Noise from rear hub or freewheel Fulcrum R5's

nigelgos
nigelgos Posts: 128
edited August 2014 in Workshop
The noise is a gritty grinding sound. It happens when I apply power, usually out of the saddle but can happen whilst seated too. The wheels are Fulcrum Racing 5 (2013 model I think) and they've done about 4,250 all weather miles since new last December. Is it likely to be the the freehub or the wheel hub? Are both easily serviceable?

Comments

  • nigelgos
    nigelgos Posts: 128
    The noise is getting worse, I guess I just take it apart and see if anything is obviously wrong. This is the best video I have found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RvHCM4_J9k.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I think it's likely that at least one of the bearings needs replacing. I understand that they are generic sealed bearings, so you can likely replace them with something better for less than the manufacturer's spares would cost; plenty of advice / YouTube vids / park tools etc on the web.

    (I'm a Shimano cup and cone user, so I can't help you with detailed advice here...)
  • drlodge
    drlodge Posts: 4,826
    I had a gritty sound coming from my Campag Record freehub, it sounded like a spoke pinging. Just needed to be disassembled, cleaned and lubed.
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  • rolf_f
    rolf_f Posts: 16,015
    As Keef says, the bearings are cheap and available though the inner freehub is a little tricky to extract.

    However.... are you sure the noise is in the wheels? If it only happens when you are on the power then it seems more likely to be the BB. After all, the wheelbearing is spinning all the time and the freehub only when you are not on the power. On the other hand, BB noise could only occur when on the power.

    I had the reverse problem. I was convinced the noise was in the BB and spent ages swapping bearings and cranksets around before realising that the common (but irritatingly intermittent) factor was a wheelset.
    Faster than a tent.......
  • nigelgos
    nigelgos Posts: 128
    Rolf F wrote:
    As Keef says, the bearings are cheap and available though the inner freehub is a little tricky to extract.

    However.... are you sure the noise is in the wheels? If it only happens when you are on the power then it seems more likely to be the BB. After all, the wheelbearing is spinning all the time and the freehub only when you are not on the power. On the other hand, BB noise could only occur when on the power.

    I had the reverse problem. I was convinced the noise was in the BB and spent ages swapping bearings and cranksets around before realising that the common (but irritatingly intermittent) factor was a wheelset.

    I'm not 100% sure :-/ It does feel (through vibration) like it's coming from the BB, but then again most creaks/clunks seem to resonate through the BB so I'd discarded that feeling as evidence. I have taken the chainset off and the BB feels smooth. Once the chainset was back on it span smooth/silently and had no play which was why I assumed it had to be the rear wheel. The BB is less than a year old and has done 3.8k miles since Jan - if it needs replacing then thats poor IMO. At least it's cheap - it's a BSA 105 5700.

    So from what I describe do you think I should replace the BB before attacking the wheel?
    If so does the Ultegra one provide anything over the 105?
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I replaced my 105 5600 BB with an Ultegra one, but only because CRC were selling them off for £11. Can't see / detect any difference apart from the colour; we'll see if it lasts any longer.
  • nigelgos
    nigelgos Posts: 128
    Ordered a new BB, hopefully this sorts the problem out.

    My previous Sora BB went at about 4000 miles too. I'm guessing thats the price of all weather riding - or should they be lasting longer.
  • nigelgos
    nigelgos Posts: 128
    New BB didn't sort it out. Freewheel investigation next.
  • nigelgos
    nigelgos Posts: 128
    Anyone any advice on this? I can find much.

    This post talks about replacing bearings in Fulcrum 5's freehub with 61901 bearings...
    viewtopic.php?p=17263779#p18313503

    There are several other posts on the net that talk about 6001 bearings for Fulcrum 5's, though this is for the rear hub (not freehub). Is it safe to amuse that they use different parts and the above linked post is correct?


    Edit: Another conflicting post here (https://plus.google.com/+JoeBrennan/posts/iyAWUpr3EfU) mentions 6901 bearings for the freehub, it's for Fulcrum 7's but it's probably the same.
  • nigelgos
    nigelgos Posts: 128
    I had a quick look at the rear wheel yesterday to see how far I could get with dismantling it. The answer is not very far... the video in my OP shows the axle just easily sliding out once the locknut is removed. It's very stiff in mine, I gave it a wack with a rubber mallet and that moved it but I still can't get it out. Do I need to place something against the axle to allow me to wack it further through the hub?

    Another thing I noticed was that unless the locknut was loose then there was binding of the hub bearings, is this an indication of something, I asume the locknut shouldn't be loose?

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