Fulcrum Racing Zero Freehub

DeVlaeminck
DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,736
in Workshop
Just rebuilt my best bike and only issue that has come up I'm not sure about us the freehub has excessive movement and sound slightly rough (hard to know how excessive and how rough without a new one to compare).

Questions are :
1 Am I right in thinking the problem is likely the freehub bearings ?

2 If yes is it a case of new bearings or a new freehub (£60ish)?

If it's just bearings I'll take it to a shop.

3 but if it's a whole new freehub is that reasonably straightforward to swop if I buy a new one ?

The wheels still seem to spin ok with no real play - any advantage to looking at/cleaning the ceramic bearings or leave well alone ?

Thanks in advance hubs are the one thing I've always left to others except lubing the bushing on a squealing Ksyrium freehub.
[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]

Comments

  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,803
    If you’re not confident to do it yourself, I’d get the wheel along to your LBS and get them to have a look. They might just need dissembled, cleaned, lubed (ceramic bearings require a thin mineral machine oil) and reassembled.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,736
    I think I could probably swop the freehub if it's not a big job - I mean if it's like taking a Ksyrium freehub off that's a 10 minute job.

    I probably wouldn't want to start swopping freehub bearings as I've read on previous threads that it can be tricky and if it's one of a range of possible things I don't want to buy a new freehub to find that isn't the fix.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    What spline pattern is it? Shimano or Campagnolo?

    I've got a 17mm axle, Shimano spline Fulcrum freehub here, which you can have for a small donation to the Dave Rayner Fund... to see if it solves the problem.
    Ben

    Bikes: Donhou DSS4 Custom | Condor Italia RC | Gios Megalite | Dolan Preffisio | Giant Bowery '76
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  • shortfall
    shortfall Posts: 3,288
    https://m.youtube.com/watchv=imlaro8aifm

    Similar to Record hubs which are a piece of p1ss to strip. I haven't removed the freehub bearings mind you but this video shows the process. I'm not sure what the cost of replacing the individual bearings is versus just getting a new freehub, but ceramic ones are normally pricy so might be worth having a go at stripping, cleaning and lubing them yourself before going to the LBS. If it doesn't work it's cost you nothing.
  • cq20
    cq20 Posts: 207
    edited May 2020
    I’ve just serviced the freehub on my Racing 5LGs and it is fairly straight forward (some good YouTube videos on it). It is easy to remove after taking the retaining nut off (but watch - the nut is reversed thread). Once you have the freehub off, place it on the outer face and you can tap out the bearing. Note that this will destroy it and that there is a collar between the inner and outer bearing that you have to push aside. If you want to remove the inner bearing (I didn’t) then you need some circlip pliers to remove the retaining clip inside the freehub body. This can be a bit of a bugger because there isn’t much space and you need narrow pliers. After that you can tap that bearing out into the body and the tap it past the outer bearing section. New bearings are cheap and easy to source. Fitting them is OK and you can use a socket to push the outer part of the bearing in place.

    Freeing the pawls and spring is straight forward if you want to clean and grease them but beware of dropping the bits



  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,736
    Ok thanks all
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]

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