Is it normal for the freehub to go from loud to quiet during the wheel rotation? Its sounds like ZZZzzzZZZzzzZZZ. Worried the freehub could be bad, or maybe I added too much grease? The wheels/hubs have about 1k miles on them.
I had an issue a couple months ago where the hub was creaking really bad going uphill and Farsports told me to take it apart and check to make sure everything was lined up correctly in there. I also added a bit more grease, which quieted it down, but maybe I added too much?
The creaking went away but just about 1-2 weeks ago I noticed the hubs sounding different. Not sure if this is normal or the freehub is cooked.
by venetian_legion
11 Comments
does the wheel need trued? looks wobbly and the change in sound seems to correlate with how the bike is wobbling with the wheel
The only way it’s “cooked” for your zoomer terminology, is if the ratchets don’t engage pushing it forward normally. Don’t worry about the noise freewheeling, unless again you push the pedals anc have no resistance. That’s cooked.
It sounds like a regular ratchet hub. What model exactly do you have?
If you’ve added a bunch of grease recently that’s almost definitely the reason for the uneven sound. Freehubs don’t need much in the way of grease, and when it gets in the pawls there is less of a metal-on-metal sound. If it doesn’t go away after a couple of rides, get in there and wipe it out. You don’t need much in there.
That noise is caused by an imbalance in the wheels/tires causing the wheels rotation to accelerate and decelerate as the heavier portion falls with or lifts up against gravity.
Once you are sitting on it and the speed of the wheel is constrained by the you and the bikes inertia, the sound should even out.
When you ride it dows it make the same noise when freewheeling? Unbalanced wheels aren’t a problem once you’re on the road in terms of feel and noise
Normal wheel Imbalance especially on Carbon wheels
Like others have said, if they’re light wheels, it’s probably the extra weight at the valve stem compared to its opposite side. Some people put add weight opposite the valve stem to balance that out
Mods can we please ban the word cooked in this sub
Trolling
Wheel isn’t balanced