# Chain Slapping on EC90SL



## celeste boy

I have the Easton EC90SL wheels and they are a little over 1 year old. About 2000km.
Recently I noticed the chain slapping on the chainstay when i stopped pedalling, coming to a stop. The problem got worse and i have investigated just about every possibility and suggestion. My LBS has given up.

I have tried: oiling chain, servicing derallier. I have replaced the freehub ($114!!!!). If i run a different wheel on the bike, it does not happen.
Conversely, if I run the Easton wheel on another bike it chainslaps on that bike.
I suspect the bearings have gone in the wheel but no one else seems to have had this problem.
There is plenty of talk about setting the preload on the bearings but I reckon that is for sideways movement.

What happens is: When my right foot is down- even starting off, the chain pulls the bottom of the deralier forward causing slack on the chain on top of the chainstay.

I have written to Easton but as yet no reply.

I can't believe no one else has had this problem. Given the cost of these wheels, it is really annoying that the cheapest Campo wheels have done many more km over tougher ground and just keep going.

Is there any way i can save this rear wheel?

c b


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## alexp247365

I'm failing to visualize this in my head. You pedal and the chain ring turns clockwise - feeding chain into the rear deraileur. How is the RD being pulled towards the front of the bike?

I have the same wheels, but slackening of the chain only seems to happen when I'm cleaning it (moving the cranks counter-clockwise, and pushing on the chain potentially knocking it off of tracking.)

You could have a deraileur alignment issue, perhaps?


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## celeste boy

Thanks for the quick reply.
Short of a photo of this: When I start off I have my left foot on the ground. Right foot is in pedal with right crank at (say) 3-4 o'clock on the chainring. This is putting forward pressure on the chain above the chainstay, ie that's how you go forward. But it is also putting pressure on the chain below the chainstay making it go slack. It pulls the derallier arm towards the front of the bike and the arm stays there. As soon as I stop pedalling the slack transfers to the chain on top of the chainstay.
I have tried this again and I don't even need to ride the bike. I can just straddle the bike and make the chain go slack. (A friend says I am so heavy I am twisting the frame.)

I appreciate the advice that it is something to do with the derallier, jockey wheels, chain etc but I have eliminated all of that. Any other wheel (Campo) work perfecly on the bike and when I put the Easton wheel on an identical bike it plays up. It is definitely something to do with the Easton wheel and i have replaced the freehub.

I suppose it must be something to do with the bearings in the wheel but before I go to more expense i would like some advice.

c b


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## johntrek5

Holy cow! I had the exact same issue with my EA90SLX rear wheel. I will cut through all the fixes Easton had me try and tell you that it turned out to be the drive side hub bearing had disintegrated. Easton had me try several things, and finally my mechanic figured it had to be the internal bearings. They (Easton) shipped me new bearings finally, and instantly the problem was solved. I know what you are going through, just trying to explain it that when you coast, your chain comes all the way down and even below the chain stay. I finally figured it had to be in the wheel because I swapped a friends wheel real quick, and it was all the sudden fine. Get new internal bearings and you will be good to go. I have to say, that I ended up junking the wheels, as I also could not keep from poppng spokes, and I went trough a couple free hubs. They were the most high maintenece wheels I have ever owned. I don't want to get on a bash Easton deal going here, as I have moved on, I just considered it an expensive lesson. Any way, get new hub bearings. Good luck


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## celeste boy

That's the exact problem that i have. I am still investigating and trying thinds with the freehub but i would bet my Bianchi that one of the bearings has gone.

Graham


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## aclinjury

thanks for sharing guys. Lesson here is stay away from EC90SL wheels like your ex.

and if we have another user confirming the exact issue, then we might as well change the title of this to "Easton EC90SL wheels are junk".

Still going strong on my almost 19 yr old dura ace wheels.


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## racinrob1

aclinjury said:


> thanks for sharing guys. Lesson here is stay away from EC90SL wheels like your ex.
> 
> and if we have another user confirming the exact issue, then we might as well change the title of this to "Easton EC90SL wheels are junk".
> 
> Still going strong on my almost 19 yr old dura ace wheels.



Have to Disagree with you! All wheels have bearings fail, his wheelset had 2000km on them, the ec90SL's have ceramic bearings which DON'T like side load. If you adjust the preload to much it can load up the dearing in a side load and the die!
I have a set of ec90sl's and have done about 3000km on them, not an issue to speek of, regular checks and lub is all i do.


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## mtnroadie

Easton hubs are junk!!!!

My rear bearings disinegrated after 10 min in light rain.


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## CleavesF

10 mins? What RPMs where you doing? 12 Million per second?


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## celeste boy

The End of the Story ( I hope).

Today I picked up the wheel after having the two bearings and the axle replaced. The bearings, axle, grease and tools for removal were supplied by Easton (free) and delivered within 3 working days. The smaller bearing (6901 hybrid) looks OK but the larger bearing (6902 hybrid) was clearly shot. One side of the bearing looked perfect but the side cover had come apart on the opposite side. This exposed the roller-bearings.

Zillions of thanks to johntrek5 for his answer- spot on mate!

I hope this helps for others who may have a similar problem.

c b


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## johntrek5

Glad it worked celeste boy! I remember how aggravating it was trying to figure it out when I had that problem! I hop that is all the issues you will have with your Easton's. As I said, I finally gave up on mine, after all the numerous spoke and free hub issues I continually had in addition to the issue mentioned here! Keep it up-right!


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## alias33

I went thru a few sets of the same model of wheel, not reliable at all, bearings, free hubs and brake track delimitation all happened to me.


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## drewskey

celeste boy said:


> The End of the Story ( I hope).
> 
> Today I picked up the wheel after having the two bearings and the axle replaced. The bearings, axle, grease and tools for removal were supplied by Easton (free) and delivered within 3 working days. The smaller bearing (6901 hybrid) looks OK but the larger bearing (6902 hybrid) was clearly shot. One side of the bearing looked perfect but the side cover had come apart on the opposite side. This exposed the roller-bearings.
> 
> Zillions of thanks to johntrek5 for his answer- spot on mate!
> 
> I hope this helps for others who may have a similar problem.
> 
> c b


Easton has been good about this for me. Also, I have experienced the chain slap on a differrent wheelset. I attributed it to older bearings and an over tightened skewer.


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## triumph.1

I just had this exact same issue a couple weeks ago. Upon close inspection I noticed a .005 gap on the drive side end cap that could not be adjusted out or tightened to take out the gap. I put in a .005 washer on the inside of the drive side axle lip and the problem was fixed. Just to make sure that was the issue I took the washer out and the free wheel hang and chain slap came back. I put the washer back in and have ridden a couple centuries along with my weekly riding and have zero issues. I do have a new axle kit coming, but will probably save it. I don't know at this point if a bearing compressed or if the bearing pocket was machined wrong, but given the same thing happening to others would lead me to believe it is a bearing issue.


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## triumph.1

mtnroadie said:


> Easton hubs are junk!!!!
> 
> My rear bearings disinegrated after 10 min in light rain.


Perhaps you should stick to steel bearings. Easton hubs have nothing to do with your issue. :idea:


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## johntrek5

I am happy to report that I have been on my Mavic's for over 9,000 trouble free miles! Just wish I had the money that I lost on my Eastons back!


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## mtnroadie

*I dont know about you but I consider the bearings to be a crucial part of the hub, No*



triumph.1 said:


> Perhaps you should stick to steel bearings. Easton hubs have nothing to do with your issue. :idea:


Perhaps Easton should make their hubs with decent bearings, thereby making them decent hubs. If you make your hubs with junk ceramic bearings you make junk hubs.

FYI I had replacement bearings sent out by Easton once already. It looks like I will be needing a second set soon. Again got stuck in the rain for a few min now I have grity bearings.

Front hub still smooth as glass, rear hub what a nightmare. Also two of the rear drive side spokes have developed a ridiculous creak.


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## drewskey

mtnroadie said:


> Perhaps Easton should make their hubs with decent bearings, thereby making them decent hubs. If you make your hubs with junk ceramic bearings you make junk hubs.
> 
> FYI I had replacement bearings sent out by Easton once already. It looks like I will be needing a second set soon. Again got stuck in the rain for a few min now I have grity bearings.
> 
> Front hub still smooth as glass, rear hub what a nightmare. Also two of the rear drive side spokes have developed a ridiculous creak.



Well Easton uses the same bearings as a lot of others, so in my opinion, it isn't the bearing's fault. The isse might be that the cassette-body seal is broken (I have seen this) or installed backwards.  See part 7 for what I am talking about.

Is the "gritty" feeling from the hub bearings or freehub body bearings? I think the freehub body does lack in the water stopping department. I will keep some Phil Wood grease slathered inside and around the fixing nut as an additional waterstop.


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## triumph.1

mtnroadie said:


> Perhaps Easton should make their hubs with decent bearings, thereby making them decent hubs. If you make your hubs with junk ceramic bearings you make junk hubs.
> 
> FYI I had replacement bearings sent out by Easton once already. It looks like I will be needing a second set soon. Again got stuck in the rain for a few min now I have grity bearings.
> 
> Front hub still smooth as glass, rear hub what a nightmare. Also two of the rear drive side spokes have developed a ridiculous creak.


I have two sets of easton wheels with ceramic bearings and have never had an issue with either set in any weather conditions and have 2500 miles on each set. So Easton makes a great product from my point of view. Suggesting the use of steel bearings in your case was sound advice to save you more hassle in the future. I don't understand why one would keep using something that keeps giving them problems? At least with steel you are less likely to have any issues, but to each his own happiness or misery.


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## mtnroadie

drewskey said:


> Well Easton uses the same bearings as a lot of others, so in my opinion, it isn't the bearing's fault. The isse might be that the cassette-body seal is broken (I have seen this) or installed backwards.  See part 7 for what I am talking about.
> 
> Is the "gritty" feeling from the hub bearings or freehub body bearings? I think the freehub body does lack in the water stopping department. I will keep some Phil Wood grease slathered inside and around the fixing nut as an additional waterstop.


I installed a new cassette-body about 1500-2000miles ago when i switched to Campy. The cassette-body spins very smooth, it feels gritty on the nondrive side with the adjuster. I have read similar complaints about Eastons ceramic bearings before and was actually warned about Easton hubs by my LBS before buying them. I did not heed the warnings.

I did notice my cassette-body seal is a bit crinkled, so maybe it is broken.

I use the Easton cassette-body grease they sent with my bearings last time. It helps to keep things quite. Now i have to chase the creak in the spokes. Last time i had a crazy tick i thought it was my Campy 11 BB, turned out to the rear wheel yet again. I remedied that with some grease on the cassette-body (outside where the cassette sits)

I used the Phil wood stuff on these wheels once and it was great, i am pretty sure Easton told me not to use it with these hubs and then sent out their grease.

A bit frusrating really when the front hub spins so smooth. Also my smooth as glass White Industries hubs further underline the shortcomings of the rear r4sl hub.


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## drewskey

mtnroadie said:


> I installed a new cassette-body about 1500-2000miles ago when i switched to Campy. The cassette-body spins very smooth, it feels gritty on the nondrive side with the adjuster. I have read similar complaints about Eastons ceramic bearings before and was actually warned about Easton hubs by my LBS before buying them. I did not heed the warnings.
> 
> I did notice my cassette-body seal is a bit crinkled, so maybe it is broken.
> 
> I use the Easton cassette-body grease they sent with my bearings last time. It helps to keep things quite. Now i have to chase the creak in the spokes. Last time i had a crazy tick i thought it was my Campy 11 BB, turned out to the rear wheel yet again. I remedied that with some grease on the cassette-body (outside where the cassette sits)
> 
> I used the Phil wood stuff on these wheels once and it was great, i am pretty sure Easton told me not to use it with these hubs and then sent out their grease.
> 
> A bit frusrating really when the front hub spins so smooth. Also my smooth as glass White Industries hubs further underline the shortcomings of the rear r4sl hub.


Perhaps the gritty feeling on the non-drive side can be attributed something in between the adjuster and the hub body. I've had this. I don't remember if this side has a seal at all other than metal overlap where the adjuster body meets the hub body. Are you using the new adjuster that has the cone-wrench slots?

If the cassette-body seal is crinkled, than I would replace it. Easy water entry point.

IMHO you def do not want to use phil wood on the interior of the cassette, where the pawls are. Too thick. Some people will use a light motor oil or other type of lightweight oil.


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## triumph.1

FWIW, I was talking to a tech at Easton the other day about the adjuster and issues with the rear wheels and though I don't feel I got any real input other than that of anyone's basic reasoning would give as to why the wheels tend to go bad for different people, I did get a sort of agreement that a wheel with an adjuster seems like a design flaw from the start. An example is running a cheap stock wheel of any brand and never having an issue with bearings, lateral play and then running a 2000 dollar set of wheels and have to check the adjustment every 500 miles or so to keep it from self destructing. The info I am getting to is the tech said Easton is currently working on a non adjustable hub. Whether this is true or not is to be seen in the future. He gave no timeline, but it would be nice to see the carbon tubulars Easton makes go a bit more mainstream in design and eliminate the poor adjuster design which would hopefully give us a better more durable product to ride.


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