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Freewheel breakage



 
 
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  #1  
Old May 23rd 20, 12:38 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
bob prohaska
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Posts: 102
Default Freewheel breakage

Today I encountered a bicyclist whose freewheel had simply let go.
It didn't drive at all, but neither did it make any obviously awful
noises. He'd already arranged for someone to pick him up, so thre
wasn't any point in exploring further, but I was very much surprised.

The freewheel on my bike is coming up on 40 years old, runs quietly
and seems to work fine....should I be worried about it? Never done
anything to it except oil it once in a blue moon.

Thanks for reading,

bob prohaska



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  #2  
Old May 23rd 20, 04:06 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
AMuzi
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Posts: 13,447
Default Freewheel breakage

On 5/22/2020 6:38 PM, bob prohaska wrote:
Today I encountered a bicyclist whose freewheel had simply let go.
It didn't drive at all, but neither did it make any obviously awful
noises. He'd already arranged for someone to pick him up, so thre
wasn't any point in exploring further, but I was very much surprised.

The freewheel on my bike is coming up on 40 years old, runs quietly
and seems to work fine....should I be worried about it? Never done
anything to it except oil it once in a blue moon.

Thanks for reading,

bob prohaska




We changed two today with that symptom.
Your 40 year product probably wasn't a noname brand from china.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971


  #3  
Old May 23rd 20, 04:37 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
news18
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Posts: 1,131
Default Freewheel breakage

On Fri, 22 May 2020 23:38:33 +0000, bob prohaska wrote:

Today I encountered a bicyclist whose freewheel had simply let go. It
didn't drive at all, but neither did it make any obviously awful noises.
He'd already arranged for someone to pick him up, so thre wasn't any
point in exploring further, but I was very much surprised.


My guess is the gunge in the hug had caused the pauls to stick. When I
started using grease in the works, I had to use a medium grease so the
pauls didn't stick up. Thankfully, we don't have freezing weather in
winter, so I didn't have to adopt seasonal grease changes

The freewheel on my bike is coming up on 40 years old, runs quietly and
seems to work fine....should I be worried about it? Never done anything
to it except oil it once in a blue moon.


As always, it is a YMMV, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
After that time, I'd just watch for it becoming loose and consider a ball
bearing replacement, and doing that will tell you why I started using
grease in the first place.
  #4  
Old May 23rd 20, 10:22 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Tosspot[_3_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 1,563
Default Freewheel breakage

On 23/05/2020 00.38, bob prohaska wrote:
Today I encountered a bicyclist whose freewheel had simply let go.
It didn't drive at all, but neither did it make any obviously awful
noises. He'd already arranged for someone to pick him up, so thre
wasn't any point in exploring further, but I was very much surprised.

The freewheel on my bike is coming up on 40 years old, runs quietly
and seems to work fine....should I be worried about it? Never done
anything to it except oil it once in a blue moon.

Thanks for reading,

bob prohaska


I've had a nasty cheap one give up the ghost, but now I can afford
mid-range stuff I haven't had any issues for decades.
  #5  
Old May 23rd 20, 04:41 PM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
Frank Krygowski[_4_]
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Posts: 10,538
Default Freewheel breakage

On 5/22/2020 7:38 PM, bob prohaska wrote:
Today I encountered a bicyclist whose freewheel had simply let go.
It didn't drive at all, but neither did it make any obviously awful
noises. He'd already arranged for someone to pick him up, so thre
wasn't any point in exploring further, but I was very much surprised.

The freewheel on my bike is coming up on 40 years old, runs quietly
and seems to work fine....should I be worried about it? Never done
anything to it except oil it once in a blue moon.


I'm pretty sure "once in a blue moon" is the recommended oiling interval.

I've had zero problems with freewheels, aside from not being able to get
one off the wheel. (Seriously - I actually bent my bench vise before I
gave up.)

At the start of one multi-day camping trip, my friend's freewheel body
broke and spilled tiny ball bearings all over the road. It was Labor
Day, so everything was closed. We gathered as many bearings as we could
find and used the garage of a kind resident to patch things up as well
as we could.

I used a length of electrical wire the same diameter as the bearings to
support the inner bearing race, and was _just_ able to catch enough
threads to sort of screw the thing together. That gave him a fixed gear
bike with five rear cogs. He carefully pedaled it over 50 miles further
that day, and we luckily found a bike shop the next morning.

--
- Frank Krygowski
 




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