Taska freecoaster not freecoasting

[whitty]

So I'm new to flatland, and I could just be missing something, but I don't think that's the case. I just got a KHE Militant FF, which comes stock with a Taska Freecoaster rear hub. The problem I seem to be having is that the hub engages 99.99% of the time when the rear wheel is rotating backwards. Almost immediately, no less, even faster than it it engages pedaling forward. I'm not really good enough yet for it to matter, but at the same time, I kind of feel like, well, if I'm going to be banging my knees all the time because I have a bottom line freecoaster, it might as well actually freecoast, right?

I tried disassembling it to see if there was just a ton of friction between the clutch and hub and not enough between the clutch and axle, but I don't have any cone wrenches so I didn't get too far. Also, this bike is brand new as of yesterday, so it shouldn't be a problem at all, right?

Any ideas? Thanks, Alex

[i_cant_ride]

i had that freecoaster about ten years ago and had a similar issue. the clutch isnt very adjustable and will eventually lock up. mine became a fixed gear at one point. the only advice i can give is buying a taska ufree freecoaster from flatlandfuel. honestly it is the best freecoaster i have ever ridden and aside from the bottom end taska, its also the cheapest at a mere $99. i have them on both my rides at the moment and i love it.

[b_ron]

So I'm new to flatland, and I could just be missing something, but I don't think that's the case. I just got a KHE Militant FF, which comes stock with a Taska Freecoaster rear hub. The problem I seem to be having is that the hub engages 99.99% of the time when the rear wheel is rotating backwards. Almost immediately, no less, even faster than it it engages pedaling forward. I'm not really good enough yet for it to matter, but at the same time, I kind of feel like, well, if I'm going to be banging my knees all the time because I have a bottom line freecoaster, it might as well actually freecoast, right?

I tried disassembling it to see if there was just a ton of friction between the clutch and hub and not enough between the clutch and axle, but I don't have any cone wrenches so I didn't get too far. Also, this bike is brand new as of yesterday, so it shouldn't be a problem at all, right?

Any ideas? Thanks, Alex

i have the militant ff as well but mine works fine.. just has to have a full quarter rotation before it engages

maybe while you were going backwards.. you happen to pedal forward a little bit and it happened to engage?

[whitty]

It engages regardless, and on the VERY off chance that I do get it rotating freely, even the SLIGHTEST movement of the pedals engages it instantly.

EDIT: Sorry, i_cant_ride, didn't notice your post: If I had my way, I'd buy a KHE astern freecoaster right now since the gap is adjustable without even taking it off the frame, but even if I wanted to spend another $160 on bike parts right now (I don't) I'd have to then rebuild my wheel, which would be yet another thing to learn to do. And let's not forget that I'm not even good enough to use a freecoaster yet anyway, it's just annoying that my brand new one doesn't even work right.

[David (Toucan)]

OK Nubcakes-

The taska is a cheepo hub, no doubt... but its not so bad when its dialed in PERFECT.

First of all, you HAVE to backpedal AT LEAST 1/4 of a turn with this hub. That should stop it from engaging.

Make sure your chain is tight; that alone can stop some ghost pedal.

It doesnt hurt to rebuild the hub and just fill it with greese. Greese EVERYTHING...

Its not to hard to rebuild; just remember which way everything goes in and out.

OH- and dont loose the ball bearings.

[whitty]

Just to make sure I wasn't going crazy, I backpeadled at least 5 full turns then stopped the cranks DEAD where they were and held them there. Sometimes, that does the trick, but more often than not the hub still engages in reverse.

The chain seems plenty tight, but I haven't specifically tested with it any tighter, so I'll up the tensioner and see what I get. Not sure why it'd make a difference though, unless it were SO loose that the driver had room to actually turn.

[David (Toucan)]

the chain tension keeps the hub from moving.

If chain tension and backpedaling dont solve it, rebuilding the hub helps somewhat.

[whitty]

Chain is plenty tight now, retried lots of backpeadling, and still no joy. Seems kind of lame that I should have to rebuild the hub having only used the bike like two days. And again, I'd have to find wrenches.

[havok]

as you read more threads you will see that we think Pat is the man.
it'll be just as easy to see why.  drop him an email or pm him here.
also search the 'how to' threads as they are endlessly helpful.

[brian84corvette]

in my personal opinion - the bottom line taska coaster is plenty good.
when I had mine,  I ajusted it to run every bit as good as my naki.

you sir need cone wrenches.


for the time being - take off your back wheel.

take off axle nut on the side with the cog on it.

then take off your axle nut on the non drive side - and flip it around
so the flange is on the outside.   spin it on,
then take your other axle nut,  and put it on the non drive side also.
tighten the 2 axle nuts together.   this will lock them in place. - and you can hold the wheel and axle still now with a 15mm cresent wrench on the outside axle nut.

now find an ajustable wrench,   and take off the first cone nut.
then the second.  -   then spin out the driver,   and pull all the gutts out of your taska.

lay them out all on a clean paper towel or 2  in the order they came out in.

take pix of this.   then show us. -  we can inspect your hub for damaged part /s
and help you figure out why its not working correctly..

[Claude]

i agree with these guys, had a stock taska on a KHE i got used and it was still good to go when adjusted right. 

Tight chain was good advice, I think the cones are probably too tight.  Even if you had a crescent wrench that is big enough and can tighten it onto something and loosen one cone nut at a time on other side then hand tighten them back, that may be fine.  And it will help you get it apart to grease it. 

Not surprising that you have to work with it brand new, not FF or KHE's fault, I've seen plenty of guys on here say this - just a need when it's been stored and shipped through who-knows-what kind of heat/dryness.

Don't give up on it or think it's crap, it may be a simple fix.  Might be worth a few bucks at a bike shop for the guy to spend 5min with the right tools to adjust it for you.

[brian84corvette]

id have to dis agree with local bike shop idea.

those guys are usualy not half as good as I am at getting the "kinks worked out"
unless - there is a bmx ace working there.   most bike shop guys are mtn bike heads.

id say to learn to do it your self.
as you might need to ajust things here and there every little tiny bit
once a month some times to keep it working in 100% as good as it can get shape.
it will work on less than that,   but I make shure all my bikes are tip top.
no reason to not learn.

maby your local bmx shop can sell you some apropriate size cone wrench for your hub tho.
or at least tell you what sizes you need. ( usualy 2 diffrent sizes )

[Furball]

Taska Hub Adjustment

http://www.wtlw.net/ff/taska/taska.html


Taska Hub Overhaul/Regreasing

http://www.wtlw.net/ff/taska/taskaoverhaul.html

[whitty]

I'm absolutely the DIY type, especially if it saves me $5, so I called around this morning to find some cone wrenches. As luck would have it, there was one local bike shop that actually has a pretty good range of tools, but regardless, I just got home and cracked open the hub a few minutes ago. Pics below. I'm a little weirded out by the big spring that goes around the clutch since it's not in flatlandfuel's teardown. I suppose I must have a slightly newer/updated version or something. I suppose its function is to push the clutch off the cog when you're not peadling forward or when you're peadling backward, but it seems that it also causes enough friction with the shell that it spins the clutch enough with the shell that it reengages on the cog when it shouldn't. Of course, when I take it out entirely, I still have the same problem as ever, so I've still gotten nowhere.

Let me know if you guys have any other ideas, for now I'm going to just keep fiddling.

http://www.alexwhittemore.com/taska_freecoaster/IMGP5354.jpg

EDIT: I think I figured out the problem! I haven't fully regreased/reassembled yet, but I think this will do it. Check out this picture:

http://www.alexwhittemore.com/taska_freecoaster/IMGP5359.jpg

What I hadn't noticed until now is that there's a little black piece that fits into the non-drive side cone. It's faceted on two sides, meaning that it can't spin freely until it's fully emerged from the cone, which doesn't happen when it's in the hub. It can, however, slide freely in and out. Basically, the idea is that the smaller spring is REALLY tight inside the clutch, such that you really have to pull it hard to get it out and it won't really spin. It's SUPPOSED to be equally tight over this little black faceted nut, but for whatever reason, mine had come really lose. Basically, I just took some pliers and crimped the end of the spring down a bit so you have to push hard to fit it over the black nut. It also means that, now, the clutch moves in and out easily, but won't really spin in relation to the fixed cone. Perfect!

Now it's plenty responsive, and basically as soon as you stop pedaling, the big spring pushes the clutch off of the hub's drive side and disengages it. Like I said, this is only having tried it with my hands, but from what I can tell, this works great.

Thanks for all the ideas!


EDIT 2: After fully regreasing and assembling the hub, and putting it back on the bike, the freecoaster didn't work AGAIN! So I pulled the whole thing apart to check, and lo and behold, the friction spring had come loose again. This is definitely the weak point of this design. Anyway, I tightened the hell out of it, spent 20 minutes getting it back over the nut and back into the clutch, and now the freecoasting action works perfectly. The problem is, whenever the cranks are turning, this spring has to slip at least a little, which loosens it up. I don't expect it to actually work well through that much riding.

[whitty]

Hey, just out of curiosity HAVOK, is the Pat you're talking about the same one from FlatlandFuel?