Greyryder

If you use too thick of a lube in a freewheel, it will actually slow down the pawls, and they won't be able to engage quickly enough. You'll end up with a freewheel that slips a lot, when you pedal.

Freewheels are a lot easier to lube, if you buy a pin spanner to loosen up the lock ring. Just don't completely disassemble the thing.

fuji86

Alrighty, the oil (spray oil with teflon additive) seemed to have quieted the freewheel gear with no load (bike upside down). When it did make the clunk and could feel it upside down, crank arm position made a difference and it was the same findings that I indicate for the actual, real world, test ride.

The test ride under a load, I found that when coasting, crank arm position matters, 11 and 5 o'clock positions, clunky noise and could feel it too everytime (less often when the bike was upside down though), 9 and 3 o'clock positions, it's quiet and no clunk 90 % of the time riding under load. Seems to come and go as it wants, sometimes more frequently than other times. I did notice the rear wheel isn't perfectly true, but not appreciably out of tolerance when the bike was turned upside down and I was lubricating the freewheel gear. I don't think it's the trueness of the wheel, I've had cheap department store 10 speeds that were equally or worse in terms of trueness, that never clunked like this. Then again these flip flop hibs look like some 1/2 baked design for a fixed gear hub to flip flop the wheel so that it does freewheel. That is, a multi-gear freewheel was conceived out of necessity for it to behave that way, whereas this freewheel gear looking thing looks like it was an afterthought to the whole design concept, it almost looks like a counterbalance with a gear on the damn thing. I imagine that a cassette made for a 5-12 gear cassette with all but the lowest/first one installed is just as quiet as one with all the gear rings installed ?

I may just let the man at the shop true the wheel for piece of mind, but somehow, I have to feel the wheel is so close to being true that the difference doesn't mean anything ? BTW, this is a 46/16 setup on a Vilano internet bike with the tec9 components. That's department store level components, I would think they would be not as l33t and heavier parts that work about the same as the higher end components, I know you get what you pay for, but tec9 aren't that bad, are they ?

fuji86

Thanks for the quick reply. I was able to find this as information, I believe the factory greases them, and grease is pretty thick stuff. As I understand the flip flop free wheel rotation for the freewheel, in one direction (reverse) that spins the gear with nothing applied to the wheel, it freely spins, and the change of direction (forward), that engages power to the wheel to propel it, nothing contingent upon whether, it's oil, grease or nothing at all, viscosity or more importantly with grease the presence and packing properties has to be there. The fixed gear, that doesn't need any lube beyond the rear axle being greased, it's engaged constantly.

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=48

Below the removal tool types, all the FR-* Types, they actually show a Long Yih freewheel. That one doesn't even have holes to spray lubricant into

Go to the FR-6 link, they have a removal tool for some types, but nothing on greasing or lubing the innards of it:

https://www.parktool.com/products/det...at=4&item=FR-6

Chains are oiled, but anything that is load bearing , ball bearings that has to be greased. I think if this is shot or defective from the factory, replacing it is the only solution they have. I thought about removing the wheel and trying to force a little bit of grease in at a time into the 2 holes, working it into the freewheel gear housing by spinning it, but that would take forever ? When I first got the bike a few days ago, I just figured, cheap bike, loud noisy freewheel gear ? It was always sticky and noisy, but not that clunking that you can feel thru-out the drive train and even so much you feel it jolting thru-out the frame of the bike. Has to be amplified being a Hi Ten steel frame ?

Bike hubs used to have grease fittings you could inject grease into for the bearings, guess the sealed cartridges and bearings mean everything across the board is disposable these days.

fuji86

Took the wheel off and found the freewheel gear unit has play in it, both up and down and side to side. I can even see the bearings inside. What I thought were holes to lube turn out to be two dot indentations/marks that are 180 degrees apart and this freewheel gear unit looks to be the type that has no tool to remove it, perhaps those two dots 180 degrees apart requires a special tool like a watch wrench to screw and unscrew the unit or unscrew that cover down if it's supposed to be serviceable and re-lubed ? I'm inclined to believe the former and that this is a sealed unit, there is no play and that when it gets this bad, you are too simply removed the old freewheel gear unit and replace it for whatever a new one costs.

No wonder it was grinding away, who knows how much more I'd need to grind it before it seizes and no longer freewheels and becomes it's own fixed gear ?

Then there's this method:

https://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=46

Aaron_F

Cheap freewheels seem to all have this issue. I have a Dicta and it does the same thing. Sometimes it'll be silent for 20 miles, and then just start knocking like crazy. Often, it just gets quiet again for no reason.

I've heard--but not yet verified--that White Industries makes a great freewheel that won't knock, but it costs way more than a Shimano or ACS. I'll probably get one when I upgrade eventually, but until then, I just live with the noise.

https://www.google.com/search?btnG=Go...ries+freewheel

fuji86

You're absolutely right and this is the solution for anyone that experiences this phenomena. consider a cheap parts warning that it will fail and you can choose to get home or try to squeeze out the miles out of it, which the latter could be dangerous if it fails completely and binds on you unexpectedly. The one you have is probably like mine was only mine was about the cheapest and most disposable one they make. Removing it involves destroying the entire freewheel unit, unless it was manufactured with an easy-off that allows a tool to unscrew the unit.

AS I indicated, mine was making that clunk/knock noise moments after the initial pedal take off and initial first coasting moment. Mine had excessive play side to side and in and out on the hub. It was a matter of time before it was going to bind anyway like the fixed gear side. I don't know how much mileage or time you're getting from the Dicta model you have. I went on ebay and the cheap ones without the method for using a tool are between $ 10 and 15. Shimano on-line was around $ 20 and there were a few for White Industries that probably was worth more than the wheel itself. Anyway, the shop I went to was reasonable $ 15 for the Dicta that has the 4 notches for easy-on/off tool and $ 5 for labor. Literally they just clamped and deformed the cheap no tool freewheel gear, destroying it, $ 20 and it's done.

I posted a pic of mine, here are the equivalent models in the dicta at these links:

Like the defective part:

https://www.bikeman.com/FW1202.html

what they replaced it with:

https://www.bikeman.com/FW1242.html

$ 12 either way at that place, but factoring in S&H, the part I wound up with locally was cheap and had immediate gratification, As cheap as they are, I may get a spare or upgrade like you to a White Industries some day for $ 70+ ? Makes better sense to jusyt get the cheap ones and keep a spare ? You can buy 3-4 cheap ones and with a tool swap them out like a change of dirty to clean underwear. This vendor seems to have everything from Dicta POS to White Industries for $ 89.95. There might be more cost effective sources ?

https://www.bikeman.com/store/merchan...eed_Freewheels

So for the moment I have a good Dicta freewheel gear.

fuji86

And definitely, the White Industries link shows the quality difference, I kept the garbage part as reference, it has only two of those flange looking thingys at 180 degrees inside. I think that's technically a "pawl" ?

https://www.whiteind.com/singlespeedg...reewheels.html

The White Industries product looks professional race level inside with 6 of them, guess since all this unit is, is a one way ratchet, it's the equivalent of the difference between a cheap Chinese ratchet wrench and a Craftsman or Snap-On ratchet tool as some may have already known thru education or similar experience.

OhioBikeDude

Ok...I'll add my 2 cents worth. I completely eliminated the noise coming from my shimano freewheel by taking my angle grinder and knocking some length off each tooth, then grinding a bevel onto both sides of each tooth. What was happening was my chainline wasn't perfect...(and how many of you have absolutely PERFECT chain lines?...be honest!!!) and since the teeth of the freewheel protrude significantly thru the chain links...and have absolutely no bevel, the freewheel tooth tips were ever-so-slightly catching the chain side plates as the chain came over the top of the freewheel. If you inspect a road cassette, you'll notice the cog teeth are significantly shorter than those on your freewheel and noticeably beveled on each side to accommodate not only the shifting but the chain angles that result from shifting the rear. So...basically, I took my angle grinder and made my freewheel teeth look just like the teeth on my 8 speed road cassette....much shorter (they don't protrude all the way thru the chain anymore)...and beveled on each side. The shorter tooth and the angles on each side allow the teeth to completely clear the chain side plates as the chain comes over the top. I even did this on the cog for the fixed side...and now there's absolutely no noise what-so-ever on either side.

I've been running both my bikes...a fixie/SingleSpeed...and a 3 spd conversion road bike(ultegra triple 52/42/30 on the front...and a 17T freewheel on the back) for a year now with these ground down freewheels and have had no more noise...and absolutely no problems in over 3,000 miles combined from both bikes.

A quick way to tell if your chain is catching the freewheel teeth, is to look at the sides of the freewheel teeth...if they're polished (typically on one side), that's caused by the chain plates dragging across the tooth tips when they come over the top of the freewheel...and if the teeth are wearing...then the chain is as well...

Hope that helps...

Yellowbeard

It amazes me when I walk downtown how many people ride past me on modern fixed gears and single speeds making absolutely hideous grinding and popping noises. My friend too, a couple years ago, had a conversion built up with new wheels and drivetrain by a shop in Toronto that set the chain so tight it was squeaking and grinding. By comparison, my 5 speed steel Supercycle which had just had the derailleurs and useless stem shifters stripped off it was dead silent.

Björn

After riding my bike for a month now, I started to get frustrated with the clunking noises from the MX freewheel.
I'm having the same issues as people mentioned before: noise>backpedal a bit>still clunking>backpedal>gone.

It started to irritate me to constantly find that silent spot, when I thought of a thread/post I came by when I was doing research on what to buy: https://www.cyclingforums.com/singles...ng-noises.html
and
"Originally Posted by jmlapoint My only experience is with Shimano Single Speed Freewheels. I have 17T and 18T.
When they were new, I removed the Cover Plate using an old bottom bracket adjustable cup Pin Tool.
The Plate comes off CLOCKWISE. I screw the Freewheel onto an old rear Hub that is held in a vise.
After removing the Plate, I liberally coat the balls with Phil Tenacious Oil.
I grease the threads of the Plate to make future removal easier.
Screw the Plate back down snuggly and remove Freewheel from the Hub using Park FR-6 Single Freewheel Removal Tool.
The Freewheel spins smoothly and quietly.
If it starts to get a little noisy with time/usage, I again remove the Plate, flush with Mineral Spirits or Brake Parts Cleaner, let it drain overnight, re-apply the Phil Tenacious.
Only do this maybe once a year, but my Shimano Freewheels run smoothly and quietly."

I'll give it a go, if I'm able to find that oil; otherwise I'll be grindin' some teeth!

Cheers from The Netherlands.

cbhirner

Its not as complicated as ya think. i had the same issue. its a wobbly freewheel. not like a bent axle where the freewheel wobbles while coasting. the teeth were actually crooked on the freewheel body. the noise you hear is the chain sliding sideways back and forth when the angle of the teeth changes. you can back pedal and make it stop for a time until the downstroke realligns with the wobble then it starts in again. the good news is it doesnt really hurt anything if ya keep it as is. personally i just put on an new freewheel. 10 bucks at amazon and your good to go.
Cheers!

unyenman

You are replying to a post that is almost 3 years old.

bfloyd6969

And, one whereas the OP found it was his freewheel being bad.

However, welcome to the forums!!

unyenman

cbhirner's response may be helpful to new riders though. If they ever stumble upon this thread using the search feature lol.

Big Lebowski

I found it this thread morning!

My Soho S makes this sound and it is driving me crazy. My closest LBS just shrugged when they heard it last week. Frustrating.

bfloyd6969

I don't know the exact details, but it is related to how many pawls the freewheel is built with. Often after backpedaling a freewheel will use a different pawl/tooth combination when re-engaged. Most likely from poorly aligned pawls and teeth in the freewheel, will create this noise. Coasting will temporarily stop the noise if a "good" combo results. Hit or miss. The stock freewheel that came on my Madison is like this. When I get the clunk, I either backpedal or coast and try again. Sometimes it goes silent on the first try, sometimes a couple tries. More pawls help and White Industries have this. They are about the best freewheel out there but come at a pretty high cost. I currently have an ACS Crossfire waiting to go on when I get around to it to see how that one goes...

Nagrom_

I always thought that was kinda strange...

"Don't necro threads man, wtf???"
and at the same time
"HEY, use the search function, what the hell?"

Xgecko

I prefer a set of loose ball freewheel hubs for BMX racing....I have tried every freewheels and while a White industries is very nice it's not in my budget. Origin 8 make a nice freewheel for about $40-$45 (not easy to find but they are nice) the best one for less than $30 is the Excess...much better than Shimano or ACS

Greyryder

Have you tried the Crossfire? I've seen people compare it to the White.

veganbikes

Who needs to see a dead old thread from ten years ago? If people have issues they can find it just as you found it. So far nobody here has had this issue for a while or at least has not asked about it.

It is good info but why not start a thread for good info or join in when someone asks the question?

jay4usc

you have a picture where you injected the oil? I have this problem in one of my freewheel.

Salamat

Speedway2

^^^^ I do the same as part of my regular maintenance. I lie my bike down (driveside up of course) and let it "soak" overnight.
I'm currently using a thin Gun Oil(what was already in the bottle) but may try the 90w Gear oil. With the regular cleaning and oiling I've been doing.....my Langster has never run so smooth & quite

jay4usc

you think a 0-40w will work? That’s all I have in my garage

Speedway2

I don't see why 40w won't work. The stuff I've been using is very thin/light and has been doing an adequate job.
I found a bottle of 80w gear oil in the garage so I'll be using it until further notice....