Bicycle Mechanics - Is it possible to do...

Hi all,

I'm 7,000 mi. from my tools, too dang far downhill(6 mi) from the bike shop and w/out a car. I'm also too irritated and cheap to buy ANOTHER chainwhip and impatient to wait for one thru the mail by internet purchase.

　Can I remove a cassette from a freehub without a chainwhip, using only a lockring removal tool？ Ｉ　ｒｅｍｅｍｂｅｒ　ｒｅａｄｉｎｇ　ｓｏｍｅｗｈｅｒｅ　ｏｆ　ａ　ｈｏｍｅｂｒｅｗ　ｍｅｔｈｏｄ　ｏｆ　”ｉｍｉｔａｔｉｎｇ”　ａ　ｃｈａｉｎｗｈｉｐ　ｕｓｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　ｃｈａｉｎ　ｏｎ　ｔｈｅ　 ｂｉｋｅ　ｏｒ　ａ　ｌｅｎｇｔｈ　ｏｆ　ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｉｓ．　Ｔｈｉｓ　ｉｓ　ｐｒｏｂａｂｌｙ　ｓｏｍｅｔｈｉｎｇ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｂｉｋｅｌｏｒｅ　ｍａｎｙ　ｙｅａｒｓ　ａｇｏ．

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no.

I have been up all night and my reasoning skills are shot, but you may be able to rotofix (rotafix?) it off. I know it can be done on a fixed gear, but am having trouble thinking through the implications of a freewheel. Wouldn't hurt to search for more info on it though.

Try using an old piece of chain and a visegrip. Good luck.

I've done it before. Wrap a chain around one of the cogs so that the chain is on the ground on the forward side of the free wheel (direction of forward rotation), make sure you've got a few inches of chain on the ground. Lean the assembly with chain side out against a wall or something like that, put the cassette removal tool in place, step on the part of the chain that is on the ground, and proceed to remove the cassette. I got this idea from Utahmountainbiking.com (http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/fix/cogsoff.htm). He says:

"If you don't have a chain whip, just use a section of chain to immobilize the freewheel. I just take an old broken chain, drape it over the top of the big cog, then stand on the other end with [your] foot. Works great!"

Eventhough I normally use a chain whip, this fix works great in a bind.

Try using an old piece of chain and a visegrip. Good luck.

+1 Jury rig something with an old piece of chain

Here is the rotafix method.

http://204.73.203.34/fisso/eng/schpignone.htm

It should work since you can reverse the process to secure the cog/freewheel from either direction of rotation. Make sure you protect the bottom bracket shell from the chain with a rag.

+1 Jury rig something with an old piece of chain

old chain piece + 2x4 + 1 nail = hillbilly chainwhip

When I needed to change cogs I just used an old chain. It never occurred to me that it may not be possible, so I just approached it logically and it worked just fine.

I put the splined remover in a vice, wrapped the chain around the cogs, put the wheel into the remover and grabbed the chain and spokes together in a rag and turned.