Got some Kinesis crosslight disc wheels in August and the freehub (Novatec) has seized. Spoke to Freeborn and they’ve said that they’ll sort under warranty which is great.
Took the freehub off to return and thought i’d have a look if there’s anything obvious – all seemed ok – pawls move and spring back and no obvious wear. Put the feeehub back on and it spins freely until I tighten the allen bolts, at which point it seizes again.

I’m concerned that i’ll return the free hub and the replacement has a similar problem. Freeborn have said that I can send the whole wheel back but then I have the added expense and hassle of sending back a whole wheel.
Should the allen bolts be really tight in the first place?
Any suggestions?

Anyone?

Not familiar with that hub, but are you sure the freehub’s spinning freely, it may be rotating the whole axle with it, until you tighten the bolts and prevent it.

Thanks Coatesy. I’ve spent a lot of time cleaning and regreasing everything but I think the problem is with the sealed bearings within the free hub itself so i’m going to send it back to Freeborn to look at…

this exact thing happened to me after about 200km with these wheels, they fixed it under warranty really fast but I’ve noticed the back wheel driving the cranks a little bit after another 100km so I worry it’s starting to seize again – it almost took the rear mech off the first time I freewheeled after it seized so I’m a bit hesitant to ride it now, don’t want to get stuck 20 miles from home with no freewheel

they told me it was a bad batch of spacers inside the freehub that were a fraction of a mm too big, though I don’t really understand why it was spinning fine at first and then seized up after a while

would be interesting to hear how many people have had a similar problem with the wheel, it sounded like they had to fix a fair few of them already before mine

Had signs of ghost pedalling/slack chain when freewheeling with pedals stationary this weekend on my set. Only 200miles on them. Will call the shop tomorrow now I see this is a known issue

Seems like this is a bit of a theme then as i’ve only done 400 miles on mine.
Started with a bit of ghost pedalling/slack chain a few weeks back and then full on seize this weekend.
@Tehtehteh – did you send back just the hub and spacers or the whole wheel? Reason I ask is that i’ve got the hub and spacers here at work to send back but i’m wondering whether I just send the whole wheel back.

I live close enough to horsham that I could just drive down with the whole wheel (rotor, cassette and tyre still on it), they had it ready for me to pick up the next day

though I did have to adjust the brake pads and re-index the gears when I got it back, so I’m not sure if the axle went in exactly the same as before haha

I don’t mind a tiny bit of ghost pedalling – I can’t feel it when on the bike, but my problem is the first time it went from this amount to fully seized in the space of about 3 miles, so I’m riding close to home for now…

Cheers. I’ve spoken to them again this morning and apparently the guy at the weekend was wrong to ask for the freehub only and they need the whole wheel back.
Bit annoying as i’ve got to take the tyre and tube off and it’s going to cost me more to post. It’s 30 miles to Horsham so driving isn’t cost effective. I’d have bought locally if somewhere local stocked them but I guess it’s the hassle with internet buying. I’ll leave the rotor on as i’ve got a spare on my spare wheels.
I think that if I get it back and it does any ghost pedalling, i’ll be returning them for a full refund and getting something else as It seems like the wheel isn’t fit for purpose.

hello I was just wondering how you got on with your wheels? did the problem get any worse or better?