New freehub required for 105 hub

gingermagician

I have a set of handbuilts on my winter/wet bike (Open Pro CD on 105 hubs) and unfortunately the freehub has given up the ghost. Basically sounds very rough when free-wheeling, so I'm assuming the bearings are shot.

My preferred mechanic is having trouble locating a replacement freehub body from his supplier, so I've done a bit of searching and it seems like Evans can locate one relatively easily...

..or can they. Just looking for some one to confirm that one or other (or both) of the ones I've linked to below will do the job:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shi ... y-ec051545

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shi ... y-ec051546

There doesn't appear to be a 105 5700 freehub body listed anywhere, so I assume that I either need the 5600 (which is therefore still 'current') or need to upgrade to the Ultegra (same price with Evans anyway).

Don't want to end up ordering something that's non-compatible, so any help/guidance would be appreciated.

sungod

sjs, the source of all known spare parts...

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/shimano-105- ... prod29211/

mattv

Or you could go into your local bike shop where they can get you one within a day or 2, direct from the UK distributor with no postage charge to them, guaranteed to fit?

pete.whelan

Freehubs come apart quite easily, and if the races are OK, just put a fresh set of balls in and adjust the number of shims to remove play. Alternative is to buy a hub and move the freehub to the old wheel.

gingermagician

Thanks for the replies all. Looks like a bit of research on how to replace the bearings myself is the option, followed swiftly by an order going in to SJS no doubt...

keef66

Like their STI shifters, Shimano don't design their freehubs to be user serviceable, and they don't supply spare parts. I'm sure a sufficiently skilled / determined DIY mechanic could take one to bits and replace the ball bearings, but having peered into the internals of mine while giving it it's annual flush with lube, I figured if it ever stops working I'll simply replace it. (Then I might take the old one to bits out of curiosity)

pete.whelan

it really is an easy task to dismantle a freehub. Done it many times and got a few more years out of what was a duff unit.

mister p

105 5700 freehub body = £39.99. Complete 5700 rear hub = £44.99. Just buy a hub and swap all the bits over.

ugo.santalucia

mister p wrote:

105 5700 freehub body = £39.99. Complete 5700 rear hub = £44.99. Just buy a hub and swap all the bits over.

You might find that removing the freehub when the hub is not built into a wheel is not that easy. These are screwed in quite tight and without the wheel you have nothing to hold on to

keef66

pete.whelan wrote:

it really is an easy task to dismantle a freehub. Done it many times and got a few more years out of what was a duff unit.

So where do you start with a Shimano freehub? I got as far as picking out the seal at the back and trickling oil in there. The internals I could see looked tiny!

Monty Dog

Shimano have discontinued a lot of freehubs for groupsets older than 10 years old but it's often possible to fit a newer model, but it may affect the dishing of the rear wheel. If you know your groupset number i.e. for 105 it's 5000-series, the part number will be FH-5XXX but in most cases it's just as quick and cheap to replace the whole rear hub IME. Shimano freehubs are not designed to be user-serviceable.

pete.whelan

Once you have prised the seal off, unscrew the inner cone (LH thread). Lift off slowly and carefully,as balls may stick to it, then do the same withthe outer (best to do this over a tray). clean up ecerything, check balls or replace, make sure pawls move freely (bit of light oil on them). smear a bit of grease (just enought to hold the balls) on the races and add the balls. there will be a few shims, which you should be abe to slide apart. Take one out if you find there is slop in the hub when rebuilt.

jomoj

ugo.santalucia wrote:

mister p wrote:

105 5700 freehub body = £39.99. Complete 5700 rear hub = £44.99. Just buy a hub and swap all the bits over.

You might find that removing the freehub when the hub is not built into a wheel is not that easy. These are screwed in quite tight and without the wheel you have nothing to hold on to

yes, I discovered this when making the same money saving choice on my tiagra freehub. As Ugo points out you need some decent leverage on the hub in order to undo the hollow 10mm allen bolt that holds the freehub to hub body. I eventually threaded some old spokes into the hub and clamped then in a bench vice then braced the hub against the vice with a piece of wood in between to prevent damage to the flanges. This gave enough purchase (couple with a metal tube over the allen key to undo the bolt. there was a bit of marking on the spoke hole but it came loose.

kiwimatt

pete.whelan wrote:

Once you have prised the seal off, unscrew the inner cone (LH thread). Lift off slowly and carefully,as balls may stick to it, then do the same withthe outer (best to do this over a tray). clean up ecerything, check balls or replace, make sure pawls move freely (bit of light oil on them). smear a bit of grease (just enought to hold the balls) on the races and add the balls. there will be a few shims, which you should be abe to slide apart. Take one out if you find there is slop in the hub when rebuilt.

Might just give this a go before chucking my current one out thanks. What size are the balls do you know it's hard to be sure by eye and can't find it on any Shimano tech docs? - (we're talking about the tiny ones in the hub body itself yes?)

To the OP I got a whole new hub for £34 vs £30 for the freehub alone usual sensible spares pricing

andy_wrx

jomoj wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

You might find that removing the freehub when the hub is not built into a wheel is not that easy. These are screwed in quite tight and without the wheel you have nothing to hold on to

yes, I discovered this when making the same money saving choice on my tiagra freehub. As Ugo points out you need some decent leverage on the hub in order to undo the hollow 10mm allen bolt that holds the freehub to hub body. I eventually threaded some old spokes into the hub and clamped then in a bench vice then braced the hub against the vice with a piece of wood in between to prevent damage to the flanges. This gave enough purchase (couple with a metal tube over the allen key to undo the bolt. there was a bit of marking on the spoke hole but it came loose.

If you've got a vice, grip the donor hub in it

If not, fit a cassette to it and use a chainwhip to oppose your allen key.
If stiff, put it on the floor and stand on the chainwhip handle.


Most of the 8/9/10sp steel Shimano freehubs are interchangeable.

it's often cheaper to buy a new-old-stock discontinued hub and take the freehub off that than it is to buy the 'proper' one - I've fitted 4400 Tiagra, STX and 2200 freehubs to WHR550 and 5600 105 wheels.

kiwimatt

Right so have the hub apart but can't do the last bit of the internals to release the wee balls and the pawls. The opposite ends of the hub look as below and both ends need a splined tool of some kind to get some purchase on them. They are twisted together pretty tight can't get any purchase on the metal side slots where the bare race is. Any ideas?