CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Questions/Support/Help

Free Hubs (I Want To Break Free...)

(8 posts)
  • Started 9 years ago by Mandopicker101
  • Latest reply from Mandopicker101
  • This topic is resolved

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  1. Mandopicker101
    Member

    Dear CCE Forum,

    I'd like to break up with my rear freehub body, but it just won't let go. We've not been together all that long, but life's been getting rough between us and now the freehub spins any way it likes, not like before, when it used to be so...singleminded...

    Any advice?

    Yours, Maudlin in Musselburgh...

    Ok, I have a problem with my freehub body in that it's knackered and wants replacing. This is a bog standard-ish Raleigh 'Tru-Build' Mach 1 CFX rim on a no-brand alloy hub, probably of Joytech provenance, with typical Shimano-style splines. The wheel is about 2 years old and the rim's in decent condition. Raleigh would have you believe it's handbuilt in their Nottingham factory.

    Having watched plenty YouTube videos, I plucked up the courage to try removing the freehub. Alarm bells started when I noted no cone spanners were needed - some regular wrenches. Result? Axle removed, grotty ball bearings extracted from something akin to Marmite.

    And here's the problem - turning to the part where the mechanic de jour slots in a 10mm allen key, twiddles it and then removes the freehub...there's no socket for an allen key! I duly cleansed the Marmite-laden interior but there's nowt there and the knackered freehub body is securely on. As if...pinned on somehow...

    So, am I a) blatantly missing something REALLY obvious or b) glaikit to believe I could replace the freehub body on a budget road wheel?

    That said, I note Ribble have an offer on Shimano wheelsets right now...

    Posted 9 years ago #

  2. Coxy
    Member

    Some just 'pull' off.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  3. Arellcat
    Moderator

    As I understand it, cheap Joytech freehubs are not removable. Better Joytech freehubs have the retaining bolt accessed from the left-hand side. This may require a rather long 10mm or 12mm Allen wrench.

    Though it's really that Raleigh was too cheap to specify Shimano in the first place.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  4. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    If you are in Musselburgh you could take it up to Cyclops assuming he's back from PBP.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  5. Mandopicker101
    Member

    Thanks for your advice all.

    @Coxy - liberal application of brute force yielded a score of Freehub 1, Mandopicker 0. Return leg coming up...

    @Arellcat - will investigate the freehub more closely with a fuller array of tools this even to see if something fits, somewhere.

    @Cyclingmollie -informed opinion greatly welcomed, even if it is just to recycle it.

    A more fruitful line of enquiry suggests the part could be a Formula hub, such as those supplied by EBC. It requires a *really* big socket-y type tool to remove it. eBay appears to have the same freehub body for a reasonable £13.99. Helpfully the seller also flogs Mach 1 CFX wheels in various flavours.

    Ultimately I ought to just bite the bullet and cough up £60 and buy a Shimano wheelset from Ribble in their really good offer. However, the mean/green part of me chokes on binning an otherwise useable wheel.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  6. Mandopicker101
    Member

    Happily it looks as if there's a large bore (poss 11mm) allen key socket inside. Formula hub it is then...

    Posted 9 years ago #

  7. Darkerside
    Member

    Enjoyable thread. Would read again.

    Posted 9 years ago #

  8. Mandopicker101
    Member

    And so the breakup is complete. We've gone our separate ways. I'm with a new freehub now (LBS managed to replace the freehub).

    Basically Raleigh have some unbranded freehubs that fit the unbranded stuff they sell (maybe...). By pure fluke I discovered the catalogue number for my wheel and then stumbled on the right freehub buried in Raleigh's website.

    LBS this morning confirmed it *probably* was the right freehub, but you never could tell with unbranded stuff. As it happened, he had one in the backroom and after a moment's brute force he compared them side by aside. Like peas in a pod. Or freehubs in grease. Cue Cheshire Cat grin from Mandopicker...

    ...which duly collapsed 5 seconds later when the cry from the workshop was 'Ahhh, its 5 mil too small. They've re-engineered them or something'. I felt like Laurent Fignon. 8 seconds? Pah! 5mm was even closer...a gap too far.

    Enter a humble 1-inch washer. Following some filing, LBS induced it to fit, filling the 5mm gap.

    LBS just rang to say all was well. Moral? A 50p washer just saved me a small fortune on a new wheel. That said, buying a Shimano-hubbed wheel is on the cards when this one dies.

    Posted 9 years ago #

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