Can anybody offer any advice on solutions for a sticking freewheel? Presumably it has an accumulated level of winter gunk in there. I have freed it up with WD40 but presumably this is not going to last long term – is there any point in me trying to get it off to grease anything – or is it just time for a new one?

You may be able to get oil/grease in there depending on the type.

WD40

this is a troll surely?

what sort of hub/freewheel is it?

If you can't do it yourself then take it to LBS for a service.

its a shimano 9 speed freewheel on a shimano hub

the bike is a 2009 Giant Anthem by the way with around 800 miles on the clock

Its cattletrucked – get one that you can strip, clean and regrease. Like a hope one for example. Ive a hope one, but it still needs cleaning and regreasing now and again – its not mud proof, but its easy to do.

back to the OP

drenching the whole thing in wd40 won't help – it just flushes all the grease out of the freehub and the bearings.

if you're not confident of doign a diy hub service then take it to your lbs but be aware that a new freehub for a shimano hub is likely to be £20+.

people who do their own servicing often buy a complete hub as it gives them new ball bearings and axle and they can often sell the QR etc to offset the cost and end up paying less than the cost of just a freehub.

Presumably it has an accumulated level of winter gunk in there

Well yes there was plenty of room for it once you had flushed out all the oil and grease with WD40.

this is how to put the grease back in (clicky)

Does anywhere still do those tools, with which you could regrease shimano free-hubs?

Jay

click on the pic!

Excellent! I know Shimano used to do their own tool though, just wondering if they still did, and if any were still about.

Jay

Thanks for that bocw, I will have a go at the home service and then buy another one when I loose all the bits….

btw should have mentioned that the WD40 solution was to free it up after I discovered it siezed, so about 30 minutes before my post, rather than routine maintainance – the point of the post then being was there anything I could do to sort it properly or get a new one

old thread on same subject

shimano ones seem complicated compared to Hope though, just wack out the old sealed bearing and then wack in a new one