vt1565

imgur.com/a/KdKPBiW

I cannot link to it, but that URL above is a link to the video with sound of the issue I'm having.

imgur.com/a/av6dHcr

There's a picture of the assembly with the wheel off the bike. I don't see a lockring like I see in other instructional videos, but I can see and feel 12 splines inside the assembly.

I recently bought a new Heybike electric bike from Amazon, and within 50 miles, I noticed the freewheel was very loose and had a lot of play. Everything was fine at first, but I started to notice some noise while pedaling in certain gears. I adjusted the rear derailleur and set the indexing and everything was fine for about ten miles, but I've since had to adjust my indexing frequently on the last few rides and the shifting is slow. I also have quite a bit of noise from the chain as I pedal unless I adjust the indexing mid-ride (sometimes several times within a 10 mile ride).

Any ideas on how to fix this? I've done some research, and it seems like I need to buy a tool to tighten the freewheel, but the freewheel itself seems pretty tight. I pulled the bicycle wheel off and the assembly itself doesn't seem loose -- just the cassette / cog assembly on the freewheel. I can't seem to tighten it or thread it on any further by hand.

Thank you for your help!

Duragrouch

A new electric bike, I highly doubt is a freewheel. It is probably a cassette (assembly of cogs) on a freehub. You may need to tighten the "lockring" that holds the cassette on the freehub body. The lockring is just outboard of the smallest cog, has splines pointing radially inwards. You need a cassette lockring tool, not certain, but probably "Shimano Hyperglide". If your wheel axle is solid and not quick-release, make sure you get a tool without the spindle that goes into the axle, or it won't go on. You need a wrench to turn the tool. Tightening torque is I think 40 kg-m or 27 lb-ft, but it should say exactly on the lockring, and you can easily convert it online. You can tighten it without a chainwhip, but if taking off, you do need a chainwhip to keep the cassette from rotating.

vt1565

Thank you for the reply!

Here's a photo of what the assembly looks like off the bike, but I don't see a lockring. I can see and feel 12 splines inside the opening.

imgur.com/a/av6dHcr

Can this still be what you're referring to?

Duragrouch

(above) I hadn't looked at your earlier links. That does in fact look like a freewheel, not a cassette/freehub. If it's "loose", it is either:
- Coming unscrewed from the hub threads (forward riding should keep it on)
- The cogs have somehow come loose from the freewheel body
- The freewheel bearings have fallen apart and it's loose due to that

Get thee to a nunnery local bike shop. Or send back to amazon. Bike seller may reimburse for service at bike shop, check with the seller first.

I'm looking at your earlier links now...

The cogs are not loose on the freewheel, the whole freewheel has come loose; Could have come unscrewed, or could have broken off the threaded part of the hub, or the freewheel bearings have fallen apart. Local bike shop could tell you immediately what is wrong in seconds, and then you contact amazon seller for remediation or bike return.

Iride01 

Here are your links in a clickable form for those that don't want to take the extra effort. <grin>

The first link is a MP4. I didn't what to take the extra effort myself to make it appear. Just click it and you'll stream it.
https://imgur.com/a/KdKPBiW


https://imgur.com/a/av6dHcr

cyccommute 

You have a freewheel. The video that Iride01 linked to shows a freewheel that is severely loose. It is likely that the lockring on the freewheel has come loose but it is so loose now that you should just replace the freewheel. It is likely that bearings in the freewheel have fallen out of place and would make a simple tightening of the freewheel lock ring ineffective. Freewheels are fairly cheap.

ScottCommutes

Mixing some lines together - Impudent strumpet, get thee to a nunnery!

vt1565

Thank you! I appreciate it. I can’t post links until I have 10 comments, unfortunately, so I had to do that. I understand the admin’s logic, but it makes posts like this, that are better understood with pictures and videos, unnecessarily more difficult to create.

And to everyone else, I appreciate the help and insight. I am trying to contact the manufacturer first to see about replacement parts, but failing that, I will take it to a bike shop. I don’t mind doing so, but I’m trying to save a little money if I can. Plus it being basically brand new and having issues like this does irk me.

Iride01 

Since the bike is new, it should be handled by the place that sold it to you. So contact the vendor and if you aren't satisfied with their response, then let Amazon know. While freewheels are inexpensive the little bit of experience, knowledge and special tools to remove them are worth more. If you fix it yourself, you'll have the satisfaction of having done that. But you will also have a extra tool or maybe several new tools that you may not ever need again. A freewheel should have lasted for most of the life of that bike unless you are a very high mileage rider.

A local bike shop can certainly fix it for you. But some may not want to work on bikes that they don't sell. And while freewheels might be inexpensive, it may be more than just the freewheel. And that will get expensive quick and not letting the seller have first shot at it might leave you holding the bag for any repairs.

grumpus

Looks like a freewheel with failed bearings; possibly just a loose faceplate but that's never supposed to need adjusting or tightening, it's not a serviceable assembly.

veganbikes

Most of the low initial cost e-mopeds from places like Amazon still use freewheels, they are designed to hit a price point and about nothing else unfortunately. It is odd freewheels are still so common in multi-speed stuff.


If the bike is new I would reach out to someone either the seller or the OEM and see if they will take a return on it and get your money back. Then I would head down to your local shop and look at some of their e-bikes. Get something with good local support and ideally something that has a standard free hub and cassette. It will cost a little more in the short term but will likely cost less in the long term and you will have good support locally. Bosch motors are going to be the best and for a good reason, they have excellent support not just for 2 years which is standard warranty for quality stuff but they support it well beyond that like a car they support for 11 years or more even on stuff they have stopped full production on.

If you want to stick with the current e-moped be prepared to be your own support for it. Heybike or whatever name they put on it are generally not interested in really supporting their products they sell it at a low cost initially and basically say it is "insert name here"'s bike and they like to get out of it.

Kai Winters

This is an internet only purchase.
Yep you have a freewheel.
Take it to a bike shop and have them take care of it...it can be a few things but it does not look good...freewheels do not normally do what yours is doing...it is threaded directly on the hub, there is no 'lock ring' as a cassette uses...it may be loose but you need the correct tool to remove it then inspect the wheel and put it back on.
It you contact Heybike customer support and they do warranty it they may send a freewheel or perhaps a new wheel or perhaps nothing...it is a roll of the dice with internet ebikes.
We work on a variety of them and not all the internet ebikes are bad but most aren't that good. There is always a tradeoff when you see a low cost ebike...generally low quality parts, crap customer service and a short life span. But I've seen them last a few years too.

Duragrouch

There was another thread about bikes in big airline boxes, needing to transport on top of car and possibility of it getting wet, and someone said, "Get thee to a nunnery and ask them to give you one of the bags that the nunbed mattresses came in."

vt1565

I appreciate it, and that’s the plan so far. I contacted Heybike customer service and they’re asking me to send some information, so we’ll see how that goes. I figure I’ll try this first. I already ordered the tool, so I can do some work on it and replace the part if they send a replacement.

If not, I’m off to the bicycle-nuns.

And I did know it would be cheap going into it. I really wanted to see if I enjoyed riding (been many years) and would stick with it before committing to a larger purchase. If I get a couple years out of it, I’ll be happy, and then step up to a better quality bicycle.

Thanks all!

Duragrouch

If the freewheel just unscrewed itself, you should be able to screw it back on (right hand thread) until snug, and just pedaling force will fully tighten it, especially in the lowest gear and standing on the pedals on a hill. You really only need the freewheel tool to remove a freewheel.

My concern is that the threaded part on the hub where the freewheel screws on, may have snapped off. If so, there's no way to fix that wheel, especially with an expensive motor hub (unless the threaded part is a separate piece that bolts onto the hub).

cyccommute 

The freewheel can’t “unscrew itself”. The action of pedaling, as you pointed out, screws the freewheel onto the hub and it won’t unscrew. The lock ring on the outer part of the free wheel is reverse threaded and can unscrew from time to time. I used to carry a 16 penny nail to use as a punch to retighten the free wheel lock ring back when freewheels were then only game in town. Even then it was a rarity to have to do that.

What has likely happened to vt1565’s freewheel is that poor grade bearings in a very cheap freewheel have ground themselves to dust and are no longer doing any “bearing” of the load. The looseness of the freewheel indicates that the freewheel is shot and should just be replaced…preferable with a higher quality freewheel which will cost $15 instead of the 3¢ that the OEM freewheel cost.

Duragrouch

Oh yes, I know that in normal function, a freewheel will, uh, freewheel and not unscrew. If it did, I assumed something was broken in the bearings or ratchet enough to cause enough rotating friction so that under coasting, it unscrewed. Or maybe the inner is still screwed on and that slack is all zero bearings like you said. It'll be interesting to find out. Hopefully not the threads breaking off from the hub.

vt1565

A quick update -- so I visited a local bicycle shop that specializes in e-bikes and purchased an upgraded freewheel, based on the suggestion of several replies here. This made sense to me since the first one was already shot, I didn't want to get a warranty freewheel and have this happen again. The new one is an 11-28 vs the 14-28 tooth (supposed to help with the 'ghost pedaling') and is a little heavier duty. It felt like a much higher quality part, and there was zero play between the cassette/cogs and the inner body (shaft?) that threads onto the hub.

I removed the old freewheel and the threads looked fine, so I'm thinking the bearings were indeed ground down or the freewheel was just cheap and of poor quality. I cleaned up and greased the threads (per a number of youtube videos I watched), then threaded on the new freewheel. It feels much better already, shifted better, and had less noise before any adjustments other than some minor adjustments to the barrel adjuster.

I'm working on setting the H limit screw, indexing, and L limit screws -- should have that done tomorrow. I ran out of daylight, but it's already much better. I think I just need to fine tune it and see how the shifting feels.

Thank you again, everyone! I appreciate the help. I'll let you know how it turned out once everything is adjusted properly and tested further.

Duragrouch

Awesome! Glad it was the least serious issue in terms of parts and labor. Plus it's an improvement, 11T really helps if you are on 20" wheels.

veganbikes

You should save your bill and send that to someone (that someone being the OEM or who you bought from). DO NOT take the cost of fixing their problems on yourself, while that is what they want you to do because they really would rather you not bother them, they should be covering it. It is one thing if you have had the bike for a while but a new bike that is unacceptable and you needed to get it fixed and they should be paying you back for the freewheel and labor to get your e-moped fixed.

Duragrouch

(above) I agree, and that is one of the pluses of buying through amazon, they tend to enforce that kind of thing. Try the seller first; While some retail sellers would point you to the manufacturer warranty, I think amazon would force the seller to resolve this directly with you, and then THEY contact the manufacturer. Do this timely, and get a prompt response; Amazon won't do anything after a certain time. It's important to be on record that this problem was within days of purchase, if I recall correctly.