Rear Tire Drag?

[STEVEYOUNG25]

Hi guys,

Very new to biking.

I have an older work horse road bike and a new to me mountain bike - CCM Nitro XT.

The rear tire on the CCM doesnt seem to be spinning very well. Doesnt coast well, esp. down hill.

I turned both bikes over and spun the back tires with about the same amount of force and the road bike spun for over a minute and the CCM spun for 7 seconds and came to a complete stop.

Any ideas where I should start? Is it possible something is just too tight?

Thanks,

Steve

[cny-man]

First of course make sure the brake pads aren't rubbing. Then take the wheel off and rotate the axle by hand. That's a much better way to judge the condition of the bearings. If tight then Google "adjust rear hub." Sheldonbrown and parktool.com/blog results are the best ones to check. There are videos here, but I find videos can be incomplete. You will need a cone wrench to adjust the hub, and if it's still rough you will need to overhaul it - Google again. The mountain bike will never coast as well as the road bike due to the knobbier tires.

If there's a bike co-op nearby that's a better solution - in-person help is best, as there may be more things that need attention.

[STEVEYOUNG25]

took the tire off, axel spins, but doesn't feel smooth. some play in the axel in and out, and side to side.
got a cone wrench, took the axel out. took some bearings out, there are some inside I cant get out. didn't seem like there were that many ball bearings in it - maybe 10 or so on one side, looks like same on other. on the cassette side it feels/looks like there is some kind of ring holding them in?

the ones that came out so far don't seem damaged or anything, but there wasn't much grease in there either.

do I need to take cassette off to get remainder of bearings out?
also the bike is a ccm nitro xt 26 - I cant find if this is supposed to be a free wheel cassette, but it only spins one way right now, makes a ticking sound when it spins.

thanks.

s

(09-17-2014, 06:55 AM)cny-man Wrote:  First of course make sure the brake pads aren't rubbing. Then take the wheel off and rotate the axle by hand. That's a much better way to judge the condition of the bearings. If tight then Google "adjust rear hub." Sheldonbrown and parktool.com/blog results are the best ones to check. There are videos here, but I find videos can be incomplete. You will need a cone wrench to adjust the hub, and if it's still rough you will need to overhaul it - Google again. The mountain bike will never coast as well as the road bike due to the knobbier tires.

If there's a bike co-op nearby that's a better solution - in-person help is best, as there may be more things that need attention.

[cny-man]

You asked for advice but it's not clear you followed it carefully. Otherwise you would be able to tell if you have a freewheel or cassette, the number of bearings required, and even how to spell axle!

There's no sense in me writing everything out - Google "overhaul rear hub" and then follow the procedures fully rather than just winging it. Again, sheldonbrown and parktool are best. Pay attention to references and links to other procedure (such as freewheel removal). Don't reuse the bearings.

[1FJEF]

STEVEYOUNG25 you need to take the gears off. One style is called a freewheel, the other is called a cassette, it is a little confusing as a cassette fits onto a freehub.
A cassette looks like this

Look almost to the bottom of this Sheldon Brown page. New ball bearings are trivial $$. The tools you need to take the gears off, once you know what you have, are pretty reasonable too, especially if you have a freewheel.
Figure that part out then ask more questions. Pictures wouldn't hurt either.

[eastman]

1st check the parking brake. Are you in cold weather? If so then it may be a frozen drum. Otherwise you will need your brakes and/or wheel bearings checked out. Good luck!