Miche RG2 bearing replacement?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

My Moulton has Miche RG2 hubs.

Replacing the hub bearings is easy. 5mm Allen key in both ends of the axle, undo the LH end (rear hub is LH thread, front is RH), push the axle out and knock out the 6001-2RS C3 bearings. In best Haynes tradition, assembly is the opposite of disassembly.

The freehub itself has rumbly bearings. There are no obvious ways on the web of getting the freehub off the axle and knocking the bearings out. My guess is that the freehub should slide off the axle if I got a bit persuasive about it. Any suggestions?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The freehub tapped off from the axle without drama.

It looks like the freehub uses a pair of 6901-2RS bearings with a spacer between. My guess is that I'll need to tap both bearings out simultaneously from the hub side. Hopefully neither of the bearings will come apart during the process.

Reassembly seems to involve pressing in the inner bearing, adding the spacer, then pressing in the outer bearing while keeping everything aligned.

Then slide the freehub over the axle, add the axle spacer and slide the assembly into the hub. With luck, everything will roll perfectly forever more.

[Brucey]

the normal way of these things is that the inboard bearing is retained by a circlip and the outboard one isn't.   You can usually nudge the spacer to one side and drift out the outboard bearing, then access the circlip, then remove the inboard bearing.

I find that if you remove the facing seals from the new freewheel body bearings, and use plenty of semi- fluid grease in the space between the bearings, the assembly will stay good for longer.

The same applies to the hub bearings themselves, too.

cheers

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The spacer seems a pretty tight fit between the bearings. I couldn't move it laterally with modest effort.

[Brucey]

its always possible that the setup isn't like other hubs in some way, but I have encountered the obstinate spacer issue before now.  IIRC because there is usually a little lateral free play (in the bearings and/or in the location of the inboard bearing) a few smart taps with a hammer may move the outboard bearing enough to free up the spacer.

cheers

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The freehub bearing spacer was tightly trapped between the two 6901 2RS3 P6 ALI bearings. Removing the outer bearing was a doddle after that and it is easy to replace it.

The inner bearing isn't retained by a circlip and it isn't trivial to tap out the bearing. I believe the inner bearing is not replaceable. The freehub body is mildly stepped and both bearings seat against the step, pressed in from opposite directions. Then the steel ratchet mechanism is permanently pressed onto the Al body. I don't think I can separate the two sections with the tools I have.

I give up at this point and will purchase a replacement £35-40 freehub body complete with bearings as I've now completely knackered the inner bearing.

[Brucey]

I wonder if rather than being pressed in,  the pawl holder screws into the freewheel body?

cheers

[LittleWheelsandBig]

It could well be screwed together but, having been together since 2011 and likely with some galvanic corrosion, the parts aren't going to come apart with the tools I have here.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The replacement freehub has turned up and appears to be a single piece of aluminium. I wonder how well the pawl seats will last.

[Brucey]

it'll probably be alright; on a moulton the torque loading on the hub is lower than on a machine with larger wheels.   If the freehub body is one-piece then presumably it is constructed in the usual way, i.e. with a circlip as suggested above. 

FWIW if you can nudge the spacer to one side and get some SFG into the space between the bearings, it won't be as good as removing the seals etc but it  falls into the 'won't do any harm and might do some good' category.

cheers