Tightly Packed

An appropriately tight job in the workshop today.

Bike hubs seem to creep into my photos a lot, mainly because I like them, they're intricate yet often taken for granted. They are the bits in the middle of the back wheel of a bicycle which click when you stop pedalling and drive when you pedal again - unless they've gone wrong!

In this case there was a rumbling sound from the back wheel, but only when freewheeling, so the culprit is the little bearings in the freehub and not the wheel bearings themselves (a much easier job). Extra #1 shows the usual amount of grot inside (and a stuck pawl, for any geeks reading), and if parts were available the whole lot would be replaced. Spares were unavailable, so plan b is clean up, replace the 54 ball bearings and reassemble to give a few more years of slightly quieter operation. Extras #2 and #3 are the bits cleaned and ready for nestling the two sets of ball bearings in grease. Inner race is in colour, the mono pic is the outer race.

Few bike shops do this because frankly it's not worth it commercially, the best option overall is to replace the whole wheel. This was my contribution to recycling and a photo opportunity :-)


Thanks to Laurie for hosting and sorting :-).