[Closed] A story of my hamfistedness.

Sounds like your hub wants new bearings

And/or is missing a spacer.

I had a ghost shift on a ride that threw the chain and i fellover going up hill.

Investigated when i got home and adjusted the limit screws etc then i noticed the whole cassette was sliding on the freehub. So i took it out to tighten the lockring, in actual fact it was the axle unscrewing which is all that holds the freehub on. Fixed through it all back together and took it for a ride. What i neglected to do however was check the derailleur adjustments. Jumped on started pedalling gears a bit crunchy because derailleur wasn't in line with the cog i put the chain on seconds later chain dumped over the big cog jammed between spokes and cassette locking the wheel completely forcing the tyre to slip and instantly dump all the air and me on the ground.

Ordered 8 replacement spokes and have resolved to be more methodical.

have to loosen a qr axle, that doesn't sound right. That would scare me somewhat 😬

How can a pawl be back to front?

Can a vegan be hamfisted...

I think it does need a new bearing actually.
However, overtightening the QR is the difference between not great, but rideable and imminent destruction of something expensive

You get that with hope hubs if the freehub seal isn't correctly seated, tightening the axle to a normal torque makes it stop freewheeling. I'm with trail_rat on this, something is missing or not right there.

I thought I'd wrecked a £2k frame with my over-enthusiastic bearing removal efforts yesterday.

Fortunately I hadn't, you'll be glad to hear, but I had a slight funny turn before I realised it was fine.

Turns out I was tightening up the 10mm QR axle too tight. Loosening it slightly has sorted it.

You definitely have not sorted it!

However, overtightening the QR is the difference between not great, but rideable and imminent destruction of something expensive

It's quite plausible that your destroying something expensive and don't know about it as it's currently set up...mmsuch as a siezed bearing wearing a groove in an axle.

It's certainly significantly increased your chances of a long walk in the near future.

How tight, or how loose should a QR be?

(Sounds like you have got something else going on in there)

I had a good 'un the other day.

Went to give my Nukeproof composite pedals a bit 'o grease, and unscrewed the cap over the bolt holding the axle on.

I then discovered I didn't have the right size socket to hand to remove the bolt itself, and given that it was getting dark and I'd done a load of other maintenance things that evening decided to leave it for another day.

So, back on with the cap. I was merrily tightening the cap, waiting for it to nip up, thinking idly of other things, when it dawned on me that I'd been tightening for quite some time. Looking down, I saw that far from nipping up, the end cap was driving the pedal body off the axle, presumably mashing the internals as it went.

I had this problem with a DT hub on a new bike. I think there was a spacer back to front somewhere.

Just to repeat what has been said above. If you think you are fixing a problem with your freewheel by loosening the QR, something else is wrong. The only situation where QR tightness matters (apart from obviously holding your wheel in) is for cup and cone bearings, where it is recommended that there should be no play in the bearings when the QR is fully tightened.
One "back to front" pawl is very odd as well. I'd have thought you would have noticed that. Have you dismantled the freehub before?

Looking down, I saw that far from nipping up, the end cap was driving the pedal body off the axle, presumably mashing the internals as it went.

Nah. Mine does that. If you don't the pedal is loose and floats in and out on the axle. Or possibly that's something else I've broken. 😁

Not so much hamfistedness, more lackadaisicalness on my part. Changed headset on road bike, was riding along on-pavement bike lane on Chester Road (3 Lane commute highway) against flow of traffic. Out of saddle up an incline and all of a sudden bike lurches to the left. By the time I've regained control I'm out of the bike lane, off the pavement and in the middle of the now coned off inner lane of traffic. Without the coned off Covid factor that would have been all lorries and vans 🤔

Imagine my surprise when I see my handlebars at 45 degree angle. I'd tightened the stem bolts a bit, but for some reason hadn't finished the job. Never again..

Well, I took the hub apart again to have a look at the seals and spacer as you guys mentioned. I removed the spacer on the axle (hadn't done before as it was on very tight), greased the axle and pushed spacer and freehub on again and it seems to be working fine - rear mech doesn't kick back when backpedalling in top gear.

Maybe the spacer had come up the axle slightly when I was removing the freehub or something?

What a worrying post. If ever there was a need to take a bike to a professional mechanic, this is it.

funk rodent
Imagine my surprise when I see my handlebars at 45 degree angle. I’d tightened the stem bolts a bit, but for some reason hadn’t finished the job.

If I have to leave a job hanging on the bike I always turn the saddle backwards so I don't forget there's unfinished business. Similarly if I come in from a ride and there's a job needing done that's not getting attended to right away.

Learnt that working in a bike shop in the Highlands many decades ago.

As a matter of interest, does anyone else do that?