9 out of 10 times the issue is a worn out clutch bearing or "one way needle bearing". Freemotion and Nordic Track are both owned by ICON Fitness. This technology for fitness equipment comes from the original Nordic Track skier. In the skier, there is a flywheel with an axle through it in the middle with skis left and right. Under each ski just about center of the length is a rubber roller that fits over the flywheel axle. Inside this roller is a "one way needle bearing". That is, when you push to the rear with the ski, the bearings rollers will shift and lock against the axle and engage the flywheel. When you pull the ski back forward the rollers inside the bearing release the axle and allow free movent forward untill you again push to the rear. Many poor souls were sold new skis and tension straps in most cases to no avail. What needed to be replaced or rebuilt were the rubber rollers under the center of each ski with the "one way needle bearing clutch" inside. The same technology is used inside this exercise bike except that the "one way needle bearing" is pressed directly into the flywheel itself. So rather that replacing or rebuilding the "roller clutches", you need to replace or rebuild the "flywheel". The price for the flywheel from ICON is $600 plus. Thats right $100 more than you probably paid for the bike. There used to be businesses that rebuilt the roller clutches for the skiers. There is no rebuild service available for the flywheel on this bike. So if you don't buy the maintenance contract witch will cost you as much as the bike for 4 or 5 years you have a very heavy piece of junk to dispose of. This is planned obsolescence at it's best. If you are very handy. You can disassemble the bike and find a commercial machine shop that can replace the bearing for you. It is sandwiched between roller bearings on each end. You will need a press designed to remove and replace bearings for commercial machinery like conveyor belts and assembly line equipment and someone to order and replace the same or an equivalent bearing. This actually should be a relatively affordable service. At least in comparison the only other option.
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