I have put nearly 6,000 miles on my Specialized Fatboy in three years. For the past several days I've noticed that when wheeling the bike out to the road, the pedals turn. That takes quite a bit of power to turn the chain and pedals. The bike is equipped with a Shimano 10-speed freehub and cassette.
I have a Schwinn hybrid bike with a freewheel. The pedals don't turn when I wheel the bike out to the road.
So I was thinking that something isn't right with the freehub. I can turn the bike upside-down, turn the pedals backward, and the wheel goes around, not at full speed, though. That would translate to applying braking power when free-wheeling, even though it would be minute. So I removed the freehub and found resistance when turning it by hand. To my knowledge, most things tend to loosen up as they wear. It works fine, doing its job, and perhaps if I had noticed this when the bike was new, I would have accepted it as normal.
It could be that the springs that control the pawls are very strong, causing the resistance when freewheeling. If that is not the case, I was wondering if I should replace the freehub because I don't want it failing on me when I'm across town.
I have a Schwinn hybrid bike with a freewheel. The pedals don't turn when I wheel the bike out to the road.
So I was thinking that something isn't right with the freehub. I can turn the bike upside-down, turn the pedals backward, and the wheel goes around, not at full speed, though. That would translate to applying braking power when free-wheeling, even though it would be minute. So I removed the freehub and found resistance when turning it by hand. To my knowledge, most things tend to loosen up as they wear. It works fine, doing its job, and perhaps if I had noticed this when the bike was new, I would have accepted it as normal.
It could be that the springs that control the pawls are very strong, causing the resistance when freewheeling. If that is not the case, I was wondering if I should replace the freehub because I don't want it failing on me when I'm across town.