anyone else had this? took bike from shed and it didn’t engage and just span. left it out for 15 mins and it was fine again? any way to stop this happening other than keeping it in the house.

Oil it? I assume its water in teh freehub?

i oil it after every ride.

have had it a few times, usually when freehub approaching end of it’s life !

cheers iain good news indeed 😀

philfive – Member
i oil it after every ride.

Seriously??

Yes, I bought a second hand DT Swiss singlespeed wheel recently (did I mention I’ve got a singlespeed now ?) and found the freewheel didn’t engage properly for the first half of my commute to work.
About half a turn of the cranks and a bit of crunching from the hub before it engaged. Once it was in it stayed in, although I didn’t stand up to pedal, just in case.
Coming home after spending the day in a warm room, it was OK.

well ok then after every weekend, all parts that need lubing get it

Do you strip the freehub and clean/oil it or just spray a bit of GT85/WD40 on it?

remove the wheels remove the cone? and clean and relube the bearings. probably completely wrong mind.

MidlandTrailquestsGraham – Member

Yes, I bought a second hand DT Swiss singlespeed wheel recently (did I mention I’ve got a singlespeed now ?) and found the freewheel didn’t engage properly for the first half of my commute to work.
About half a turn of the cranks and a bit of crunching from the hub before it engaged. Once it was in it stayed in, although I didn’t stand up to pedal, just in case.
Coming home after spending the day in a warm room, it was OK.

so do u think squirting GT85 or similar water repellent into the hub may help?

OP your pawls are sticking down in the freehub/freewheel body. This is usually because the grease in there has dried out or its corroded in there (i.e. on its way out).

Usually it’s a bit of effort to get lube in there and if you are getting oil in there that’s BAD as it’s too light and washes the grease out.

If you can wash out the innards and replace with light grease you may extend its life.

phil – I tried that on mine after drying it out overnight on a radiator. Next ride it froze. I think once the pawl mechanism gets a bit worn it is much more susceptible to freezing as soon as any moisture gets near it. Mine was an XT.

This can happen in cold weather the pawls freeze. I had it happen on a night ride once and people say to pi$$ on the freehub – it worked for me.

cheers, i’ll order a new freehub

Shimano seems to be quite sensitive to it.
My mate has had issues with his XT a few times (cold shed) & my XTR did the same thing at -10deg…

so do u think squirting GT85 or similar water repellent into the hub may help?

Probably, as a temporary measure, although I intend to strip and re grease it.

+1 on what Cynic-Al says. I have had this a couple of times now. A strip clean and rebuild normally brings it back to life fine. If you leave it like I did they pawls will fail IME.