Cassette not free wheeling

tomb57

Just took my old bike out of shed to pump tyres treated myself to a new giant fathom 1 for a retirement
Present managed to persuade wife to let me keep old one so its been static in
Shed for around six weeks . Went to turn cranks and stopped peddling chain came
Off ,put back on tried again no freewheel not long had new chain and cassette
System is an SLX 1x 11 on a diamondback hiest 1 just left after soaking with oil spray
GT 85 is it likely to be cassette or could it be derailure ?
Very much appreciate any advice or help
Thanks Tom b

steve_sordy

If it's not freewheeling, it will be the freewheel that is the problem. This is a ratchet and pawl mechanism, with tiny pawls held in place by even tinier springs. If any water gets past the seals, then rust starts and it's game over for the mechanism. It can be frozen in place like yours, or more usually, it's frozen open with no drive, like mine (twice).

Depending upon the hub, there may be service kits available for your hub that you can buy. First find out what hub you have, that's the hard bit! Instructions are usually available on the internet. The service kits have replacement seals, pawls, springs and a sachet of light grease. But you will need the sort of tools that you would need to remove the cassette. If you don't have those or can't borrow them, then take it to the bike shop. You would be paying for the service kit anyway, plus you have to pay for their labour, but you won't have to buy any tools or worry about doing it right.

tomb57

Thanks Steve that’s what I thought , last ride on bike was rather a wet one
Think I will look out my invoice as it is only a few months old and my lbs is are
Rather good and very fair
Again many thanks
Tom

steve_sordy

As long as you haven't been jet washing it or riding at speed through deep water, it won't be your fault.

tomb57

Just use an ordinary hose to wash deepest water is about a four inch puddle or two
no deeper won’t get there this weekend but we will see
Cheers Steve
Tom