Crank doesn't turn wheel

[danielg]

I have a Trek 700 bike that was taken out of storage after 2 years. The bike worked fine before. The first time I tried to ride the bike a couple of days ago, the crank wouldn't engage the wheel, that is, when I tried to pedal nothing happened. The crankset would rotate freely, the chain is unobstructed, but nothing else happened. It was exactly like when you pedal backward. The bike has a Shimano Hyperdrive C. This must be something simple because the bike was in storage. Any clues on what to try?

Thanks!

[Alex Ramon]

I'm guessing your freehub is having troubles, try the solutions in <a href="http://forums.bikeride.com/thread-969-post-4347.html#pid4347">this post</a> and see if that helps.

Related videos:
<a href="http://bikeride.com/replace-cassette-cluster/">http://bikeride.com/replace-cassette-cluster/</a>
<a href="http://bikeride.com/overhaul-wheel-bearings/">http://bikeride.com/overhaul-wheel-bearings/</a>
<a href="http://bikeride.com/freehub-body/">http://bikeride.com/freehub-body/</a>

[burtonridr]

+1 probably a freehub problem, I have been plagued with those lately

[cyclerUK]

You could try warming the cassette/freehub. - and I mean warm not hot. Use a hair dryer on low.
The idea being to try and melt the grease that may be causing the pawls to stick.
If there is water in there and rusted then that means a new "freehub"
You could try getting some WD40 in with nothing to lose if it doesn't free off.
If you do use WD40 then you should re-grease the hub bearing afterwards as this is inside the freehub.