- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
What started out as a couple of supposedly simple jobs for one of my regular "customers" turned into a bit of a palaver. On the one bike I fixed a puncture as requested then noticed that one of the spokes was broken and the cartridge bearings were rough and had play. Not knowing how much it had been ridden and, more importantly, jumped since the spoke broke I suggested that it would probably be just as well to replace the wheel as it could easily keep popping spokes once it had started. I managed to find one from Decathlon with the requisite boost axle and 6 bolt disc mounting. The freewheel was a guess as there is no information online about what cassettes they take on any of the wheels I found but the 12 speed cassette fitted straight on without needing spacers, which was good.
At the same time they brought out a jump bike with a freewheel that didn't work. This one was a faff as I couldn't find any manufacturers name on the hub, so I had to guess on how it all came apart. A freehub tool has been added to my kit which allowed me to open the thing up and I found the pawls and bearings sitting in a mess of rusty sludge and the return spring broken. I did try opening up a couple of old hubs of mine in case they had a suitable spring but neither were right and the one was also broken. A pack of generic springs were bought off the internet and although they weren't right either, they were made of stainless steel wire rather than spring steel so I was able to gently tease one into shape until it worked. I was really chuffed with being able to sort that one out. The child it was for said "I thought it was going to be loud" and went off in a huff. No pleasing some people it seems.
At the same time they brought out a jump bike with a freewheel that didn't work. This one was a faff as I couldn't find any manufacturers name on the hub, so I had to guess on how it all came apart. A freehub tool has been added to my kit which allowed me to open the thing up and I found the pawls and bearings sitting in a mess of rusty sludge and the return spring broken. I did try opening up a couple of old hubs of mine in case they had a suitable spring but neither were right and the one was also broken. A pack of generic springs were bought off the internet and although they weren't right either, they were made of stainless steel wire rather than spring steel so I was able to gently tease one into shape until it worked. I was really chuffed with being able to sort that one out. The child it was for said "I thought it was going to be loud" and went off in a huff. No pleasing some people it seems.
