[Brooksy1882]

Hi all,

Sorry for this plea but i have doubts about my road bike freehub. At the monet it seems slightly noisy, not smooth and pedaling backwards occasionly the chain gets stuck.

This is a picture of it as currently my manual says its a “VP M700R”. Never heard of this brand and neither have Halfords who are washing their hands with this one due to an unknown brand.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dek6z4021de8uio/PXL_20210110_144046802.PORTRAIT.jpg?dl=0

I thought i would take a closer look but using 17mm cone spanners i can take the nut off the non drive side but the nut by the cassette side is still stuck firm and the axle wont come out at all! for me to try and find a hidden clue of the hubs brand? 

Could anyone suggest how i can remove the axle or cassette nut so i can try and remove this hub and replace it with a known shimano compatible brand?

Many Thanks if you could advise here 

Topic

[Brooksy1882]

Cheers mate, much appreciated
Cheers mate, much appreciated!!. Afraid I have been to three different Halfords and although I get my preferred bike cleaning range from them, the actual mechanical bike advice…. Just sucks. It was they who said it was faulty and then said they won’t fix. It ?
I will as you suggest borrow a wheel if I ask nicely. I like the idea you have of a Spare wheel too. A handy back up! Thanks again mate

[TheBillder]

In my experience the symptoms
In my experience the symptoms you describe are more likely to be in the chain and / or derailleur, especially the back pedalling problem. Freehub designs vary widely and it’s difficult to know how to get a specific one off. This is where a proper bike shop will earn its crust, but if you can’t get the bike booked in… here’s what I would do:

1) clean the chain and re lube, moving every link to find any that are tight. May be time for new chain.

2) clean cassette and derailleur until really sparkling.

3) test back pedalling again with smallest sprocket & largest chain ring selected and hence hopefully all the tension out of the rear gear cable. If your limit screw is correct and so the chain is nicely in gear, but you still have grumbling back pedalling, check that the derailleur cage is hanging vertically – if not, something is bent.

4) you can bend things back straight if v careful but you are into bike shop territory really. A good one (not most Halfords branches) will have the tools to diagnose and fix this. The hanger (bit of metal between frame and derailleur) is designed to bend if the bike is dropped as it’s cheaper to replace. A good bike shop will have the ability to straighten or replace.

5) if nothing is bent, index the gears (YouTube).

6) if after all this, it’s still bad and you suspect the freehub, can you borrow a known ok wheel to help eliminate? The main issue tends to be broken or gummed up pawls, and this gives either no drive at all or a distinct clunk when starting to pedal after coasting.

7) if after all this, the bike shop is still not an option, consider buying another wheel. I have a spare rear wheel for exactly this reason: the freehub failed (broken pawl) and the parts took ages to arrive at the LBS. In the end, for a low end wheel, replacement at the start would have been about the same cost, and now I have a spare so I can swap for different tyre choices and when the hubs need doing…

Hope this helps a bit.

[Author]

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