Attaching video. Was fixing the FD shifting on my son’s bike today and noticed the crank isn’t really spinning. There’s no side to side play or noise from the BB, so it might be fine but just not “buttery smooth.” I’m obviously not working on bikes all the time so I’m not an expert, so figured someone here would weigh in.
On the subject of bike mechanics, he’s a 9 y/o and the bike has older Sora shifters and I’m debating whether to replace them with microshift r8, which I think would be far easier to use (and I’ve used them in a prior build, they’re good), or just convert it to a 1x since it seems 24" road bikes come in the configuration these days anyway
Hard to tell without taking the chain off the chainring and trying again.
Lower end rear derailleurs have a surprising amount of resistance when backpedaling. That might be the cause.
interesting, i’ll have to investigate. it’s a 9 speed tiagra circa 2004 (the bike itself is a felt f24 from 2004). it could probably use a good overhaul at some point, but for now we mainly ride around our .25 mile neighborhood, so it works for what we do.
First thing…lube the chain 
It is hard to tell with chain on. Just derail it off the outside of the FD and then hold it back so it doesn’t touch the chain ring. Then check the crank and see if it spins freely. Given the squeaking chain my guess is the free hub needs to be pulled and re-lubed and the jockey wheels are also gummed up creating a bunch of drag. Cleaning and lubing those 3 things will make it a ton better even if the bottom bracket was also a problem.
Yeah, I sprayed some triflow into the jockey wheels earlier today and lubed the chain, which was a bit overdue and it’s a little better. The cassette is grimy and could use a good cleaning as well. I’m planning to get the shifters and using that as an opportunity to really give this thing a good overhaul, maybe get myself an ultrasonic cleaner since I’ll have the excuse of maintaining 4 bikes in the household lol
1 Like