Grumbling Brompton "freehub"

[Chris S]

I use Vaseline in my hub so I suppose any similar consistency grease would do.

PS - most people use a hammer and punch on the ball-ring, not just bell ends!

 

[Chris S]

I've done a bit more digging and come across the very useful video below which shows pretty much complete disassembly of the hub:



This shows three sets of ball races in the hub (irritatingly working chronologically backwards for the sake of this exercise):

2:45 - hub assy to axle - NDS
2:37 - freewheel body to axle - DS
0:53 - freewheel body to hub assy

I'd forgotten about the bearings in the driver. In the original AW hub there was just a cruciform clutch and a physical gap between second and third gears to stop them being selected simultaneously. However the hub could slip into this if it wasn't properly adjusted and send the rider over the handlebars. The modified design allowed the driver to 'freewheel' while changing between second and third gears and so eliminated the need for the physical gap.

 

[Kell]

In other news I had a look for appropriate spanners and it appears that the HTR145 is the correct one - available from SJS for £38.

Brilliant Bikes don't charge delivery and look to have the same spanner - but it's more expensive to begin with.

https://brilliantbikes.co.uk/hub-an...TR+145+Classic+Ball+Ring+Spanner&results=2433

 

[oldandslow]

I got one of these and have found it perfectly functional:
https://www.greenwich-market-trader...lTUufV1JpjZGTyT9mIF9EUaDwfMnG9EIbR1RlmvTh7OY3

 

[oldandslow]

I've got problems with noise on my BWR. It happens both pedalling and freewheeling, so is unlikely to be the transmission. The advice I've had is to check the HSA470 actuator plate on the driver assembly. Whilst not officially listed as a BWR spare, it's apparently the right one.

The spare plate arrived this week, but I haven't had time to strip the hub again and try it.

https://www.brommieplus.com/portal_b1_page.php?owner_num=b1_408821&button_num=b1&cnt_id=62068
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/hub-spares/sturmey-archer-actuator-plate-for-driver-hsa470/
https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=83805 (final posts, this March onwards)

Well I replaced that actuator plate some time back. At first I thought it had cured it, but the noise is definitely back. Other advice I've seen says to fine tune the adjustment on the indicator rod, or maybe to grease the hub. The noise seems to go away in wet weather, which is odd. I feel as though people can hear me coming a mile off, which is maybe no bad thing...