For context the wheels are only a month or two old and I haven’t ridden them for that long. I took the bike to a shop this morning that’s well renowned in the area because I had issues with my rear brake due to pulling the lever while my rear wheel was off which was dumb I know and my brakes were shot so they fixed the brakes and rebled them and the brakes were working again and then I rode it after and I can’t pedal backwards anymore, it caused my chain to become tangled like the video. Took it back in to the shop and they said the free hub needs to be serviced and that it was old and they wouldn’t listen to me when I said it was only like a month old. Also I rode it to the shop earlier when my brakes were bad and I had no issues with my free hub at all or pedaling, I pedal backwards a bunch especially at red lights to get ready to move. Is this possible for it to happen all of a sudden like that when it’s basically new? How can it go from working completely fine to unusable after they worked on my brakes. The guy told me they didn’t have to take my wheel off either to bleed the brakes so it wasn’t them but they also changed my disc brake pads so I know they took the wheel off, not sure why he lied about that.
Can’t pedal backwards on bike anymore after bike shop visit
byu/neonicblast inbikewrench
by neonicblast
17 Comments
What happens when you spin the wheel forward (not using the cranks)?
Flip the bike, give the wheel a spin. Does it spin relatively free?
If yes, all is well, they just added grease to the hub, not the best practice but harmless. If not then check if there is any resistance on you moving the cassette by hand, any resistance would warrant an explanation from the servicer
Edit. Just read your post with more attention and forgot to ask, does it pedal normally? Is the chain in the correct gear(3rd in shifter, 3rd in the cassette)?
Do you have a receipt that shows the wheels were recently purchased new? Can you produce that to bring to the shop on your follow-up visit?
Also they needed to take the wheel off to spread out the caliper pistons that you pushed inwards when you pulled the brake lever with the wheel off.
My guess would be that its just some very thick and newly applied grease inside the hub. Maybe the shop used the wrong kind, but if u ride for a little on those and freewheel a bit the grease should heat up after a bit.
That is a serious problem for sure. I’d pull the wheel off again (and avoid hitting the brakes) to see how stiff the casette is on the hub. If you need outside help to get it freed up, I’d go to a different LBS.
Take the wheel off and see if the cassette spins freely, off the bike. If it does, I’d suspect something in the installation or the brake adjustment causing the wheel to stick.
It can be related to the work the shop did, but it is hard to say for sure. They could have taken the brake caliper off instead of the wheel (that is what we do at the shop where I work) it tends to help with the bleeding if the caliper is at the lowest point, and usually it needs to be centered anyway.
DT swiss 240 exp hub? Some of them had issues, check this link [DT Swiss EXP](https://www.dtswiss.com/en/ratchet-exp-maintenance-notice)
Check axle torque and amount of grease in the freehub
Others have said it. Ride it around for a while to work the grease into the hub. If you can coast – its working.
the rear wheel’s cup’s are too tight. This happened when your hub was serviced. Take it back and they will adjust it in a few minutes. Don’t try do it yourself.
Stop and bring it back to the shop. The cassette is pinched. I suspect when they put it back together, they missed a spacer as others had mentioned here.
There is probably something catching on the cassette I have seen the symptoms of sticking freewheel caused by some thread or some crap like that tangled up around the axel. Or caused by dork disks. Take the wheel out and inspect. you might need to take the cassette off and take a look.
The “I did not take the wheel off to service your brake” sounds like an attempt to say : it’s impossible that the problem is the result of something I did. By any chance, did you purchase the wheel from that same shop? What about warranty? It would be helpful to know the brand/model of the hub. I would be able to tell you where to look. My best guess is that there a missing spacer behind the fhb. The mystery is how did it happen.
Also I not a believer in the “too much grease in the freehub/keep riding” theory.
This happened to me when I had my wheel rebuilt with new spokes. The wheel rebuilder returned without this: DT Swiss Freehub Spacer Sleeve… I was able to self diagnose by comparing to another rear wheel with the same hub: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CS7IRRG
They lost the thrust washer between the freehub body and the hub bearings.
Jus to be pedantic, do you mean they changed to rotors, or the pads? You don’t need to take the wheel off to change the pads, but you do to change the rotor.