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Can anyone tell me what's going on with bike when, mostly on way home after work, my pedals and chain stop working and spin round til I push on the rear derailleur and it catches again?

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Excellent, I'll ask tomorrow at the bike shop just exactly how to lube freewheel. After today I am alot more interested in how it all works! Plus my brake cable fell off.

The cassette or freewheel could also be getting stuck due to rust/dirt/salt. Lubing will help that also, but usually, at least in my experience, once that starts happening it will need to be replaced fairly soon. 

Kevin C said:

It sounds like your brake cable got water/ice in it too. after pulling it, it did not spring back, and the cable fell slack. Having the whole bike lubed/ winterized is a good idea. Sometimes the problem is bringing a wet/icy bike indoors where the water works its way into the cables and mechanisms, then freezes in place when you take the bike back out for the evening commute. It may help to leave the bike outside during the day when you can't add lube. (and lube at night in the comfort of your home).



Leslie said:

Excellent, I'll ask tomorrow at the bike shop just exactly how to lube freewheel. After today I am alot more interested in how it all works! Plus my brake cable fell off.

Alright, the brake is back on and working. Yeah  Seems like it is the melt then cold that causes most problems. I just got biked tuned last week. I mentioned winter commuting but not sure if there was special stuff to winterize! However there must be key points to dry snow and slush off after riding to maybe prevent the melt going into cables ect. As you wrote it might need to be replaced. There's a bus if this proves to be too much!!

If you get fenders for your wheels, that'll go a long way to keeping moisture and slush out of your cables and off your clothes and gears.  Barring that, you can get sealed cables but those are pretty expensive and may not work for your bike.

Leslie said:

Alright, the brake is back on and working. Yeah  Seems like it is the melt then cold that causes most problems. I just got biked tuned last week. I mentioned winter commuting but not sure if there was special stuff to winterize! However there must be key points to dry snow and slush off after riding to maybe prevent the melt going into cables ect. As you wrote it might need to be replaced. There's a bus if this proves to be too much!!

Bike shop said that fenders won't help keep moisture and slush off cables but if it's splashing to hit clothes that means it's also splashing up and then falling onto cables and gears. All the same I'm taking the bus unless I know more about cleaning a bike and also have two bikes...commuter and other! Thanks for all

Find a new bike shop that is some of the worst advice I have ever hears regarding fenders.  While it is true they cannot keep water and slush 100% out of the cables they are a huge helps. 

If that is the kind of advice they give I am very doubtful they did a good tune up to prepare you for winter and, obviously, did not prepare YOU for winter either.  Winter riding requires a lot of cleaning and lubing of your bike and a good shop should be helping you to learn to do that yourself because having to stop in to a shop every 2 or 3 days gets to be a bit of a pain.

Leslie said:

Bike shop said that fenders won't help keep moisture and slush off cables but if it's splashing to hit clothes that means it's also splashing up and then falling onto cables and gears. All the same I'm taking the bus unless I know more about cleaning a bike and also have two bikes...commuter and other! Thanks for all

Same problem here. Kevin described the problem perfectly.... I now carry a can of Tri-flow in my winter jacket along with a bottle of graphite and a small lock de-icer spray.... pockets rock....

kevin womac said:

It sounds like your brake cable got water/ice in it too. after pulling it, it did not spring back, and the cable fell slack. Having the whole bike lubed/ winterized is a good idea. Sometimes the problem is bringing a wet/icy bike indoors where the water works its way into the cables and mechanisms, then freezes in place when you take the bike back out for the evening commute. It may help to leave the bike outside during the day when you can't add lube. (and lube at night in the comfort of your home).



Leslie said:

Excellent, I'll ask tomorrow at the bike shop just exactly how to lube freewheel. After today I am alot more interested in how it all works! Plus my brake cable fell off.

I hate to say this, the bike shop you went to is either incompetent or looking for easy money.
As many others have said fenders are your best friend in this weather.
And doing a follow up lube is almost mandatory, depending on what you ride through.
I would try another bike shop first.
I'd almost bet you get a better response from them.

It really is too bad that Morningstar is no longer around making the Freehub Buddy.   It's the perfect tool to flush/lube freehubs on modern cassette wheels so this doesn't happen.  

One could almost say it is The Bomb. 


It would be nice if Park, Pedro's, Ice Tools, Avenir, or one of the other US-market tool suppliers would get the license to manufacture and import these into the US again. 

That is not only in pretty poor taste but completely not helpful...

James BlackHeron said:

It really is too bad that Morningstar is no longer around making the Freehub Buddy.   It's the perfect tool to flush/lube freehubs on modern cassette wheels so this doesn't happen.  

One could almost say it is The Bomb. 


It would be nice if Park, Pedro's, Ice Tools, Avenir, or one of the other US-market tool suppliers would get the license to manufacture and import these into the US again. 

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