Originally Posted by
KC8QVO
How does a hub stop ratcheting? The pawl/part of the mechanism that locks in the teeth as it rotates gets jammed or breaks? What was your reason for replacing the whole hub later?
How does a pedal rip out of a crank, or for that matter - another example of yours was a crank breaking. I assume that is a crank arm = same part your pedals have pulled out of, and not the bottom bracket/axle?
No aversion to replacement. Going back to your pedal and crank mechanicals - thats the only way to fix. I suppose it would be conceivable if the crank arm broke somewhere in the length of a crank arm that you could weld it together, but given that they are usually cast metal (aluminum alloy of some kind) it would be awfully hard to get a weld with the right filler metal to hold for long.
Hub ratcheting happened I believe due to two causes: (1) the internal mechanism getting fouled enough that the pawls didn't bounce back, but instead stayed depressed and (2) the springs breaking and not jumping back. Also over time the pawls/ratchets can wear down. After two failures on an extended ride across the Americas, I contacted a wheel builder and had a different wheel built up dependent on a different hub mechanism (DT Swiss hub replacing a Phil Woods and using different mechanisms).
Crank arm breaking was a bit more of a fluke and after a lot of miles. It broke next to where the toe strap went next to the crank arm. I have a suspicion a small crack developed and was latent for a while before the crank arm snapped.
Pedal ripping out of crank arm partially because I likely mis-threaded some things putting pedals on in the dark evening before.