Just bought this bike off a buddy and it has sat for probably 4+ years. Got a few things to do with it yet but wanted some guidance on what to do with this rear wheel not spinning very freely.
Before I took off the rear wheel, cleaned it, and greased the thru axle and outer nuts the wheel would hardly spin at all. So I have made some progress but it’s still not great.
Once I took off the rear wheel the nut on the cassette side was barely even hanging on and I was able to spin it off by hand. So I took it off and used degreaser to clean, then added some white lithium grease to the cleaned area. Reattached everything and it spins much better than before. Should I fully tighten that nut? Any advice is appreciated.
by IsThisOneAlready
6 Comments
You’ve looked at everything except for the one thing that is going on. The rotor is contacting the pads. Either the pistons are pushed too far out, or the rotor is very warped. I’m going with the former.
Edit: I forgot the 3rd option which is the wheel is not in the drop outs correctly. This is the most likely reason, the first option is the second most likely option.
The axel nuts are supposed to be basically hand tight. You over tightened it and now the bearings can’t spin freely.
chain looks like it fought a lawnmower and lost
Take off the rear caliper, then see if it spins better. You can take the wheel off, hold it in your hands and spin it. If it’s binding, you’ll feel it. The cone spacers shouldn’t cranked down, just a little tighter than hand-tight.
Always start by isolating the issue, as with everything in life when facing a problem.
Either brakes related or cone nuts are too tight for the hub to spin freely. Damaged bearings or dried up grease/mud is also a possibility but would’ve allowed for more spin than that.
Think logically and eliminate one thing after the other. Start with the brakes
Need to service rear hub, bearings grease cones…it’s a normal thing especially if it’s been sitting