DT Swiss rear wheel issue

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 MarkAstley 25 Mar 2020

Hi collective knowledge,

My brother has a disc braked bike with DT swiss wheels around a year old.

When getting the bike out for the last ride discovered that the pedals were really stiff to turn.

The issue is that the rear cassette/freehub was gripping onto the thru axle if we tried to turn in the pedalling direction but it was fine if the axle was held and the rim pushed to freewheel. Was stiff with wheel installed in the frame or when removed.

Any suggestions as to the cause?

Cheers

Mark

gezebo 25 Mar 2020
In reply to MarkAstley:

They are pretty easy to strip down. I'd do that and see if you can find a sticky bearing or pawls. I'd try explaining but if you have a look on youtube you'll almost certainly find your wheel and an explanation there.

In reply to MarkAstley:

Rubbing brake, seized rear brake caliper, seems obvious but you never know.

OP MarkAstley 25 Mar 2020
In reply to Andy Clarke1965 / gezebo:

Turns out it's the bearing in the hub, knew it wasn't the brakes as the sympton was present with the wheel out and holding the axle in hands.

Thanks for the advice,

Mark

 a crap climber 25 Mar 2020
In reply to MarkAstley:

It's a long time since I've touched a dt swiss hub, so take this with a pinch of salt... 

Had a quick look at the service manual here https://www.dtswiss.com/en/support/manuals/

Looks like there are two bearings in the hub shell, as listed in the parts table, and at least one more in the freehub body. This is a fairly common arrangement across lots of hub designs.

If the wheel can freewheel freely (sorry) then chances are the hub shell bearings are more or less ok, and there's an issue with the freehub. If you have the tools I'd start by removing the cassette and checking nothing has gotten wrapped round the freehub/axle. If it's still stiff, follow the dismantling instructions till you get to picture 4 in section 2.3, i.e. you've removed the freehub body and part of the ratchet mechanism. If you look in the freehub body, there should be a cartridge bearing (the red bit in the picture). If you poke your finger into the middle you should be able to spin it freely, if not the bearing has seized.

There's no instructions for stripping down the freehub further, so chances are dt swiss want you to buy a new freehub body. You could see if you can punch the bearing out to replace it (more than likely a part you can get from a decent bearing supplier), though there may well not be sufficient access to get a drift onto the back of the bearing.

If you have a lot of time to spare at the moment, you could try prying out the seal and cleaning and re-greasing it. They never last long after this if they've already gotten to the point where it's seized but you might get a bit more use from it.

Edit: seems you've figured it out, sorry typed too slow

Post edited at 15:05

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...