# Rear wheel not spinning freely.



## joepa150 (Jul 23, 2010)

My mountain bike is less than 2 weeks old and the rear wheel isn't spinning freely anymore. It spun freely for my first ride but hasn't since. My bike is a Felt Niner Trail which has mechanical Tektro I/O brakes. It probably doesn't slow me down to much but it is bothersome. I have free brake tuneups for life at the LBS but it is about 35 minutes away. I do plan on going there after about 30 days to get adjusted but I was hoping that I don't have to go there earlier.


Any ideas or suggestions?


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## manabiker (Jul 18, 2010)

It could be you just need to flip the skewer open and grab the brakes (and keep ahold of them) while you reflip (lock) the skewer, or you could have the skewer too tight. If thats not it, good luck..that don't sound like a LBS, unless the L stands for Longdistant !!!


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## joepa150 (Jul 23, 2010)

manabiker said:


> It could be you just need to flip the skewer open and grab the brakes (and keep ahold of them) while you reflip (lock) the skewer, or you could have the skewer too tight. If thats not it, good luck..that don't sound like a LBS, unless the L stands for Longdistant !!!


I live in the Atlanta area so 30 minutes away could literally mean 12 miles away.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Likely suspects are the brake, the main hub bearings, and the freewheel mechanism.

With the bike on a stand, spin the crank. Is there a noise from somewhere? If you stop the crank, does torque from the cassette cause it to start turning again? While the wheel's still spinning, sight along the brake rotor. You should see a little space on either side of it. You may need to hold a piece of paper on the other side to see what's going on in your brake caliper. I think a brake problem is the most likely. The way Tektro's mechanism is put together, there's a potential for the moving pad to hang up pretty easily when you let up on the brake, or for grit to get inside the mechanism in the caliper.

With the wheel off the bike, try turning the axle (not the quick release) with your fingers. You may feel some seal drag, but it should be smooth. There may be a little play. That's actually not a bad thing, as long as there's no play when the wheel is on the bike and the skewer is locked.

Isolate the problem and it's a lot easier to solve. If it's a brake problem, look it up on Tektro's site, or follow the instructions for adjusting the Avid BB5 - the adjustment for both brake systems is identical.

If it's a freehub body problem, make sure there's not some crap caught in between the cassette and the hub body. Sticks, dirt, leaf little, mud, the plastic spoke protector thing, etc. may all cause extra drag. If the area between the freehub body and the shell is clean and free of debris, you may need a new freehub body. Unfortunately, most of the components on a $600 bike are not that good, but at least it should be a warranty issue.

If it's a hub problem, you're probably best off just going to an LBS. Depending on the quality of the REI in your area, they may not count - you may need to go to one of the ones that wouldn't give you 10% off. Adjusting a hub is not rocket science, but you need a special tool, it's not the same for all hubs, and the adjustment procedure is not the same for all hubs.


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## rlouder (Jun 26, 2007)

For brake drag.....

If the brake drag is intermittent, the disc is warped. You can use an adjustable wrench to true it.

If it is constant, you need to adjust it. Only one of the pads move when the brakes are applied - the outer one. The inner pad is stationary but can be adjusted. There are two way to adjust the caliper.
1. Loosen the two screws where caliper mounts to the frame. Slip a piece of paper between the disc and stationary pad. Then hold the brake lever while tightening the bolts. You may have to do it a second time with a thicker spacer (paper) if it still rubs the stationary pad. 
2. With the mounting screws loose, adjust the stationary pad in a bit. (It's probably adjusted all the way out since it's new.) Hold the lever and tighten the mounting bolts. Now spin the wheel and back the stationary pad out until it doesn't rub.

http://www.tektro.com/04support/pdf/IO-English.pdf


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## joepa150 (Jul 23, 2010)

rlouder said:


> For brake drag.....
> 
> If the brake drag is intermittent, the disc is warped. You can use an adjustable wrench to true it.
> 
> ...


Ok I tried this and it still rubs. It looks to be the non stationary/outer pad rubbing.


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## frdfandc (Sep 5, 2007)

Make sure that the wheel is properly centered in the drop out first. That is one of the most overlooked items, even though it is the simplest.


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## joepa150 (Jul 23, 2010)

Well. I tried to back out the stationary pad and I also started unscrewing the hex type nut attached to the caliber. I unscrewed it so much that I couldn't screw it back down. I then loosened the nut holding the cable. This fixed the problem but now my brakes have too much slack and I can't tighten that hex nut because I unscrewed it too much.

I just gave up because I had my lbs readjust it. Everything works now.

Thanks for the advise. I plan on taking a class on bike maintenance, so hopefully that will help me so I don't have to always bring it to the lbs.


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