Clicking sound

[hnt]

Hi I am a newbie in the bicycle world, I bought a hybrid to commute to work 4 miles each way. I know nothing about bike, so I have a dumb question. My bike has a clicking sound coming from the back wheel, I looked up every where in the internet to find out whether this is normal or not and what should i do to fix it. The clicking sound is there when i pedal it, when i walk it forward (but the sound disappears when i walk the bike back ward). I lift the wheel up and turn the wheel by hand, i can hear the clicking sound, I manually turn the freewheel (cassette?) the noise continues there so it must come from the freewheel. Is it a serious problem? I read that the problem may be solved by oiling it? I don't have a van to take it back to the store where I bought it (it is 40 miles away) I guess I can wait until I can borrow a van to bring it back to the store, but in the mean time, I would like to ride it to work, should I continue to ride it? Is it a serious problem?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[JonB]

Hi man,

That's perfectly normal, it's just the pawls and ratchet engaging. It's only when this noise stops or becomes intermittent that there's a problem (meaning your hub will be gummed up). Not all hubs make the same noise, it entirely depends on design.

[hnt]

Many thanks, it's good to know!