Crank spinning away

[Dec66]

The knackered old Mongoose, having had its brakes done, has now developed another "feature".

A couple of months ago, the chain was drooping when I was freewheeling. Knackered freewheel, thought I, and took to LBS, who stripped it out and removed all the hardened grease, which worked a treat; he did warn me, however, that the bike was on borrowed time.

Today I was a bit startled to find that, whilst trying to pedal away from lots of traffic in Camberwell, the crank spun as if there was no chain. Going up and down the gears got it going again, but it happened a few times in the day.

What on earth should I be looking at, other than one of those Cube Pelotons from CRC?

 

[PeteXXX]

It's likely to be the pawls in the rear hub..

 

[Keith Oates]

Giant could be your friend they have a full range of bikes from cheap(ish) to top notch.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Globalti]

It needs a new free hub.

 

[helston90]

New free hub due to the pawls being knackered- when this happened to me the other month I spoke to my LBS who could replace the freewheel for about £40, so I went to Ribble and bought some R501's which at the time were £65 for the set.

Replacing the freewheel myself is on my project list in the garage.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Depending on the free hub..some you can simply clean and un stick..others can be oiled via a small grease port..
others require a landfill burial..

 

[Dec66]

Hmmm... It got stripped down, cleaned up and regreased by LBS about two months ago. He reckoned the bike would see me through the winter commute but after that it would be time for a +1 (as well as the above, the uppermost and lowermost gears refuse to engage and I also suspect the BB may need replacing).

Maybe +1 time has come sooner than I thought. Maybe I need to get meself on eBay for one of those things with "breaking wind forks".

 

[helston90]

Meh- that depends on your knowledge and skill level as well as your willingness to learn (all weighed against your desire for an N+1).
New wheels £65, BB £12/15 quid, maybe some new cables and some home fettling to solve the gear issue could have you going for a while for under a hundred quid.

 

[Dec66]

Meh- that depends on your knowledge and skill level as well as your willingness to learn (all weighed against your desire for an N+1).
New wheels £65, BB £12/15 quid, maybe some new cables and some home fettling to solve the gear issue could have you going for a while for under a hundred quid.

In terms of fettling; Edd China, I ain't. My mechanical prowess is akin to my ballet dancing. I'd be happy to learn but I lack a key constituent of adult learning, which is spare time.

I don't have a great many tools for the job either. Ironic really as my dad was a diesel fitter by trade and an extremely accomplished mechanic.

I think the gear issue is a bit more involved than cables, more in the front derailleur department. I also suspect a cassette replacement wouldn't go amiss (Shimano Acera 8-speed, 11-28t).

The wheels are Alex Rims PC19, which are like rocking horse droppings it seems.

I reckon to have the whole thing serviced and the bits replaced by LBS is going to see me shell out something in the £200 ballpark. A +1 of the Cube Peloton type for £400 or so looks terribly tempting in that context.