Freehub service

nigelgos

Recently my rear wheel was making a gritty grinding noise so I serviced my freehub (cleaned and re-greased) and the problem went away for a couple of weeks. However the grinding noise started to come back. I thought maybe I wasn't generous enough with the grease application so I re-did the process with a more generous amount of grease. Fast forward another couple of weeks and the noise is coming back again . Any suggestions?

A few points.

* Specilized Allez Sport 2011
*I'm considering getting new wheels but it would be nice to keep these as winter ones to keep the new ones in good condition.
* Owned from new, freehub has done ~4500miles.
* Rear wheel isn't true.
* There was rust inside the freehub and parts of the hub (even skewer) .

Wooliferkins

You can look at this a number of ways, in no particular order;
a, The wheels on the Allez were always the price saving point, 4500 miles, did well, move on to something a bit nicer and try and pick up a pair of cheap winter wheels.
b, An O-ring or somesort of seal has disintegrated and now water ingress is a constant. Is it worth the effort to try and fix it. Can you try and replace the seal?

nigelgos

I was asking myself the 'is it worth it' question. I hadn't noticed a bad seal but then I wasn't looking for anything and I hadn't done this before. I didn't take the whole freehub off - should I need to? I guess if I buy a new freehub for £20 and get the local LBS to true the wheel for £8 then £28 is cheaper than a new winter wheel.

As a side note the new wheelset I am looking at are the Fulcrum Racing 5's, if I got the CX version would they be more winter proof? Is there any downside to the CX versions?

rolf_f

I think the CX version have double sealed bearings - though it's hard to be sure exactly what the difference is from Campags guff. Theoretically, this means slightly more bearing resistance. In practice, it makes no difference. You can buy double sealed SKF bearings for about £12 for four so it is hard to see why any of Campags wheels would have single sealed bearings other than for a bit of a shameful marketeering opportunity. My Khamsins bearings lasted about 12,000 miles in all weathers before I replaced them with a set of (SKF) wheel and freehub bearings. Had they been double sealed, I suspect they may have seen the wheels out.

nigelgos

I ended up picking up a pair of 2013 Fulcrum R5's. Came to ~£126.50 so a decent discount over the 2014 versions. The white hub matched my frame too .

Wooliferkins

As above. IMHO the R5s or R3s are some of the best bang for buck out there

shaw8670

One day it'll start slipping and probably when you are likes from home! I'd get a new freehub.

nigelgos

I took delivery of the R5's today. There are no spacers in the box. I amuse I need spacers to fit my current 9 speed cassette?

munzy

I'm sure a spacer is only when using a 10 speed cassette - 9 speed ones just go on as is.

nigelgos

Munzy wrote:

I'm sure a spacer is only when using a 10 speed cassette - 9 speed ones just go on as is.

On wiggles Q+A page is mentions needing spacers for 9 & 10 speed cassettes. I'll be upgrading to a 10 speed setup at some point so I've asked the retailer to send me out the missing spacers (though they are slow to respond).

majormantra

Rolf F wrote:

You can buy double sealed SKF bearings for about £12 for four

Where? Most places charge a lot more than that for SKF and other good brand name bearings.

rolf_f

MajorMantra wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

You can buy double sealed SKF bearings for about £12 for four

Where? Most places charge a lot more than that for SKF and other good brand name bearings.

Ebay. They were a little cheaper when I bought them but close enough! http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320934963896

majormantra

Thanks.

rolf_f

MajorMantra wrote:

Thanks.

But note - just to be absolutely clear - those ones are the wheel bearings. The hub bearings were more expensive in SKF (about £11 irrc - despite there being very little difference in size between the two) - so for those I bought random branded ones again for about £3. Maybe not as good as the SKF but probably better than those that Campag supply.

majormantra

Yes, I noticed the choice is limited. Last time I needed hub bearings they were 6802 size which you can't get that cheap either.

rolf_f

The real stinker is the BB bearings which are only available from Campag (at least as far as I have found).