Is my hub about to die?

Big_Paul

My big Corratec has a Shimano Nexus 8 hub with coaster brake, it's got about 1500 miles on it now and although it's always been a bit draggy, recently it's felt better than ever, as if everything has finally run in. Yesterday, I was pulling away from a set of traffic lights when the pedals spun freely for about half a turn and then locked solid, the wheel could not be turned except by pulling hard on the rim (and I'm no weakling) I was wondering what to do when I used the shifter to change down and it all freed up. I rode the next 8 miles home and it seemed fine apart from freewheel noise which was barely noticable before is rather louder now.

My hub is the older version without the red stripe on it and I checked the seals for signs on water ingress when I checked the sprocket a month or two ago and there was none. I'm a bit concerned because there's a few stories about these hubs self destructing, and this one is a couple of months out of warranty and I tow a trailer sometimes with it.

ugo.santalucia

Looks like the free hub mechanism needs a overhaul, don't know how easy it is on a Nexus... never done it

The Rookie

If it locked up, it sounds not like a freehub but the gears engaging 2 at once, would be worth an oil service I think.

Big_Paul

The Beginner wrote:

If it locked up, it sounds not like a freehub but the gears engaging 2 at once, would be worth an oil service I think.

It's the coaster brake one, not sure you can do the whole dipping thing on it, the shimano grease is silly money too if I can't.

Strange thing is, ever since it played up, it has been as good as gold, quiet, smooth etc. :roll:

Big_Paul

Well, it finally died, around the 2500 mile mark, no warning, no dodgy shifts, everything was tickety boo, stood up on the pedals to accelerate and there was a crack and the pedals spun, not freely as it felt like it was pushing up against a spring, then the pressure dropes off, but no drive. You can turn the pedals backwards too. I intend to strip it at some point to see the damage.

That's the end of the great hub gear experiment for me.

unixnerd

How old is it? I'd be a bit p*ssed off as these things are sold on how reliable they are compared to normal gears. Might be worth contacting Shimano to complain, you've nothing to lose.

I rode one of these on a hotel bike in Norway that was never maintained and it had a lot of trouble selecting gear, but the whole bike was junk and it wasn't that old.

Big_Paul

It's a 2009 model bike that I bought new in 2012, it only had a single winter on it, I changed the sprocket last year and there was plenty of grease under the end cap. It was working perfectly until it went bang. To be honest, changing the wheel was a faff and it's not much more hassle than a derailleur.