Mavic Ksyrium Elite S - replacing freewheel?

gillies88

Hi there,

I recently bought a pair of Mavic Ksyrium Elite S wheels, second hand. They are in good condition and I was assured that they hadn't been used in winter. As the seller raced at a high level, I was inclined to believe them.

I'm having a bit of a problem with the freehub on the rear wheel. When I coast at high speeds it tends to make a rather horrible grindy/crunchy noise, which is not nice.

I had it serviced and re-oiled at LBS, but this only fixed the problem for a few days.

How easy is it to replace the part? LBS advised buying an entire new wheel but that doesn't seem to make much sense. I'm a bit suspicious they're just trying to drum some business out of me.

Any help is appreciated.

ugo.santalucia

I suggest you practice ho to remove the free hub, check it, clean it oil it and if it still doesn't run smooth, just buy a new Mavic freehub

thatkidpercy

I had the same issue with my Ksyrium Equipes. Had the freehub cleaned and re-lubed a couple of times which, as in your experience, fixed the problem for a few days, but the "noise of death" always returned.

I ended up replacing the freehub entirely, although from a bit of reading online it seems that other people have had success with simply replacing the plastic bushing that sits inside the freehub body. Being plastic it tends to wear down quicker than a proper metal bearing would, resulting in this being a fairly common problem. A chap on ebay ships them (the bushings) from the States if you're prepared to wait, otherwise a new freehub is still a lot cheaper than a whole new wheel! Dunno if it makes that much difference, but Mavic suggest using mineral oil when lubing it, so perhaps ask the shop to do so if you get a replacement.

I ordered a few spare bushings for "next time", but ended up cracking the rim recently jumping over a pothole and so the wheel is now toast. I'd pass them on, but assume you're not in South Korea..