A customer brought in a Bullet Ultra rear wheel for service.
Not directly related to the main topic, but
there are 2 versions of the Bullet Ultra wheel model
that differ in whether the bearings are USB or CULT specification.
This one is CULT spec, and it says CULT on the rim too,
but the sticker is the same as on Bora wheels—
it's under a clear layer so it can't be peeled off.
In other words, even if you convert a USB-spec Bullet Ultra to CULT,
the rim will remain marked USB forever.
Separate from the Bullet Ultra,
the "Bullet" with ball bearing spec
doesn't use cup-and-cone bearings—
it uses cartridge bearings instead,
so CULT conversion or other replacements
with cup-and-cone bearings aren't possible.
Anyway, the freewheel body's ratchet noise
suddenly became very quiet.
When I felt it by hand, the ratchet was still working.
It wasn't freewheeling forward.
This freewheel body's pawl return spring
has an arc section that spans just over one full circle,
and when it breaks, it typically splits in half down the middle.
Even in that state, only the first pawl closest to where the spring begins
does faint work, so even with a broken spring,
it rarely starts freewheeling forward immediately.
If you keep using it stubbornly after that, the ratchet starts slipping occasionally.
And ignoring that and continuing to use it—
I only know of one case where this actually led to forward freewheeling.
Removed the freewheel body.
↑The pawls clearly aren't engaging properly.
The spring was broken.
For Fulcrum wheels, I typically use
5-R1-015 (5-pack Racing 1 part number 015),
and for Campagnolo wheels,
5-FH-RE114 (5-pack Freehub Record part number 114),
but these two are the same part.
Actually, the older RE114 had a smaller spring diameter
for the same freewheel body, making it clearly different.
↑This one
↑The difference from the current model
For freewheel bodies that used the old smaller-diameter FH-RE114,
all I can do now is fit the current larger-diameter version.
This is one example of Campagnolo's sneaky spec changes—
where "if the part number is the same, it's considered the same thing even if it looks different,"
the same approach they use with valve bushes and bearing ball races.
I wiped away the dirty grease from around the pawls and replaced the spring.
The pawl engagement is completely different from how it came in.
The ratchet sound got louder too,
but it was so loud that I added a bit extra grease to dampen it.
Not directly related to the main topic, but
there are 2 versions of the Bullet Ultra wheel model
that differ in whether the bearings are USB or CULT specification.
This one is CULT spec, and it says CULT on the rim too,
but the sticker is the same as on Bora wheels—
it's under a clear layer so it can't be peeled off.
In other words, even if you convert a USB-spec Bullet Ultra to CULT,
the rim will remain marked USB forever.
Separate from the Bullet Ultra,
the "Bullet" with ball bearing spec
doesn't use cup-and-cone bearings—
it uses cartridge bearings instead,
so CULT conversion or other replacements
with cup-and-cone bearings aren't possible.
Anyway, the freewheel body's ratchet noise
suddenly became very quiet.
When I felt it by hand, the ratchet was still working.
It wasn't freewheeling forward.
This freewheel body's pawl return spring
has an arc section that spans just over one full circle,
and when it breaks, it typically splits in half down the middle.
Even in that state, only the first pawl closest to where the spring begins
does faint work, so even with a broken spring,
it rarely starts freewheeling forward immediately.
If you keep using it stubbornly after that, the ratchet starts slipping occasionally.
And ignoring that and continuing to use it—
I only know of one case where this actually led to forward freewheeling.
Removed the freewheel body.
↑The pawls clearly aren't engaging properly.
The spring was broken.
For Fulcrum wheels, I typically use
5-R1-015 (5-pack Racing 1 part number 015),
and for Campagnolo wheels,
5-FH-RE114 (5-pack Freehub Record part number 114),
but these two are the same part.
Actually, the older RE114 had a smaller spring diameter
for the same freewheel body, making it clearly different.
↑This one
↑The difference from the current model
For freewheel bodies that used the old smaller-diameter FH-RE114,
all I can do now is fit the current larger-diameter version.
This is one example of Campagnolo's sneaky spec changes—
where "if the part number is the same, it's considered the same thing even if it looks different,"
the same approach they use with valve bushes and bearing ball races.
I wiped away the dirty grease from around the pawls and replaced the spring.
The pawl engagement is completely different from how it came in.
The ratchet sound got louder too,
but it was so loud that I added a bit extra grease to dampen it.