# hub/freehub resistance on new rear wheel?



## blahblah (Sep 12, 2007)

I've been riding for awhile but am pretty new to any do-it-yourself tweaks on my bike, and thanks to the reviews here I decided to upgrade my wheels from my stock Bianchi Levitations. I got the new wheels (mail order) and with more effort than I expected I managed to get new tires and tubes on and get my campy centaur cassette moved over to the rear wheel, but when I got it back on my bike it doesn't spin well at all. I thought I had the brakes rubbing, but everything's clear, but the same light spin that'd get 3 freewheel rotations from my old wheel barely gets 1 on the new wheel, and when I spin the pedals backwards the new wheel actually gets going pretty fast instead of the freehub just spinning freely in reverse.

So my question is - is this normal for a new wheel/hub? Is there a break-in period for grease and bearings or whatever the internals are that I'm very hazy on that'll loosen up after some riding? I'm itching to go for a ride but if there's a problem that needs replacement or servicing I'd rather not make it worse.

thanks for any help,
Jeff


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## Mad Season (Sep 10, 2007)

Hi there.
Doesen't sound good. Just to eliminate the obvous - the QuickReleases are not too tight?
What type of wheel is it? Mavic? The Mavic freehub :mad2: is a bit "sticky", but not as bad as your wheel, normaly. Sounds like the hub axle is too tight. Easy repear, but not if you don't know how to do it... Take it to the LBS and let 'em have a look. Probably not hard to fix, but don't ride it untill you have got it overlooked by someone.


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## blahblah (Sep 12, 2007)

> Doesen't sound good. Just to eliminate the obvous - the QuickReleases are not too tight?

Nope, it seems the same off the bike completely, when I'm just holding it and spinning. And I missed your reply until after I did a little more poking around and convinced myself that "break in" was a possibility for hubs so I went out and did 15 miles to try them out, but that didn't seem to make an appreciable difference in the spin resistance. It didn't seem bad under power - if it doesn't spin so well freewheeling, will that also have an impact when under power? Like I said, I'm pretty hazy on the internals... 

> Sounds like the hub axle is too tight. Easy repear, but not if you don't know how to do it...

Ah, I just read that section in the Downs maintenance book - yup, I don't think I want to try messing with that at this point - I'll just wait until I can get in touch with the vendor tomorrow to see what's up.

thanks for the help,
Jeff


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## gk02 (Apr 29, 2006)

Some hubs do have considerable break in periods. 15 miles would not be considered enough, probably more like 200-300. I would contact the vendor and inform them of your concern over it but let them know that you would like to ride them a couple hundred miles first and if things do not improve then return them. 

The oldest most reliable hubset I have ever had quite a bit of bearing drag when it was new but 6 years later those hubs are still going strong and spin perfect now while most other hubsets I have used that felt perfect out of the box are now in the trash because they got so sloppy over the years.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*2 separate issues*



blahblah said:


> when I got it back on my bike it doesn't spin well at all. I thought I had the brakes rubbing, but everything's clear, but the same light spin that'd get 3 freewheel rotations from my old wheel barely gets 1 on the new wheel, and when I spin the pedals backwards the new wheel actually gets going pretty fast instead of the freehub just spinning freely in reverse.
> 
> So my question is - is this normal for a new wheel/hub? Is there a break-in period for grease and bearings or whatever the internals are that I'm very hazy on that'll loosen up after some riding?


These are two separate issues, though probably caused by the same principles and apparently are a common theme on this hub. If you can't feel any binding when you turn the hub axle with your fingers, then it is a combination of grease viscosity and seal friction that is causing the quick slow-down of the spun wheel. Assuming a proper seal design, the seals will wear in and this will improve with time. Lighter weight grease would probably improve it right away. The freehub causing the wheel to spin when backpedaling is also a seal friction issue, and could be grease as well if the freehub was assembled with grease. Same issues on the hub. It sounds like the designers/manufacturers of this hub chose to err on the side of tighter seals out of the box.

FYI there are low friction seal designs. For example, Campy uses non-contact seals for their hub bearings, essentially eliminating that source of friction, and uses a very pliant "rubber flap" to seal their freehubs, which is also a low friction design.


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## blahblah (Sep 12, 2007)

Excellent, thanks for all the info guys, that definitely helps me get a little more informed for talking to the vendor tomorrow.

thanks,
Jeff


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