassle. The method of adjustment you linked to does work (I wouldn't say "foolproof" though), however it may take a while to get your head around what exactly the adjustments are physically doing. Once you've got the knack you can then work out what you need to be doing for your specific issue rather than following the method in the hope it'll cure it.

I got quite disheartened with the BB5s in my first couple of weeks with them, and even after i'd set them up noise and rub free, the same thing would happen all over again if I whipped a wheel off and put it back on with the quick release slightly tighter (or slacker) than before.

So a few options here really:
1) Stick with it, keep fiddling until you get the right alignment - you will find it and you'll teach yourself how to handle it in the future.
2) Go to Halfords, show them the problem, they'll deal with it for free. (They get a lot of bad press, divided opinion on them, but they won't tell you to get lost - they will fix it)
3) Pay your LBS to have a look at it for you (but make sure you get them to show you how to do it, as you will want to know!)

Hope that helps.

WiganLardster

I've got a Boardman hybrid comp too, and the rear wheel doesn't seem to spin that freely, although I can't hear or see any rubbing between the disc and the calipers (it's already had its six week check up at hellfords). If I lift the rear wheel off the ground and give it a sharp spin, it'll manage about twenty revolutions before coming to a stop. Is that good, average or downright treacly? Post your own spin cycles here please

Dellsinho

I just remembered that I had to replace the bearings and cone on one side of the rear hub (luckily the cup was hardly affected) after about 1000miles due to rust and disintegration. That's a very different "grindy" feel of spin resistance compared to a slowing rub of a brake pad though so would be easy to tell the difference even for a newcomer.

OP & WiganLardster - take out your rear wheel, pull out the QR skewer, hold the wheel by the axle (tyre on ground) and turn the axle. It should be quite easy to turn with your fingers, definitely shouldn't be fighting to turn it. If it's really tough to turn you'll need some cone wrenches and to read this carefully: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/hub-overhaul-and-adjustment
But if you have no experience of adjusting cone/cup bearings expect some trial and error, but there's nothing to break, so you'll be ok having a go yourself.

WastedJoker

Dellsinho wrote:

I had similar issues on a hybrid comp last year, solely down to the disk/caliper setup. I'd take a guess that you're still having issues with the pads rubbing on the discs, common problem I understand, possibly a result of Halford's slap-dash assembly to get it out the door perhaps.

The BB5s will take some time to bed in - mine took a good few miles (maybe 50+?) to stop rubbing completely, and a few fiddly adjustments which started to become a real hassle. The method of adjustment you linked to does work (I wouldn't say "foolproof" though), however it may take a while to get your head around what exactly the adjustments are physically doing. Once you've got the knack you can then work out what you need to be doing for your specific issue rather than following the method in the hope it'll cure it.

I got quite disheartened with the BB5s in my first couple of weeks with them, and even after i'd set them up noise and rub free, the same thing would happen all over again if I whipped a wheel off and put it back on with the quick release slightly tighter (or slacker) than before.

So a few options here really:
1) Stick with it, keep fiddling until you get the right alignment - you will find it and you'll teach yourself how to handle it in the future.
2) Go to Halfords, show them the problem, they'll deal with it for free. (They get a lot of bad press, divided opinion on them, but they won't tell you to get lost - they will fix it)
3) Pay your LBS to have a look at it for you (but make sure you get them to show you how to do it, as you will want to know!)

Hope that helps.

Hi,

My understanding of the method for adjusting the BB5's I linked to is that you're fixing the caliper/pad distance on the cassette side to a set distance (hence the business card used - I only had a credit card which may not be thick enough?) so you can then safely adjust the pad on the other side but to get no rub = very very little braking effort.

I'll give it another tinker before taking it to LBS.

One more thing - is the front derailleur meant to be in constant contact with the chain? I know some setups will have a bit of rubbing at the ends of the gear spectrum but mine was rubbing in the middle gears which seems wrong.

slowbike

WastedJoker wrote:

One more thing - is the front derailleur meant to be in constant contact with the chain? I know some setups will have a bit of rubbing at the ends of the gear spectrum but mine was rubbing in the middle gears which seems wrong.

That's wrong ...

plenty of videos online about how to setup a front derailleur ..

WastedJoker

Tried fixing the gears/brakes myself but then think I made it worse or just got paranoid about it so bit the bullet and took bike into Darke Cycle's in Sunderland yesterday.

Just got it back and it's all smooth as butter. He told me that he pretty much had to tweak all parts of the bike. He did the brakes, gears, put all the reflectors/lights in better positions etc.

Told me to complain to cycle2work about Halfords building quality.

heez29

WastedJoker wrote:

Tried fixing the gears/brakes myself but then think I made it worse or just got paranoid about it so bit the bullet and took bike into Darke Cycle's in Sunderland yesterday.

Just got it back and it's all smooth as butter. He told me that he pretty much had to tweak all parts of the bike. He did the brakes, gears, put all the reflectors/lights in better positions etc.

Told me to complain to cycle2work about Halfords building quality.

Cycle2Work is Halfords. If you want to complain speak to customer services about the store. They may just turn around and say well you should of popped back in if you weren't happy or had a niggly feeling about the set up.

wheelie-bin

Rick Chasey wrote:

Halfords do not have a good reputation for bike maintenance and service.

Take it to a proper bike shop, and be clear what precisely you want them to look at ( and, importantly what you don't).

Nice generalisation there mate. I quite often have to pick up the pieces from shoddy repairs done at our local bike shops...which people are encouraged to go to frequently by forums like this