Not to go off topic but why do so many people spend so much time and effort using something other than what the manufacturer recommends, especially when what the manufacturer recommends is cheap and easy to come by? Insert a 10mm Allen key into the hollow tube-like bolt holding it in place from the right (drive side) and turn counter-clockwise. However, these above are all freehub lubricants and you were seeking alternatives, perhaps beyond specific purpose freehub lubricants. Though they may look similar, Shimano’s new 12-speed Dura-Ace freehubs and Micro Spline are different, and cassettes are not interchangeable across either system.

probably meant to justify a more expensive hub with an inner spacer in and a drive ring with a few more points. Chris King’s ratchet slides on angled splines in the hub rather than the straight in and out ones of DT Swiss’s hubs.

Chris King claims its system can handle up to three times the torque load of some competitors it’s tested. What type of lube is best for installing bearings, like threaded BB cups, headsets, wheel, and pivot bearings?

Make sure you lube the freehub seal and where it meets the hub and your end caps to hub and hub bearings. The simplest way for a manufacturer to achieve this is to increase the number of teeth on the drive ring. Then look at how you clean your bike and how that is affecting the lubrication of the freehub system. Fortunately, we don’t race in extreme cold, but I’d imagine some different suspension fluids could be used to improve performance in extremely cold conditions.Insert the cassette lockring tool and align a longish spanner to the left of the chain whip handle, close enough to enable a two-handed grip. I mean that when I backpedal even slightly, especially on the smaller sprockets, then there is resistance in the freehub so that the upper part of the chain goes slack, while the derailleur pulls out forward as the bottom part of the chain gets effectively shorter. In theory, the larger number of ring-based contacts in a ratchet should be more reliable and transmit force better, although in practice pawl-based systems are well enough engineered that this is unlikely to be an issue if they’re maintained regularly. I’ve switched to products that are safe to handle and are biodegradable (since they shed into the environment).

Further, a DT Swiss Star ratchet design (a ubiquitous and in my opinion probably the best overall design licensed – or copied – by numerous other brands) has very small teeth on two ratchet rings with very shallow engagement. You’ll also need to use a spacer if you want to run an MTB cassette on an 11-speed road freehub, as Shimano/SRAM MTB freehubs are slightly narrower.

Purging with oil and riding as suggested often shifts any crud that is in the small gap and normal service is usually soon resumed. I actually trim the bearing seals around the edge to reduce the drag of the contact between the rubber seal and the bearing race.

I don't know about your specific lube of choice, but I do know that I've seen people with lube in their freehubs that gets so viscous when below freezing for long enough that it DOES prevent the pawls from engaging so the whole system just spins. they cry, and my instinct would be to use 3-in-1 or similar; but Shimano sell freehub-specific grease, and while I'm not about to shell out eight quid for that, I wonder what would be a good equivalent. I should clarify here that I was talking about lubing the race of small bearings on the wheel-end of the freehub body, that sit under a rubber ring-shaped dustcap. He reviewed some of the first electric bikes for Cycling Weekly and has covered their development into the sophisticated machines they are today, on the way becoming an expert on all things electric.For brake fittings, since you mentioned it, there are even products that don’t react negatively with the fluid or hose material or bladder/seal material within caliper or lever; SRAM offers a DOT grease to be used with its DOT-fluid based braking systems on the coupling nut.