Wood man Bill free hub removal and maintenance

[Andrew W]

I have recently ridden my bike with Woodman Bill rear hub through
water above the level of the hub, only for a stretch of 200 yards or
so, but I fear some water penetration was inevitable.

Hub:
http://www.withoutdoors.co.uk/product.php?id=624&node_id=31

Now that it has dried out and I have oiled it as far as possible by
removing the wheel bearings and running oil through the freehub body.
There is a still low rumbling noise on back pedalling, presumably the
freehub bearings are worn.

Clearly all is not well. No matter. This hub has covered over 17,000
miles, so it has done it's share of work. I now have two strategies
open to me:

1. I see that I can get a new free hub fairly cheaply, but the
question is how do I get the old one off?

I have removed Shimano freehubs before, but this one is decidedly
different.

Removing the bearings and axle there seem to be some flats deep inside
that an allen key might fit, but it is much bigger than the largest
allen key I have (10mm) - do I just need a bigger one? If so what
size? And what direction do I insert the allen key from?

2. Is it worthwhile attempting to disassemble the existing freehub to
replace the bearings?

Finally, does anyone know of a user manual for this hub? I never had
one for it (my LBS built it into a wheel for me, but if they had the
instructions, they didn't pass them on. The woodman web site has
marketing information, but not technical stuff.

Thanks in advance for any advice

Andrew Webster

 

[Nate Knutson]

On Jul 29, 12:17 pm, Andrew W <[email protected]> wrote:
> I have recently ridden my bike with Woodman Bill rear hub through
> water above the level of the hub, only for a stretch of 200 yards or
> so, but I fear some water penetration was inevitable.
>
> Hub:http://www.withoutdoors.co.uk/product.php?id=624&node_id=31
>
> Now that it has dried out and I have oiled it as far as possible by
> removing the wheel bearings and running oil through the freehub body.
> There is a still low rumbling noise on back pedalling, presumably the
> freehub bearings are worn.
>
> Clearly all is not well. No matter. This hub has covered over 17,000
> miles, so it has done it's share of work. I now have two strategies
> open to me:
>
> 1. I see that I can get a new free hub fairly cheaply, but the
> question is how do I get the old one off?
>
> I have removed Shimano freehubs before, but this one is decidedly
> different.
>
> Removing the bearings and axle there seem to be some flats deep inside
> that an allen key might fit, but it is much bigger than the largest
> allen key I have (10mm) - do I just need a bigger one? If so what
> size? And what direction do I insert the allen key from?
>
> 2. Is it worthwhile attempting to disassemble the existing freehub to
> replace the bearings?
>
> Finally, does anyone know of a user manual for this hub? I never had
> one for it (my LBS built it into a wheel for me, but if they had the
> instructions, they didn't pass them on. The woodman web site has
> marketing information, but not technical stuff.
>
> Thanks in advance for any advice
>
> Andrew Webster

No specific experience with Woodman hubs, but a number of hubs use 11
or 12mm wrenches for the freehub body.

Their websites lists this thing:
http://www.woodmancomponents.com/catalog/categorie.php?cat=tul&lang=en&art=tul5

You might try just calling them.

 

[Andrew W]

On 30 Jul, 02:42, Nate Knutson <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Jul 29, 12:17 pm, Andrew W <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I have recently ridden my bike with Woodman Bill rear hub through
> > water above the level of the hub, only for a stretch of 200 yards or
> > so, but I fear some water penetration was inevitable.
>
> > Hub:http://www.withoutdoors.co.uk/product.php?id=624&node_id=31
>
> > Now that it has dried out and I have oiled it as far as possible by
> > removing the wheel bearings and running oil through the freehub body.
> > There is a still low rumbling noise on back pedalling, presumably the
> > freehub bearings are worn.
>
> > Clearly all is not well. No matter. This hub has covered over 17,000
> > miles, so it has done it's share of work. I now have two strategies
> > open to me:
>
> > 1. I see that I can get a new free hub fairly cheaply, but the
> > question is how do I get the old one off?
>
> > I have removed Shimano freehubs before, but this one is decidedly
> > different.
>
> > Removing the bearings and axle there seem to be some flats deep inside
> > that an allen key might fit, but it is much bigger than the largest
> > allen key I have (10mm) - do I just need a bigger one? If so what
> > size? And what direction do I insert the allen key from?
>
> > 2. Is it worthwhile attempting to disassemble the existing freehub to
> > replace the bearings?
>
> > Finally, does anyone know of a user manual for this hub? I never had
> > one for it (my LBS built it into a wheel for me, but if they had the
> > instructions, they didn't pass them on. The woodman web site has
> > marketing information, but not technical stuff.
>
> > Thanks in advance for any advice
>
> > Andrew Webster
>
> No specific experience with Woodman hubs, but a number of hubs use 11
> or 12mm wrenches for the freehub body.

It looks much bigger than that.
>
> Their websites lists this thing:http://www.woodmancomponents.com/catalog/categorie.php?cat=tul =e...
>
I hadn't seen that - but I can't imagine what it does
>
> You might try just calling them.
>
I'll drop them an e-mail, but rec.bicycles.tech is usually a more
reliable source!

Thanks

Andrew Webster

 

[[email protected]]

On Jul 30, 1:37 pm, Andrew W <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 30 Jul, 02:42, Nate Knutson <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Jul 29, 12:17 pm, Andrew W <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > > I have recently ridden my bike withWoodmanBill rear hub through
> > > water above the level of the hub, only for a stretch of 200 yards or
> > > so, but I fear some water penetration was inevitable.
>
> > > Hub:http://www.withoutdoors.co.uk/product.php?id=624&node_id=31
>
> > > Now that it has dried out and I have oiled it as far as possible by
> > > removing the wheel bearings and running oil through the freehub body.
> > > There is a still low rumbling noise on back pedalling, presumably the
> > > freehub bearings are worn.
>
> > > Clearly all is not well. No matter. This hub has covered over 17,000
> > > miles, so it has done it's share of work. I now have two strategies
> > > open to me:
>
> > > 1. I see that I can get a new free hub fairly cheaply, but the
> > > question is how do I get the old one off?
>
> > > I have removed Shimano freehubs before, but this one is decidedly
> > > different.
>
> > > Removing the bearings and axle there seem to be some flats deep inside
> > > that an allen key might fit, but it is much bigger than the largest
> > > allen key I have (10mm) - do I just need a bigger one? If so what
> > > size? And what direction do I insert the allen key from?
>
> > > 2. Is it worthwhile attempting to disassemble the existing freehub to
> > > replace the bearings?
>
> > > Finally, does anyone know of a user manual for this hub? I never had
> > > one for it (my LBS built it into a wheel for me, but if they had the
> > > instructions, they didn't pass them on. Thewoodmanweb site has
> > > marketing information, but not technical stuff.
>
> > > Thanks in advance for any advice
>
> > > Andrew Webster
>
> > No specific experience withWoodmanhubs, but a number of hubs use 11
> > or 12mm wrenches for the freehub body.
>
> It looks much bigger than that.
>
> > Their websites lists this thing:http://www.woodmancomponents.com/catalog/categorie.php?cat=tul=e...
>
> I hadn't seen that - but I can't imagine what it does
>
> > You might try just calling them.
>
> I'll drop them an e-mail, but rec.bicycles.tech is usually a more
> reliable source!
>
> Thanks
>
> Andrew Webster

I've worked on their road hubs and those just come apart without any
tools. I was surprised at first, but given that a hub is under
compression from the quick-release, there doesn't need to be any
locking mechanism really. You would need lock-nuts if the bearings are
cup/cone with balls, but not with cartridge bearings.

Josh