I was examining my back wheel and discovered that part of cassette body broke off. Now there are only 4 of 6 pawls.
I immediately ordered new part but it will arrive only in 3-4 week time.
If here are guys who were in such situation – what do you think – will cassette hold till the replacement arrive?
I weight about 75 kg and ride in the hills 25-45 km in a day.
BlindingsunYo on
I think it’ll skip when you’re peddling depending which part of the stroke you’re in
Crazywelderguy on
Don’t try to set any records for clumbs, sprints, or power output. But it likely will last until the new parts come in if you take it easy.
cheapbikes on
i think it could be fine – only one way to find out tho 🙂
conipto on
It should work, but if you already broke two pawls off, the others are likely to be even more stressed.
I’m kind of surprised that broke instead of wearing out the hub, honestly. I’d consider a new hub if I were you unless this can be explained by either buying used or some specific event. the wear on the splines is pretty severe too. Are you a big person? I know several great riders who are heavier (not just fat but like 6’7″ guys who are all muscle) and they usually use really heavy duty hubs with high spoke count on their wheels. White Industries I believe still machines their freehub bodies out of stainless steel, and Chris king as well?
Edit – saw another comment where you said you’re 75kg? Hell I’m almost a hundred and I’ve raced most of my life and never torn up a hub this badly. Did you get it used?
Lanky-Fee7124 on
I wouldn’t ride it at all, until you get the replacement freehub. Looks like the pawls are a staggered design to double the number of points of engagement, which means only three pawls engage at a time. So now you effectively have only a pair of pawls engaging simultaneously. Chances of binding and the pawls skipping are pretty good, which would have a very good chance of damaging the drive ring inside your hub body. So even after you install the new freehub, the engagement may not work the same again.
That’s assuming the drive ring in your hub isn’t damaged already, if you have been riding the bike like this for any length of time.
Fixyobike on
Depends on how far you’ll have to walk when it fails. That body has seen some abuse, and this failure is most likely just the beginning of the end. Find a loaner wheel for a few weeks.
lanternfly_carcass on
You need a new freehub body for your aliexpress wheels. I would not expect this to work well at all, and it will probably fail altogether soon.
makerspark on
Controversial opinion here. Most 6 pawl hubs are alternating engagement. 3 pawls engaged at a time, but the extra set are slightly offset to double the engagement points.
The worry with your current set up is that you might be just getting 2 pawls at a time. If the pawls all have the same design, you could remove one pawl, but make sure the three pawls are evenly divided on the hub. Then you’d have half the engagement, but full engagement when loaded.
Without playing with the hub myself, I can’t be 100% sure it’s not some different design, so at your own risk etc.
un_pop_mech on
Pressing on with broken parts will just mean added wear on other parts. If your wheels are cheap and you plan to get a new rear, why not?
Otherwise I’d be worried about damaging the hub and I’d stay off it until a new free-hub body comes in.
10 Comments
I was examining my back wheel and discovered that part of cassette body broke off. Now there are only 4 of 6 pawls.
I immediately ordered new part but it will arrive only in 3-4 week time.
If here are guys who were in such situation – what do you think – will cassette hold till the replacement arrive?
I weight about 75 kg and ride in the hills 25-45 km in a day.
I think it’ll skip when you’re peddling depending which part of the stroke you’re in
Don’t try to set any records for clumbs, sprints, or power output. But it likely will last until the new parts come in if you take it easy.
i think it could be fine – only one way to find out tho 🙂
It should work, but if you already broke two pawls off, the others are likely to be even more stressed.
I’m kind of surprised that broke instead of wearing out the hub, honestly. I’d consider a new hub if I were you unless this can be explained by either buying used or some specific event. the wear on the splines is pretty severe too. Are you a big person? I know several great riders who are heavier (not just fat but like 6’7″ guys who are all muscle) and they usually use really heavy duty hubs with high spoke count on their wheels. White Industries I believe still machines their freehub bodies out of stainless steel, and Chris king as well?
Edit – saw another comment where you said you’re 75kg? Hell I’m almost a hundred and I’ve raced most of my life and never torn up a hub this badly. Did you get it used?
I wouldn’t ride it at all, until you get the replacement freehub. Looks like the pawls are a staggered design to double the number of points of engagement, which means only three pawls engage at a time. So now you effectively have only a pair of pawls engaging simultaneously. Chances of binding and the pawls skipping are pretty good, which would have a very good chance of damaging the drive ring inside your hub body. So even after you install the new freehub, the engagement may not work the same again.
That’s assuming the drive ring in your hub isn’t damaged already, if you have been riding the bike like this for any length of time.
Depends on how far you’ll have to walk when it fails. That body has seen some abuse, and this failure is most likely just the beginning of the end. Find a loaner wheel for a few weeks.
You need a new freehub body for your aliexpress wheels. I would not expect this to work well at all, and it will probably fail altogether soon.
Controversial opinion here. Most 6 pawl hubs are alternating engagement. 3 pawls engaged at a time, but the extra set are slightly offset to double the engagement points.
The worry with your current set up is that you might be just getting 2 pawls at a time. If the pawls all have the same design, you could remove one pawl, but make sure the three pawls are evenly divided on the hub. Then you’d have half the engagement, but full engagement when loaded.
Without playing with the hub myself, I can’t be 100% sure it’s not some different design, so at your own risk etc.
Pressing on with broken parts will just mean added wear on other parts. If your wheels are cheap and you plan to get a new rear, why not?
Otherwise I’d be worried about damaging the hub and I’d stay off it until a new free-hub body comes in.