Tight Ksyrium SL freehub, solutions?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by madbiologist
I have a pair of Mavic Ksyrium sl, only around 250 miles on the set. When I put my bike on the stand and rotate the crank backwards, the rear wheel also rotates backwards. I have two other wheel sets, one uses campy hub and the other White Industries, and they don't have this problem. How do I correct this problem with the Ksyrium freehub, so they don't act like brakes when I coast? Do other people have the same problem?

Thanks,

madbiologist

When I first got mine the pawls clicking in the freehub were noticabley loud like there was no grease in the thing at all. I worked some grease in between where the freehub and hub meet (where the spinning thing your cassette goes on meets the hub). After I worked some grease in and got it rotating it got very quiet and all is well.

I would take the cassette off and try this. If it doesn't work I'd send it back or go to the LBS where you bought it and get them to fix/replace it.

Good luck,
David

I also have this problem with the freehub on my 2004 ksyrium sl rear wheel. I've only ridden about 50 miles on it so far, so I'm hoping it will "break in" after a few hundred miles.

I've also read another review (can't remember where) where someone else reported the same problem.

does anyone know if loosening up the hub bearings with the bearing tool would help, or does that not affect the freehub tightness?

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by chewie_toy
I also have this problem with the freehub on my 2004 ksyrium sl rear wheel. I've only ridden about 50 miles on it so far, so I'm hoping it will "break in" after a few hundred miles.

I've also read another review (can't remember where) where someone else reported the same problem.

does anyone know if loosening up the hub bearings with the bearing tool would help, or does that not affect the freehub tightness?

Are we talking about actual tightness in the freehub or could it be that the tolerance for the cogset seems too tight? I have two sets of 2003 and one set of 2004 Ksyrium SLs. The freehubs are fine but once you put a cogset on, (Dura-Ace 9-speed in my case), the tension, though to spec, causes what might appear to be tightness in the freehub. Lift the rear wheel and spin the wheel forward and the pedals turn.

I installed the cogset on my first set of Ksyrium wheels and was baffled by this. I even polised the metal spacer with 1500 grit emery cloth but that didn't fix the problem. Shortly thereafter I received my other bike from the shop after being rebuilt with a new set of Ksyrium SLs by an experience mechanic. The second bike displayed exactly the same behavior. Now that I have a few hundred miles on one bike and about 2,000 on the other, there is still just the slightest hint of tightness but most of it has worked itself out. I assume this to be characteristic of Ksyrium SL wheels and not a problem. The spoke-protector can also cause problems. I did what most people do and left it off.

🙂

I think its the actual freehub. Just like the original poster, when I lift the rear wheel off the ground and spin the wheel backwards, the crank starts to turn as well. Even if I take the cassette off and spin the freehub with my hand it's really stiff. I'm not using the spoke protector, only the little metal spacer behind the cassette because i'm using 9 speed (an ultegra cassette). I've never experienced this stiff of a freehub before in any wheelset...kinda baffled as to how to fix it...

" when I lift the rear wheel off the ground and spin the wheel backwards "

whoops- meant spin it forwards...

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by chewie_toy
I think its the actual freehub. Just like the original poster, when I lift the rear wheel off the ground and spin the wheel backwards, the crank starts to turn as well. Even if I take the cassette off and spin the freehub with my hand it's really stiff. I'm not using the spoke protector, only the little metal spacer behind the cassette because i'm using 9 speed (an ultegra cassette). I've never experienced this stiff of a freehub before in any wheelset...kinda baffled as to how to fix it...

When you hold the freehub and spin the wheel how loud are the clicks from the pawls in the body? Like I said mine were very noisy at first. Once I worked some grease in they got quiet and the wheel spins very freely.

David