Hub pawl grease

roubaixtom

Hi

I disassembled my falcrum 5 hub the other day just to check everything was ok as I thought the noise was an issue. After putting back together I think the freehub has got louder. Could this just be from a bit of grease being rubbed off by me when squeezing the pawls back in. The wheels are only a couple of months old.

Thanks

Tom

ugo.santalucia

Noise is a good sign, it means the pawls click freely, rather baing slow and gunked with mess. When you remove the freehub, take the time to clean it with a dry cloth, wipe the ratchet too and put a tiny amount of fresh runny grease. If it's your dry bike only, you can use mineral oil instead, which gives you a 0.01 Watt advantage

roubaixtom

Ok thanks. What's the best grease to use?

ugo.santalucia

Any, the one in the big jar.

The lubrication demands of a freehub are pretty pants compared to some bearings and parts that rotate at several thousand RPM and high temperature in machinery. I would use something runny to avoid the formation of gunk. You can even dilute your grease with a couple of drops of mineral oil to make it runnier...

drlodge

ugo.santalucia wrote:

If it's your dry bike only, you can use mineral oil instead, which gives you a 0.01 Watt advantage

Presumably the power saving is only when freewheeling

DKay

I avoid using any kind of neat grease in my freehub since I was left stranded miles away from home when the pawl springs gummed up. I now just dip the pawls in a thick motor oil, wipe off the excess and reinstall.

mamba80

the "best" oil is chainsaw bar oil, thick and very sticky, lasts an age, grease just get pushed away and oil runs out, you only need a few drops and the stuff is as cheap as chips.