Freehub issue

[stiv674]

My Raceface freehub was playing up badly on Saturday so I took it apart today hoping that a quick clean was all that was required, it was full of gunk and unfortunately two of the (ridiculously tiny) pawl springs were broke so it is now beyond repair. The Raceface replacement is £109, does anyone know if there's a cheaper solution?

Bike is a year old and covered 1000 miles.

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 7464]

Can you not contact raceface and see if the springs are available to buy? I would be surprised if they aint

 

[stiv674]

Can you not contact raceface and see if the springs are available to buy? I would be surprised if they aint

Yeah I will do that but after reading some posts on another forum they don't seem to do spares, the springs are about 2mm in diameter! It doesn't look like a very robust system...

 

[Dan63]

You could always find a generic replacement - possibly at a spring specialist or a bearing/seal shop?

 

[Tim22]

You could always find a generic replacement - possibly at a spring specialist or a bearing/seal shop?

Ballpoint pen springs?

 

[Mick]

Had exactly the same problem, emailed race face, they don't stock replacement springs and no bike shop in the UK stocks springs that small.
You want 2.4mm stainless steel springs from ebay, you need to cut them to length, they do sell them as small as 5mm in length but i think even they are to long, I just got one about 3cm and cut bits of, its a bit of trial and error till you get the right length, you neen very little sticking above the hole they sit in or the pawls wont push back far enough to refit the free hub.

 

[stiv674]

Had exactly the same problem, emailed race face, they don't stock replacement springs and no bike shop in the UK stocks springs that small.
You want 2.4mm stainless steel springs from ebay, you need to cut them to length, they do sell them as small as 5mm in length but i think even they are to long, I just got one about 3cm and cut bits of, its a bit of trial and error till you get the right length, you neen very little sticking above the hole they sit in or the pawls wont push back far enough to refit the free hub.

Thanks for that info, worth a try before coughing up for a new one

 

[Gary]

Bike is a year old and covered 1000 miles.

<365 days or > 365 days?
Warranty the hub/wheel at point of sale

 

[stiv674]

<365 days or > 365 days?
Warranty the hub/wheel at point of sale

Just over a year, emailed jejames today and it's not covered, they weren't much help to be honest.

 

[Mikerb]

Are you sure the freehub is Raceface specific? Seems to me Raceface hubs offer option for freehub types so it could be Shimano, SRAM, DT Swiss. Maybe search for spares for them and see if they match yours.

 

[stiv674]

Are you sure the freehub is Raceface specific? Seems to me Raceface hubs offer option for freehub types so it could be Shimano, SRAM, DT Swiss. Maybe search for spares for them and see if they match yours.

This is the same as what I've currently got...

 

[Mick]

Are you sure the freehub is Raceface specific? Seems to me Raceface hubs offer option for freehub types so it could be Shimano, SRAM, DT Swiss. Maybe search for spares for them and see if they match yours.

From what I rember the hub/frehub are made by novatech and only that freehub will fit.
My wheels were raceface aeffect and were the worst wheels ive had, the only freehub I could find was in America and would have cost £109.
Soon after repairing the freehub the axl snapped, that took 3 weeks to get a replacement, a friend with the same wheels had his rear axl snap also, needless to say those wheels are not on my bike anymore.

 

[Mick]

This is the same as what I've currently got...

Same as mine.

 

[stiv674]

From what I rember the hub/frehub are made by novatech and only that freehub will fit.
My wheels were raceface aeffect and were the worst wheels ive had, the only freehub I could find was in America and would have cost £109.
Soon after repairing the freehub the axl snapped, that took 3 weeks to get a replacement, a friend with the same wheels had his rear axl snap also, needless to say those wheels are not on my bike anymore.

Same wheels on mine, expensive to replace them though, I'm hoping changing the springs will work.

 

[Mikerb]

The springs are unlikely to be made specifically/uniquely for that hub so take a look here for something that looks the same
pawl springs | eBay

 

[Mick]

Replaced the wheels with Mavic E XA35 £260 the pair from bike discount de and cant fault them virtualy identical weight as the race face with a ratchet freehub, £260 for a pair of wheels with a ratchet freehub or £109 for another shit freehub!, no contest.

 

[Mick]

The springs are unlikely to be made specifically/uniquely for that hub so take a look here for something that looks the same
pawl springs | eBay

Hope pawl springs are way to big, I tried them.

 

[stiv674]

Had exactly the same problem, emailed race face, they don't stock replacement springs and no bike shop in the UK stocks springs that small.
You want 2.4mm stainless steel springs from ebay, you need to cut them to length, they do sell them as small as 5mm in length but i think even they are to long, I just got one about 3cm and cut bits of, its a bit of trial and error till you get the right length, you neen very little sticking above the hole they sit in or the pawls wont push back far enough to refit the free hub.

Well thanks to your advice I think I've fixed it, for a while at least ? for the grand sum of £3.96

I may start saving for some new wheels though...

 

[Mick]

Well thanks to your advice I think I've fixed it, for a while at least ? for the grand sum of £3.96

I may start saving for some new wheels though...

Glad you're sorted, cant say how long they'll last mine was still working when the axl snaped 6 weeks later, but its a cheep fix if you need to do it again, and yeah good idea start saving.