A customer dropped off the rear wheel of a WH-6800 for repair.
They'd replaced the bearing balls themselves, but something went wrong,
so they asked me to fix it.
When I pinched the hub axle by hand and rotated it backward,
the freewheel body rotated in sync with it, with strong resistance.
And it wouldn't rotate forward at all because of the excessive resistance.
The right end of the freewheel body was sticking out too much,
so I figured out the main cause pretty quickly.
Though it turned out there wasn't just one problem.
I carefully pulled out the hub axle.
The bearing balls weren't lined up neatly in the cone.
With them arranged like this, the right cone cup won't seat properly (the end sticks out), but
I can screw the left cone cup onto the axle,
so even though it won't rotate, it does assemble into the proper configuration.
The tightening causes the hub axle and freewheel body to bind together
into a single unit, so
that unit can rotate backward relative to the hub shell (wheel)
(the freewheel engages and spins freely), but
it won't rotate forward.
I lined them up neatly.
The correct state is when one more ball almost fits but doesn't quite.
The non-freewheel side uses a retainer bearing (cage-type bearing),
so the number of balls can't be wrong between the two sides.
When I carefully inserted the hub axle without disturbing this arrangement,
the right end fit down to its proper position.
Before installing the left cone cup, it's a good idea to hand-rotate the hub axle
and check that it spins smoothly.
So I reassembled it, and
while the hub axle did start rotating by hand, there was abnormal resistance.
Is there something else wrong?
Looking back at earlier photos, I could see that
the freewheel body's dust seal was
installed backwards.
I removed it and...
Reinstalled it the correct way.
The side with six metal "II" marks is the outer side.
After reassembling again,
while the rotation became acceptable, it felt rough.
Is there still something wrong?
The left cone cup had pitting damage.
I contacted the customer to let them know that this part
is only sold as part of the complete left cone unit
and that the listed price including tax is ¥1,543.
They said it was okay to replace it, so
I ordered one.
So the wheel finally took shape, but
it has a pronounced lateral runout over a long phase.
The runout is so large that a temporary center point doesn't mean much.
In this phase of the image, the rim is shifted toward the freewheel side,
and there probably isn't a phase where it's shifted toward the non-freewheel side,
but if I look around, I should be able to find a spot that's nearly centered.
I found the cause of the runout.
It's a reverse Italian wheel build with no final cross pattern,
so the spokes on the anti-valve side face outward,
and three of them in a row are bent.
Given the rotation direction, it looks like rear derailleur cable wrap damage.
I have replacement spokes, but I'll reuse the nipple, nipple washer,
and the screw-in spoke head on the hub side.
In the photo above, I wanted to pull the nipple out toward the right (hub side),
but the bend was too severe, so I cut the spoke head on the rim side
and removed it.
↑Replaced spokes
Finally fixed.
They'd replaced the bearing balls themselves, but something went wrong,
so they asked me to fix it.
When I pinched the hub axle by hand and rotated it backward,
the freewheel body rotated in sync with it, with strong resistance.
And it wouldn't rotate forward at all because of the excessive resistance.
The right end of the freewheel body was sticking out too much,
so I figured out the main cause pretty quickly.
Though it turned out there wasn't just one problem.
I carefully pulled out the hub axle.
The bearing balls weren't lined up neatly in the cone.
With them arranged like this, the right cone cup won't seat properly (the end sticks out), but
I can screw the left cone cup onto the axle,
so even though it won't rotate, it does assemble into the proper configuration.
The tightening causes the hub axle and freewheel body to bind together
into a single unit, so
that unit can rotate backward relative to the hub shell (wheel)
(the freewheel engages and spins freely), but
it won't rotate forward.
I lined them up neatly.
The correct state is when one more ball almost fits but doesn't quite.
The non-freewheel side uses a retainer bearing (cage-type bearing),
so the number of balls can't be wrong between the two sides.
When I carefully inserted the hub axle without disturbing this arrangement,
the right end fit down to its proper position.
Before installing the left cone cup, it's a good idea to hand-rotate the hub axle
and check that it spins smoothly.
So I reassembled it, and
while the hub axle did start rotating by hand, there was abnormal resistance.
Is there something else wrong?
Looking back at earlier photos, I could see that
the freewheel body's dust seal was
installed backwards.
I removed it and...
Reinstalled it the correct way.
The side with six metal "II" marks is the outer side.
After reassembling again,
while the rotation became acceptable, it felt rough.
Is there still something wrong?
The left cone cup had pitting damage.
I contacted the customer to let them know that this part
is only sold as part of the complete left cone unit
and that the listed price including tax is ¥1,543.
They said it was okay to replace it, so
I ordered one.
So the wheel finally took shape, but
it has a pronounced lateral runout over a long phase.
The runout is so large that a temporary center point doesn't mean much.
In this phase of the image, the rim is shifted toward the freewheel side,
and there probably isn't a phase where it's shifted toward the non-freewheel side,
but if I look around, I should be able to find a spot that's nearly centered.
I found the cause of the runout.
It's a reverse Italian wheel build with no final cross pattern,
so the spokes on the anti-valve side face outward,
and three of them in a row are bent.
Given the rotation direction, it looks like rear derailleur cable wrap damage.
I have replacement spokes, but I'll reuse the nipple, nipple washer,
and the screw-in spoke head on the hub side.
In the photo above, I wanted to pull the nipple out toward the right (hub side),
but the bend was too severe, so I cut the spoke head on the rim side
and removed it.
↑Replaced spokes
Finally fixed.