Sudden bike problem .. what is it please ?

[wbmkk]

Hi

I have an old Raleigh Equippe road bike

Today, out of the blue the rear chain / hubs seem to be freewheeling

If I pedal, everything is fine, but if i stop ... then suddenly if I try and pedal there is no drive at all ... it's as if i have to catch up for the non pedalling few seconds

Sometime everything seems to catch up and I can pedal again and move forward ... but at other times I have to shift the gears to try and get some drive.

This only started happening today ... on my way home in the dark

What's going on ?

Is the rear cog set (or whatevert he technical name is) in need of replacement

thanks !

 

[Steve Austin]

if its still the original hub, which must be 20 years old at least, then it needs a new freewheel and probably hub.

if its a newer wheel, then it could be the cold air. freehubs can freeze

 

[ianrauk]

It sounds like the pawls in the freehub are sticking.
You will need to get the wheel off, the cassette off, get the freehub off and flush in degreaser.

 

[Broadside]

This happened to a 10 year old Giant Peloton road bike that I borrowed off a friend last summer. Take the wheel off and just spray a load of WD40 in to the cassette. The old grease solidifies on the pawls and makes them stick open, the WD40 will rinse it all out.

To do a proper job you could dismantle the lot but I just sprayed the WD40 in and it was sorted in less than a minute.

 

[Banjo]

I had this on a hybrid bike I had. A new freewheel didnt cost much and came with new cogs complete so improved the gear changing as well.

 

[Fab Foodie]

This happened to a 10 year old Giant Peloton road bike that I borrowed off a friend last summer. Take the wheel off and just spray a load of WD40 in to the cassette. The old grease solidifies on the pawls and makes them stick open, the WD40 will rinse it all out.

To do a proper job you could dismantle the lot but I just sprayed the WD40 in and it was sorted in less than a minute.

Agree.
There's a nice gap in the outer face of old freewheels to spray WD40 into and as you state, it'll do the trick. You could also let some oil in the same ways as well.
Worth a try, if it doesn't work then you'll need a new freewheel and maybe chain and chainrings depending on wear.

 

[wbmkk]

many thabks !!

Thank you for all your advice

This morning, withn the help of (initially) some turps, followied by Mr Muscle and Fairy liquid, I managed to get rid of the oil etc from the casette, derailleurs, chainset and chain.

All OK now

Didn't have any degreaser, so made do for now ... will order some and do the job properly att he weekend

I had a quick look on the internet, hence my new knowledge of technical terms and found out the Raleigh Equippe has some obscure parts, even the chain is a non standard width.

If I can keep it working for a few more months, that'll do me

Last year I was looking for a new bike, but unfortunately was made redundant, so that plan had to be scrapped, see link

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=828876#post828876

Kind regards to all !

 

[Dave5N]

Probably was just cold. Wee on it.

 

[mickle]

Spraying WD40 into the internal workings of a freewheel or bearing is a sure fire method of ruining it if it wasn't buggered already.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Spraying WD40 into the internal workings of a freewheel or bearing is a sure fire method of ruining it if it wasn't buggered already.

Never did any of mine any harm when they got gunky and I ran 'em on for years.

 

[TheDoctor]

Spraying WD40 into the internal workings of a freewheel or bearing is a sure fire method of ruining it if it wasn't buggered already.

Aye, but if it's sh@gged already there's nothing much to lose!!

 

[Fab Foodie]

Aye, but if it's sh@gged already there's nothing much to lose!!

Absolutement.

 

[snorri]

This morning, withn the help of (initially) some turps, followied by Mr Muscle and Fairy liquid,

Please don't tell me the Mr Muscle and Fairy Liquid was used for anything other than washing your hands when the job was done.