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Metallic shavings in freehub

Old 09-26-21, 05:19 AM
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sysrq
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Metallic shavings in freehub

Anyone had any metallic shavings in freehub before. Might be caused by tightening the QR sqever. There are some score marks on aluminium next to the engagement ring caused by insufficient space for the pawls. Previously aimed to set the QR sqever with as low force as possible to minimize the freehub drag, but upon the return of clicking sounds from the rear wheel during the tour had to make the QR sqever tighter thinking the noise was coming from interface between dropouts and axle despite having previously greased everything. Then suddenly after many attempts of squeezing previously trougouthtly oiled spokes the clicking got somewhat quieter and less noticeable. Unfortunately wasn't bothered to reset the QR sqever all over again afterwards.

Last edited by sysrq; 09-26-21 at 05:24 AM.
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Old 09-26-21, 05:28 AM
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Wow, that freehub is giving you a hard time. May be time to move on to something different.
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Old 09-26-21, 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by shelbyfv
Wow, that freehub is giving you a hard time. May be time to move on to something different.
Well it's my first wheel with a freehub. Previously had no other choice but to stick with freewheels mainly due to lack of willingness to experiment with anything different due to practical and financial reasons. Never had any problems with freewheels or even clicking. Decided to use freehub due to fears of axle braking in the middle of long distance commute.
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Old 09-26-21, 11:57 AM
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Have you every had an axle break or bend on a freewheel bike you've owned?

It does happen more to a freewheel bike, but I had plenty that it was no issue on. One being a bike that I owned and rode for over 35 years.

And don't take that as a suggestion that you should go back to a freewheel. It's just that your statement seems to indicate you have concerns that keep you from riding because of simply worrying about what ifs.

As for the metal, I don't know. I've never taken apart a freehub. Nor have I ever taken apart a freewheel. I just lube the axle bearings if they aren't sealed cartridge bearings.

Last edited by Iride01; 09-26-21 at 12:01 PM.
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Old 09-26-21, 01:46 PM
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I think you have the wrong wheel or installed it wrong or it was broken when you got it.
Unless you used a hammer to close the guick release. I don't think you could over tighten a skewer and break the wheel.
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Old 09-26-21, 03:16 PM
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I've come to the conclusion that bikes are not for you.
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Old 09-26-21, 04:19 PM
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Originally Posted by cxwrench
I've come to the conclusion that bikes are not for you.
Or at the very least, OP is not qualified to maintain his bikes and should take them to a shop instead.
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Old 09-27-21, 05:32 PM
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Originally Posted by ThermionicScott
Or at the very least, OP is not qualified to maintain his bikes and should take them to a shop instead.
I don't think LBS would even want to fix every little thing for hypochondriac customers.
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Old 09-27-21, 05:58 PM
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I overhauled a freehub last week end. Lots of dirty grease and rusty matter but no metal shavings. Most free hubs die from lack of service or lack of lubrication. Just my thoughts, Smiles, MH
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Old 09-28-21, 05:31 AM
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If you want to avoid breaking axles, it sounds like you have the wrong freehub. You need a Shimano style hub with the ratchet between the axle bearings.
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Old 10-03-21, 05:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Kimmo
If you want to avoid breaking axles, it sounds like you have the wrong freehub. You need a Shimano style hub with the ratchet between the axle bearings.
Agreed, people have been talking about this downgrade on other forums. Although Phil Wood is also using the same design with ratchet in a hub shell and not in the cassette body.

Last edited by sysrq; 10-03-21 at 06:23 AM.
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Old 10-03-21, 05:12 AM
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Originally Posted by Mad Honk
I overhauled a freehub last week end. Lots of dirty grease and rusty matter but no metal shavings. Most free hubs die from lack of service or lack of lubrication. Just my thoughts, Smiles, MH
In this case it might be just a specific design of Chosen hub (not enough space for the pawls as the axle gets compressed). Strangely there are only good rewievs found on commercial sites and neutral ones on forums.
Or it might be caused by universal 133mm frame OLD size on Thorn Audax Mk3m. Although for some reason it was a lot wider than it should be when I measured it last time. Then there is no wonder why it bends the axle which manifests in uneven freehub drag.
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Old 10-03-21, 05:31 AM
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Odd OLD like 133mm would be another reason to go for a cup and cone hub like Shimano, just respace the axle and add some more tension to the NDS spokes, and that extra 3mm would make your wheel stronger.

To do that with a cartridge bearing hub, you'd probably need access to a lathe.
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Old 10-03-21, 06:28 AM
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Originally Posted by Kimmo
Odd OLD like 133mm would be another reason to go for a cup and cone hub like Shimano, just respace the axle and add some more tension to the NDS spokes, and that extra 3mm would make your wheel stronger.

To do that with a cartridge bearing hub, you'd probably need access to a lathe.
The need for dropout facing is unavoidable in either case to make them parallel to each other.

Last edited by sysrq; 10-03-21 at 06:35 AM.
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Old 10-03-21, 06:48 AM
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Originally Posted by sysrq
I don't think LBS would even want to fix every little thing for hypochondriac customers.
They will if you will always pay them accordingly. Guys like you can be both the bread and butter and the bane of existence to a LBS. My suggestion is to study.

https://www.parktool.com/product/big...-edition-bbb-4

You learned to read and write, right? Well you can learn how to work on your bike too. Even if you are not mechanically-inclined, you can learn to work on anything mechanical by study and practice. The US Military trains people from all walks of life and all levels of given ability to service and repair aircraft, tanks, trucks, and a whole lot of support equipment. Do you think that everyone the USAF hires to work on their fighter jets are born mechanics or some sort of savant? Heck no. Most people are green when they start, but learn as they go.

There are dozens of worthy youtube video on just about every bike-related subject, and the Pak Tool site has tons of how-to videos. Their weekly videos explain a great deal of the reasons for why we do certain things when repairing a bike, so you will get background too.
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Old 10-03-21, 08:17 AM
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Originally Posted by J.Higgins
The US Military trains people from all walks of life and all levels of given ability to service and repair aircraft, tanks, trucks, and a whole lot of support equipment. Do you think that everyone the USAF hires to work on their fighter jets are born mechanics or some sort of savant? Heck no. Most people are green when they start, but learn as they go.
I can vouch for that. Even fixed bikes for former military aircraft mechanics who couldn't figure out how to change a tire but worked on complex life or death mechanical jobs in the military and some graduated to inspectors. If they can learn I think most people can even if they don't have any confidence in themselves. The best learning tool is hands on experience.
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Old 10-03-21, 10:05 AM
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There's always the possibility the individual hub wasn't that great to begin with, or assembled poorly. People have problems like this even with expensive hubs.

I learned recently people are buying Ali Express clones of DT Swiss hubs and replacing the ratchets with genuine parts and quality bearings that didn't come through a bike shop to save a buck or two
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Old 10-03-21, 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
There's always the possibility the individual hub wasn't that great to begin with, or assembled poorly. People have problems like this even with expensive hubs.
This thread is timely, because I am experiencing a sluggish freehub on my Ogre, which has the stock Novatec hubs, so I'm imagining - I havent taken the cassette off yet - that its a shimano-clone. The thing is, I got maybe 200 easy miles on this Ogre. I bought it in May. You wouldnt imagine even a knockoff would go bad this early in the game.
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Old 10-03-21, 02:29 PM
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If it is a quick release, it is very likely a Taiwan standard hub which is a little bit different but still pretty similar to a Shimano hub. The threads and cones are different but they work the same way. If it’s got a through axle, it probably has cartridge bearings. Novatec is a real company, the premium part of joytec, and they have real designs by real engineers and you can get replacement parts although it’s not always as easy as the American and European brands.

There are some weird exceptions. I have a strange WTB Serra hub on my Salsa, which has cartridge bearings on the axle and loose ball bearings inside the free hub, and still needs adjustment with cone nuts. The cheapest DT Swiss hub, the 370, has a regular pawl setup on the freehub instead of the star ratchet on the 350 and better hubs. And there’s even a conversion kit.
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Last edited by Darth Lefty; 10-03-21 at 02:42 PM.
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Old 10-03-21, 05:44 PM
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Originally Posted by Darth Lefty
There's always the possibility the individual hub wasn't that great to begin with, or assembled poorly. People have problems like this even with expensive hubs.

I learned recently people are buying Ali Express clones of DT Swiss hubs and replacing the ratchets with genuine parts and quality bearings that didn't come through a bike shop to save a buck or two
So far looks like other hubs have a bit more wiggle room for the pawls.
As far as I know Vitoo hubs are said to be official copies of DT Swiss hubs. Not sure if they sell prespoked wheels with them.
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