OT: Bike Repair Advice (for a wheel)

[Zahan]

Hey friends - it's been a while, but looking for advice on how to get my bike back on the road.

The cassette is a bit loose on my rear wheel (like, there is some play on the fit). Here's a video to show it: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nmTkUdV2JJzGpRy46

It manifests as shifting sometimes not working, and a weird knocking noise while free-wheeling occasionally. I can still ride, but started getting a bit worried about safety on the last one.

I took it to the LBS (well, 3 different ones), and they said I need to replace the freehub at a Specialized dealer (since it's a Spesh bike). The hub in question says "Axis", and I assume it's the wheels that came with this bike (circa 2013). Looking online seems like there's a "Specialized Axis 2.0" wheel.

I went to a Specialized Dealer and they said that this part isn't being made anymore because it's old, and that I'd need to replace the wheel or the wheelset. I didn't love the up-selling, and I'm not sure they looked very hard.

My question: what do you recommend I do? Find a freehub replacement online? How do I know if it is the right one? LBS said they'd install a compatible one if I found it. This kinda looks like the right thing, and at $30 maybe it's worth a shot anyhow.

Or do I give in and splurge $500 on a new wheelset? (I've heard "Rolf" is a Thing.) Is this something I should be doing anyway? Points against: 1) it's much more than I intended to do to fix this comparatively small problem and 2) it doesn't get me back on the road asap, which was my intention at the outset.

Thanks, and hope you're all staying safe out there!

~ Zahan

[Nathan Dushman]

How much disassembly did these shops do before giving you a diagnosis? Did they remove the cassette? I know nothing about this particular freehub, but many of them can be disassembled, often with minimal tools. If you need the cassette lockring tool and chain whip to remove the cassette, I'm happy to lend them. I'd see how far you can take it apart yourself - can't get worse, right? - and maybe you'll find something obvious that needs to be tightened, or you'll find a worn seal that needs to be replaced, or a part number marking that would indicate exactly what you need.

Also, from the photos, looks like a standard quick-release disc wheel, you can probably find one on Craigslist for a reasonable price (and move your current cassette to it) if your goal is just to get rolling soon. Never hurts to have a spare wheel if you later fix your current one (although only one spare wheel; past that they take up space and you start thinking "I have a spare wheels, I should build a bike to put them on...").

Nathan

[Rob]

There is a youtube of a similar hub, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2Ok5I-De6E no idea how similar 1.0 and 2.0 are, but as Nathan pointed out, did the shops remove the cassette? seems like one thing to try is to just tighten the freehub with a big allen wrench -- first few seconds in the vid the presenter removes the freehub with the big wrench. i kinda assume that since you took it to the 3 shops at least someone looked at it. so in that case I'd guess the problem is how the freehub interfaces with the axle. when my hubs get some side to side play it usually means it's time to replace the bearings. not sure why a shop wouldn't service it, looks like it uses loose ball bearings from the video so perhaps that is just too much labor for them to deal with or perhaps some other part just wears on that hub which is hard to replace.

unless you're riding your bike through salt water, or cleaning it all the time with a pressure washer the hubs should be pretty worry free. aren't the rolf wheels those weird paired spoke wheels? If you're getting a new wheel or wheels, i'd do something with 28 or 32 spokes in the rear (i ride 28 -- 180 lbs), and a dt-swiss 350 or 240 hub. lots of shops should be able to service a dt-swiss hub. as for getting one, idk, call around some shops and see if they will sell you a rear wheel and you want something with normal spokes and a serviceable hub. expect to pay something around 200-400 for a new rear wheel. (a dt swiss 350 rear hub is about $200 retail).

additionally, if you want to avoid purchasing a new rotor, make sure the hub is a 6 bolt and not centerlock. looks like your rotor is attached with, um, 6 bolts.

i did a quick search last night on my usual online places, jensonusa, merlincycles, excelsports and didn't see an inexpensive rear wheel. the last wheels i got were from a company in china named lightbicycle, carbon wheels with dt-swiss hubs and normal steel spokes. they are holding up fine but it took 2 months to get them.

[Zahan Malkani]

Yeah - so one of them did disassemble it to give me the diagnosis that the freehub was worn out. He showed it to me, and I didn't get a good look, but I think what he was referring to was the actual ridges in the hub that interface with the rings + lock ring. He said that was run down (7 year old bike).

Reassembly and tightening everything down sadly didn't solve the problem - though I didn't think to note the part number!

Thanks for the tools offer, Nathan - I'd love to take you up on that (will message offline).

That's a good point about having a spare wheel, to get rolling while I figure out the right part to order.

It does feel like all new wheels are overkill upon reflection, I should be able to service / repair / replace this part.

> unless you're riding your bike through salt water, or cleaning it all the time with a pressure washer the hubs should be pretty worry free.

That's what I saw online too. Perhaps once I disassemble it myself I'll confirm the issue.

Thanks for the tip on the ball bearings and interface with the axle - I'll see if that's the issue instead,

Thanks Nathan and Rob! I have some more digging to do now.

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