Apr 06 '07 - 763 W, 4 I - Vote Good + 4 :: Bad - 5 Nuts 'n' Bolts :: Keeping Your Freewheel Free
Published April 6, 2007 by C.I.C.L.E.
Contributed by Harv
Photos and Assistance by Leticia Z
A significant trend at the Bike Oven is for newbie’s to show up sporting their newly (and cheaply) acquired UJBBTS (Universal Japanese Bike Boom Ten Speed). They come to the Oven because even a basic tune-up at an LBS (local bike shop) would cost more than twice what they paid for the whole bike. Frequently the bike needs more than a tune-up. It needs to get some deeper problems sorted out.
Lately we have been getting a rash of freewheel problems. Possibly unaware that this long-suffering component is protesting, the rider complains of one or both of these symptoms: drive train slips and/or chain gets sucked into contact with the chain stay when coasting.
Either of these symptoms may be caused by other problems, such as worn chainrings or cogs, or a worn or dirty chain. But they can also be caused by the lack of internal lubrication of the freewheel, which may have unworn teeth and look brand new on the outside.
After the three or four decades of use and neglect, such a bike is acquired, by our bright eyed young rider, from a thrift shop, a garage sale, or Craig's list. Thirty or forty bucks changes hands and our intrepid newbie airs the tyres, adjusts the seat and pedals down the road with great expectations.
Then the little bothers that have accumulated for decades rear their ugly heads. The drive train slips or the chain sucks. What has happened is that the bearings and/or pawls inside the freewheel have run out of lubricant, have gotten stiff, and are refusing
to function.
Dry pawls can stick in the up position and fail to transmit pedaling torque to the rear wheel. This manifests itself as a total loss of pedal power until such time as the pawls manage to catch the ratchet mechanism. Or the bearings drag to the point that the freewheel wants to follow the rotation of the rear wheel and sucks the chain down into contact with the chain stay. Either situation can be disastrous and quite dangerous.
Often, simply running some oil into the interior of the freewheel will solve either or both problems. Use a light machine oil for this purpose.
Squirt the oil where the spinning freewheel body rotates around the stationary center of the freewheel near the axle. It helps to position the bike (or wheel) on its side, with the freewheel facing up.
I recommend air tool oil as it contains a detergent. Once the mechanism is running freely, follow up with occasional squirts of regular machine oil.
Make this a part of your periodic chain lubrication, and lube the jockey wheel bushings and derailleur pivot pins at the same time.
If this treatment does not help, the freewheel may be saved by dismantling and replacing and adjusting the bearings. Access is gained to the bearings and pawls by unscrewing (clockwise) the bearing cone. The proper tool for this is a pin wrench, but a hammer and punch will do.
Just remember that this cone has a left hand thread and needs to be turned clockwise to remove. The eighth inch diameter ball bearings can be replaced after everything is flushed out with solvent and lubricated.Restore proper adjustment of cone by removing shims, if required, and then replacing cone.
In our example pictured, while the freewheel action was not very free, dismantling showed the bearings, cup and cone to be in good shape. After removing the cone, bearings, and shims, the ratchet pawls were squirted with light oil directly as shown. The clean bearings, cup, cone, and adjustment shims were lubed with white lithium grease and reassembled.
Final bearing adjustment was achieved by seating the cone then backing off a few degrees. Just a bit of working clearance was left in and the freewheel spun freely once again.
Rebuilding a freehub mechanism (for cassettes) is another matter. When these get to be 3 or 4 decades old, we will see how they have held up. But meanwhile, they are rebuildable. Consult the Park Tool website for details. Or wait until the Bike Oven gets one in for repair
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Thanks Harv…. I needed this!
Shay (Email) - April 07 '07 - 10:45
Harv, you forgot to mention that rebuilding a traditional freewheel also requires a tremendous helping of patience! I cannot think of a more unpleasant task than trying to hold the two main pieces together while trying to feed 1/8” bearings in one at a time…only to discover that one of the bronze pawl springs was still sitting on my workbench. Uggh!Go sparingly on the grease, too. Too much grease or too thick of a grease formula (I am thinking in particular of Phil Wood grease) could cause the pawls to remain “retracted”, negating any benefit of replacing the bearings. If the pawls don’t catch, the thing freewheels in both directions!
Ghost Rider (Email) - April 07 '07 - 11:23
Correct on not greasing the pawls. The photo above, captioned, “Flush” shows me lubing the pawls with light machine oil. Hopefully, the white lithium grease that I packed into the balls will not migrate to the pawls. So far, so good.Harv (Email) - April 07 '07 - 15:34
Thanks Harv…;o)Just what the doctor ordered to get my 1977 Schwinn Sportabout rolling along again…
Alice (Email) - April 16 '07 - 08:23
It was great seeing you at B.O. XX last Saturday. Hope your bianchi is rolling smoothly.Hope to see again you soon!
Shay (Email) - April 16 '07 - 15:23
Moby Grape is riding like A DREAM…;O)Alice (Email) - April 17 '07 - 11:55
For those who are curious about what this is all about, Alice cruzed into Bike Oven XX last Saturday on her newly acquired Bianchi Avenue. She scored this purple beauty on Craig’s list for a price so low it was almost free. We gave it the once-over and found just a few small problems: loose front wheel bearing, loose headset, slighty out of true wheels. A few minutes of wrench twirling and Alice was set to head for home and start wrenching on her other ten bikes. But hopefully, she will return to Bike Oven with some more challenging problems to sort out.Harv (Email) - April 17 '07 - 12:32
Oh I’ll be back soon! ;o) Especially now that everyone knows…” My name is Alice…and I’m a Bike-o-holic!!”Alice (Email) - April 18 '07 - 05:21
Actually, you will be known forever as, “Alice B. Toeclips”.Harv (Email) - April 18 '07 - 08:32
Aw, I wish I could have that name, but it’s already taken! ;o))http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacquie_Phe..
Maybe I could be Jr. ?? Or the 2nd ?? ;o))
Alice (Email) - April 20 '07 - 07:20