Buffalo Buff

I've been feeling extra resistance on my rides lately.

I was cleaning my drive train today and finally figured out what it is.

My front wheel has some sort of friction going on.

It's not brake pad rub, that's the first thing I checked for.

It's also not an even feeling. If I have my bike on my work stand, front brake removed, and spin the front wheel, I can feel the vibrations through the frame when this friction happens, but it's off and on, not constant.

Is it bad bearings? How do I fix this, and what tools do I need?

Andrew R Stewart 

Have you tried to remove the wheel and feel how the axle spins in your fingers? Does the bike use a disk brake? If so then there can be disk/pad rub during the side to side shifts when pedaling, given the very tight clearances between pads and rotors.

First thing is to isolate the problem. Then the options and tools become known. Andy.

Buffalo Buff

I have not, I'll do that before I head out for my ride and edit this post with the results.

The bike uses traditional style brakes, not disc brakes. They are not the problem, I took them off to double check.

EDIT: Same thing, and I could hear something loose inside the wheel. Sounded like the noise came from the hub, seemed like there's a bearing bouncing around in there or something.

Anything else I should try?

habilis

Sealed bearings or cup-and-cone?

fietsbob

Overhaul and Look ! I cant do it for You.


If You are going Touring on this bike, You should already be self sufficient in figuring this Out.

Buffalo Buff

Not sure what the difference is. How can I tell?

cale

Stock wheels? Are we talking about the 2015 model in your profile? It is exceedingly difficult to isolate a problem without knowing what the mechanism at work is.

JanMM

As fietsbob suggested, you need to disassemble the hub enough so that you can see what kind of bearings you have. Guessing that you have traditional cup and cone bearings if you can 'hear something loose.'

Repair help from Park Tool: Hub Overhaul and Adjustment - Park Tool

cale

Before you disassemble the hub, see your LBS. The simple fact that you are unsure of the type of wheel you're using suggests that you may not have the ability to repair it. That doesn't mean you don't have the ability to make matters worse. I know this, humbly, from experience.

Buffalo Buff

It's a 2014 Ridley Fenix with a stock wheel, shimano hub and alex rims with 24 spokes. That's all I know off the top of my head.


I'm going to stop in during my ride and have them take a look. If they have the parts in stock I'll probably have them replace it if that's what is needed. If the bearing just needs cleaned & greased or something, I'll ask them to explain how I can do that myself.

I just figured I'd ask about it here first to see if I learn something. If nothing else the googling I'm doing will show me the difference between sealed and cone bearings for bikes. Also the link posted by JanMM is teaching me some new things.

Davet

One of the causes of bad wheels bearings in a wheel can be over-tightening of the skewers. If you yard on the skewers to clamp them down, it results in too much pressure on the bearings, particularly on the cup-and-cone type and early bearing death occurs.

Buffalo Buff

Thanks for the information. I usually tighten the QR skewer so that it takes a decent amount of effort to close, but no where near the full amount of force I could apply to the lever.

Trakhak

Your hubs may or may not need overhaul or repair or replacement, but chances are that the source of resistance that you think you feel is elsewhere.

Given any rider's weight and how close the bearings are to the center of rotation and the effective lever length (i.e., the radius of the wheel), the hub would nearly have to seize before you'd be able to feel any resistance while riding.

Yes, I'm a fetishist about keeping my hubs adjusted perfectly, but I know that it makes no performance difference.

You can test this by spinning the front wheel up to speed and pressing your thumb against the hub flange close to the bearing. Doesn't slow it down much, does it? Resistance in hub bearings, no matter how badly adjusted or damaged, would be only a fraction of the resistance you applied with your thumb.

habilis

Are you saying you removed the wheel and spun tha axle with your fingertips, as suggested? If so, did you detect a rumbling or notchy feel? Did you detect looseness or play of the axle in the hub (in-and-out or side-to-side movement)? If any of these conditions exist, your bearings need servicing (if cup & cone) or replacement (if sealed).

If you see a cylindrical nut just inboard of the dropout, with two wrench flats on opposite sides, that is likely the bearing locknut on a cup & cone bearing. If there is another, similar cylinder just inboard of the first, and it also has the two opposed flats, that is likely the cone. If "yes" to all this, let us know, and we'll explain how to service this hub.

If "no," you apparently have a sealed bearing and should ask the LBS for options. Worst case, you'll need a new hub. Depending on the cost of a new wheel, that might be a better option.

BTW, how many LBSs does Mars have now?

cny-bikeman

Providing your true location may allow us to direct you to nearby resources.

fietsbob

Ridley is just the name on the frame , the components are made by someone else , and assembled onto the build up.

Out of the Box Wheels on New Bikes, commonly seem to need the cones to be separated from each other

to be loose enough that when the QR skewer is tightened,

that compression puts them into a spot on bearing adjustment.