Here's how to service a Mavic freehub body

Way back in January of 2012, I wrote a little ditty I called Six Things to Remember when Servicing a Mavic Freehub Body. I wrote it, posted it and didn't think much about it. Until the other day when I was running numbers on this website and realized that a shit ton of people are looking for advice on how to service a Mavic freehub body. The poor bastards are showing up here and all I had to offer was advice on what not to do. Not exactly what they were looking for.


This list goes on for a couple of pages and there are three in the top ten.

I found this quite interesting and did my own search for instructions on how to service a Mavic freehub body. The original version of the above linked post was on the front page. I also found that there were no good resources on that front page. No wonder they're showing up here. None of the other sites were worth a shit. Some dude even went so far as to make a video, I wasn't impressed.

So if you showed up here looking for some advice on what to do about your squealing Mavic wheels or why your chain bounces off your chain stay any time you get some speed, this is everything you need to know to take care of the problem. If you happen to own a set of Mavic wheels, they do require maintenance. They're pretty bomb proof until the bushing gets worn out and then, well you don't want to know what happens then.

Read the rest here.

Not feeling too smooth, eh?

Nah, at this point I wouldn't service it. It's just time to say good bye.

Whats Italian for....

This C-clip thing is way stuck and I cant get it out..... well got it

 out after 30 minutes of yanking on it with a brake cable

Always leave the house with clean cables just in case you get hit by a car and your bike ends up in the shop

So your bike isn't shifting properly? OK. Come in, sit down, we can talk about this.

Now, now, tell Uncle Knuckler everything. Oh, so it skips around. It takes two clicks to get it to shift. Anything else? It's driving you crazy. Last question, when was the last time you changed your cables/housing? Six years ago? Holy shit, let's start there.

There are three parts to most shifting systems: (the exceptions are Di2 and that new Syncros stuff) the shifter, the cables/housing and the derailleurs. The shifter is where your input is applied. Want a harder gear? You hit the button releasing or pulling cable tension. The derailleur receives that input via cables/housing and moves the direction that you wanted it to. It's a simple system.

The weak link to the system is the cable/housing. Over time grit and shit will enter the housing degrading the inner sleeve causing friction. The outer sleeve of the housing will also wear exposing the inner radials adding flex to your system. Sure you can buy that fancy Gore stuff to extend the life of your cables but one thing is certain, your shifting performance will degrade over time, regardless of what you do. Yes, I said regardless of what you do, at some point your bike is not going to shift like it should. Big fucking deal, get over it and buy some new cables/housing. How often? Well, if you need me to give you an exact time frame, once or twice a year. If you think you can handle a little more freedom, change them when your shifting isn't working perfectly.

PSA #2. How to Fucking Clean your Bike

I've seen a lot of creaky bikes with rusted out cables and hubs that won't turn to save their lives. I also happen to live in the desert. There is not a lot of rain, humidity or salt floating around. This isn't Hawaii. Remember desert means there isn't a lot of water. From where do all these fucked bikes come? You've all seen the photos, the rusted out bb's, the housing with orange radials hanging out the sides and the dumbfounded look on the owner's face when you tell them they need some new stuff. Well, in my case, of living in the desert, it comes from the method used to clean the bike.

Over the years, we have noticed a significant trend for bikes that are shiny clean but are rusted out. Bikes that should be dirty, we know they are being ridden regularly, but when they come in for service not a spec of dirt can be found. Of course, Lake Bottom Bracket is there. If you push down on the suspension you can hear the bearings grinding against each other causing that awful creak we all want to avoid. Shifting is always sub-par and often creates a similar sound as the suspension linkage.

Oh, we know exactly what happened. You fucked your bike. You took it to the car wash and paid to destroy the thing. Sure it looks clean but let me show you what is inside.

What's to be done? Well, let me teach you how to clean your bike...

Six Things to Remember when Servicing Mavic Freehub Bodies

When servicing Mavic freehub bodies (old bushing style) there are a few things that you should remember.

1. The little adjuster knob on the non-drive side of the hub is not meant to hold the hub together. The axle and the fixing bolt for the freehub body should bottom out on each other and be tight. Once this has been accomplished you can adjust out the play with the adjuster nut/knob, whatever.

2. When disassembling said freehub body, there is a good chance that at least one pawl will fall out accompanied by the washer. Oh, yes there is a washer. It goes between the external shell and the hub body, it's kind of important. Pay attention to what came out and where it went.

3. The rubber seal is the only thing that keeps dirt out. Don't cut the thing in half. It is not causing the drag your customer is complaining about. Keep the seal.

4. The drag and possible loud squeal at high speeds your customer is talking about is caused by the lack of lube on the bushing. This is why you pulled the thing apart to begin with. This lube is important. Do not use grease. Especially the green Park kind. It's too heavy for this application and will not solve the problem. Use the Mavic lube or the newer Dumonde Tech Freehub Body lube. Both are designed for this application and work great.

5. After you have cleaned all the insides, inspect the parts. If there was a lot of play to begin with you may have worn bushing. It should be yellow. Is it black? How about them pawls? Are some of the corners missing? Replace broken, lost or worn parts, there aint no reason to be puttin' broken shit back together.

6. When the customer returns and you show them that the wheel spins freely and barely makes a noise. They will be ecstatic and tell you how much of a genius you are. At this point you need to remind them that the whole problem was caused by a lack of maintenance and that they should come see you again in about 700-1000 miles to have the freehub serviced. Or sooner if the damn things starts making noise or had lots of wear on the fixed side of the bushing (the part that can't be replaced).

Orange is a good color.

OK. OK. Here's a tip. Even if you own a sealed cartridge BB take it out every once in a while and apply some fresh grease to the threads and clean the puddle out of the shell. Just a thought. You might also want to avoid that power washer you have been using to clean your bike.

Fuck the Cool Factor!

I'm gonna go ahead and say what none of you want to hear.

You know all those blingy parts you recently purchased, all those fancy colored due dads that were supposed to be so much better than last year's model, all those Chris Bling and American Crassic lightweight parts. Those are all shit. You might as well throw them away. You might as well recycle them.

Yes. I get it. There is a cool factor involved in every purchase. Having the latest and the so called greatest is a way of life and if it motivates you to ride, I'm cool with that. I'm just sick of all the bull shit marketing that goes into those fancy parts that everyone is drooling over. Fuck the cool factor!

This is how it all breaks down. The safety bicycle came out a couple of hundred years ago, or so, and not much has changed since. You have two hubs, a bottom bracket bearing, a crank, a chain, some cogs, a steering bearing, a frame and a few other miserable parts that aren't worth mentioning. If you came across one of the original safety bicycles, or a penny farthing for that matter, you would notice that all this hyped up bull shit is almost identical to what came out a hundred years ago. All of our fancy manufacturing practices have done what? Provided you with a better selection of colors.

Fuck you! This is how to lube a chain.

Editor's Note: As many of you have noted, I see a lot of crazy shit throughout the natural occurrence of my day. I would assume that a doctor, if allowed, could create a similar blog entailing some pretty nasty human shit. It just goes with the territory that if you are supposed to "fix" something you will see a lot of broken stuff. As proprietor of this blog, I am going to be somewhat self-indulgent and post certain "articles" detailing some of the most common or biggest mistakes that I see and how to avoid them. I am not a scientist and will not provide empirical data to back up my advice. All I can offer is the constant observation of a mechanic over the past 16 years aided only by those who I would consider mentors that have tried to pass on their years of observation to me.

Choosing to jump into the abyss is my style and as such will start with the polarizing topic of chain maintenance.

Look I made a lefty!

I don't know, I think I can get a few more rides out of 'em.

Tis not the season for headset bearings

Destroyed

This bike had some "drag" in the headset. I pulled the top cap and I knew immediately what the problem was. The top bearing was fixable but the bottom was completely gone. Unfortunately this is an old USPS Trek with a 1 1/4" bottom bearing size with no taper on the bearing. The Trek dealer in town said he could possibly get one for me but he would have to call and find out. For now, it still has drag.

its not shifting well

chain tool wouldn't even register

But Mine goes to 11/11/11.

Hmm. That is not where that goes. Oh, you say you have play in your bb? I wonder why? You should probably stop sticking things where they don't belong. You can end up in the hospital that way...

Yup. I get about half my travel. At least that way the top section of the stanchions aren't completely worn out as well. So when things are all said and done, I can flip 'em over and get another few thousand out of 'em.

When it starts to rattle, stop and see what is going on, don't just keep riding it until the shock gets stuck down.

So the story behind the photos. A stumpy was dropped off yesterday with some shock issues and seeing that the thing hadn't ever been service and it was about 5 years old, I figured it would be best to send it in. Well, then we tried to remove the shock and the details became blaringly evident. Broken shock bolt, blown bearings, blown link, and yup the lower eyelet was toast, not just the bushing the entire eyelet. Fun!