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Pawls ticking while pedaling

Old 08-24-19, 05:09 PM
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pajhonka
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Pawls ticking while pedaling

Hello,
I bought a Bianchi city bike (Venezia Gent) about a year ago. It has a 3-speed internally geared hub. In first gear the bike is silent while pedaling, but I can hear the pawls ticking while pedaling in 2nd and 3rd. I brought it to the bike shop about it and they contacted a Bianchi rep who said this is as intended.

I've owned a few bikes and this is the first to do this. Can anyone else confirm that this is normal?

Thanks!
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Old 08-24-19, 05:27 PM
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That bike appears to have a Shimano Nexus SG-3R40 3-speed hub. Make sure the gears are properly adjusted as a first step.
User Manual
Dealer Manual
Page 40 in the dealer's manual shows the adjustment for a bell-crank, which your bike appears to have. (Source)
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Old 08-24-19, 05:46 PM
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Originally Posted by pajhonka
.....I've owned a few bikes and this is the first to do this. Can anyone else confirm that this is normal?...
Did your other bikes have the same make and model of IGH? If not, then the comparison may be faulty. Also I am unaware that IGH have pawls like derailleur equipped bikes with freewheels/freehubs. I agree with Sweeks though that it might just need to be adjusted; get the user manual for the specific hub and follow those instructons. Also, you said you talked with Bianchi rep, but Bianchi does not make the hub; you should talk with a Shimano rep (believe they make the hub for this bike) and get their take on the noise. Good luck - noises can be annoying.
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Old 08-24-19, 05:47 PM
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Depending upon the hub arrangement the pawls on many IGH hubs (maybe all?) will click in one or more gears as parts overrun one another. Did your other bikes have freewheel or freehub designs, which will only click when coasting.
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Old 08-24-19, 05:47 PM
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Many IGHs have two (or more) sets of pawls and ratchet teeth for driving the shell in different gears. One of the pawl rings is ratcheting over the teeth when the other ring is engaged. Hence the ticks. Andy
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Old 08-24-19, 07:17 PM
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Thank you everyone for the replies. This is my first post, so I'm happy with how responsive the forum is.

@sweeks, I will research the bell crank. I am very novice when it comes to bike repairs, but it would be great to learn this if it will fix the noises.

@Eggman84 Good points. The other bikes weren't the same, I just had never experienced this before.

@dsbrantjr thank you for the note about IGH hubs, I didn't know it. I wasn't paying attention to the hubs when I owned the bikes as I didn't try to do any maintenance myself.

@Andrew R Stewart Thank you also for this. I had a single understanding about the ways pawls work and it makes a lot more sense that IGHs have multiple sets of pawls.
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Old 08-25-19, 05:17 AM
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Don‘t know about shimano but sturmey and sachs 3 speed hubs all click in 2nd and 3rd. If they wouldn‘t something would be very wrong.
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Old 08-25-19, 10:04 AM
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It is 100% normal. Ride on and enjoy the mechanical music.
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