I have a 2008 Globe Carmel that I bought last summer. This weekend I decided that it needed a good cleaning, so I cleaned the freewheel, chain, everything I could without really taking anything apart.
Now that this is done it sounds like the freewheel(it’s a threaded one if that matters) is louder when I am not peddling(compared to before).
Is it possible that I washed dirt into it? Or is it just my imagination?
Is there any way that you could accidentally cause the clicking noise to get louder?
Thanks!
Did you use a hose? If so, how enthusiastically did you blast the bike?
It's possible that you got grit or something in it, but your cleaning could have removed the lube that the freewheel needs to run smoothly. In my opinion, the best next step is to remove the freewheel (or cassette, if you have a freehub) and lightly lubricate the moving bits, as well as checking the wheel hub bearings and chain.
If you used a hose, you may have washed the grease/oil out of the freewheel mechanism, so it's now running fairly dry.
When I wash my bike, I generally use a brush with plain water, without any soap or detergent, so as to avoid dissolving any oil or grease from the places it's supposed to be.
If I do use a hose to rinse the bike after I've washed it with a brush, I avoid spraying it near the bearings in the hubs, bottom bracket and headset.
In any case, lay the bike on its side and drip some fairly thick oil in the freewheel.
If you really went to town with the hose and used a fairly high pressure jet, you might want to strip and re-grease all the bearings.
Taking it off won't really do much unless you're going to force grease in to it using a "freewheel buddy" or similar tool. You can drip some heavier weight oil into it at the border between the part that stays still with the wheel and the part that rotates freely. That will get some lubrication in it (though it won't really clean out any grit you got inside.)
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