Classic & Vintage - Who else rides a 14-38 freewheel?

There are almost always a few NOS Suntour freewheels with 5-speed 14-38 gearing for sale on ebay. Because I had a Huret Duopar derailleur, which was rumored to be able to handle the 38-tooth cog, I bought one a few years ago and set it up on my Gitane tour de France with a half-step 48-42 double in front. It shifts well, has fairly even jumps between gears, and is kind of fun to ride--half-step gearing does give you something to do besides just pedal.
What happens to those other freewheels, though? I assume that some of them must be sold to people on this forum. Who's using them, how, why, and with what derailleurs? Just curious--and wondering what to do with my other Duopar
By the way, ignore the horrible bar tape in the photo--it's gone now, along with the computer and bottle cage.

I probably would, but my RD won't allow me to go beyond 28.

I just picked up an 11-36 9 speed that I'm dying to try out. Haven't run across a 38 yet but I'd like to try it.

I have a 14-32 on the bike I've had for the longest (my McLean). Years ago, I was towing both daughters with it, so I needed the low gears. I haven't switched it back. The front chainrings are 52/42, so my bottom gear isn't crazy-low.

I'd be willing to bet that a Suntour V-GT Luxe would handle that 38T cog as well.

I'd be willing to bet that a Suntour V-GT Luxe would handle that 38T cog as well.

Well, a VGT handles a 34 easily enough, but the additional 4 teeth is quite a lot--I have my doubts.

I've got a 14-38t Suntour freewheel that I recently rebuilt to 6 speed "Ultra" spacing, thus compatible with 8 speed chains.

Haven't made up my mind how to build it up. One notion is a trials-type MTB with 24" rear wheel and Rotor Cranks. Or on a Trek 520 touring frame. With Suntour Command shifters. Or with SRAM Double-Tap used as ratchet shifters by tricking the cable at the rear-deraileur.

Normally a Suntour Mountech, Alpine Gear or Huret Duo-Par is needed for Campy dropouts. (Or if you have Simplex drops then a rear derailleur that can do 34t is said to work.) However I'm thinking that the new Shimano and SRAM derailleurs that are made to work with 36t cassettes should be capable of running the Suntour 38t.

Also thinking of converting a few more 38-tees to Ultra and flipping them on-line, since it appears none were ever made stock with Ultra spacing.

I'm sort of wondering what besides that Huret RD would work

I just built up a 5sp Suntour with a 38t and I'm planning to use a Duopar. I'm thinking I briefly ran this setup on a different bike and I used a Suntour derailleur and it was probably a V-GT.

Suntour made the 14-38 and the only derailleurs that could handle this at this time were the Duopar and the Suntour V Gt series which are rated for 34 teeth (which they handle easily) and can be pushed to handle 38... derailleur hanger length is important here as a shorter hanger will reduce the derailleur's capacity.

The correct hangers have been showing up on eBay lately.

I have read that Suntour's AR (Alpine Range) derailleurs are designed to handle the 38 tooth freewheel. I have actually just purchased a NOS Suntour 14-38 freewheel and used good condition AR front and rear derailleur. I have changed direction in my Super Sport build and will go with my original plan of going to a 130mm rear hub with a 9 speed cassette.

See the Disraeli Gears website for more information about the AR derailleurs.

The Suntour AG was rated for 38 teeth and would guess the AG stood for Alpine Gear... the AG 5 speed freewheel had a 14-38 range with some huge steps and would have rated a half step to smooth things out.

Since I use a triple (30 or 32 tooth granny) on almost all of my bikes, I get by with just a 32 or 34 big gear in the back. I generally run a 6 or 7 speed Suntour Ultra.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p71/pastorbobnlnh/Super%20Sports/Sporty%20Aug%202008/SachsHuretRD.jpg

I do have a Continental that has not seen any road time in the past two years, which has a 46-42 chainring and I have a Suntour 5 speed Perfect waiting for it with a a spare Duopar that has a 34 or 36 tooth gear.

You might want to read this thread (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=508176)from last year. Apparently someone made it happen using a cheap ( $15 new) Shimano Tourney RD.

I never had a need for an 14-38, but I am seriously thinking of a wide range touring build and got one of those monsters, pictured underneath, which are spec'd to handle an 11-34 9sp (RD-800 sgs)

http://images.jensonusa.com/large/rd/rd703a04sgs.jpg

Sorry, I have to ask. Why in the world would anyone want a 38t rear cog?

Mine is a 13-32 Ultra six rear with a 42/45T front. I use a Shimano DeOre XT rear deraileur and a Nuovo Record front derailleur.

When you're riding from the desert floor (3,000 ft) to the mountain tops (8,000 ft) and you make the turn in a switch back and come face-to-face with a road that resembles a wall, you really learn to appreciate those low gears.

Mine is a 13-32 Ultra six rear with a 42/45T front. I use a Shimano DeOre XT rear deraileur and a Nuovo Record front derailleur.

When you're riding from the desert floor (3,000 ft) to the mountain tops (8,000 ft) and you make the turn in a switch back and come face-to-face with a road that resembles a wall, you really learn to appreciate those low gears.

Yes, but a 38t belongs on the crank, not on the rear wheel.

Sorry, I have to ask. Why in the world would anyone want a 38t rear cog?

Same reason they'd want a 28, only more so--it gives you a low gear for hills. In my case, I do quite a bit of riding on dirt roads with grades of 10% or more (most roads in Vermont are dirt). I wanted to stick with the original Stronglight 93 crank on my Gitane--didn't want to go to a triple. The smallest ring I had for the crank was a 42. You can get them as small as 38, but they're scarce and tend to cost 50 bucks or more when they do show up on ebay. I already had the Duopar, so I found the freewheel--I think I paid less than 20 bucks for it--and presto, I had a double with a reasonable high and a 30-inch low. That might be too low for some people's needs, but it's not too low for mine.
Plus, I have to add, I kind of like the challenge of getting something like that to work. I also kind of like the way it looks, in some odd way. It says to the world HECK YES, I LIKE LOW GEARS, AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT.

ya know this might be the right discussion to ask my long burning question regarding gearing:

Does Going up 2 teeth in the rear have the same effect as going down 2 Teeth in the front?

... freewheel had a 14-38 range with some huge steps and would have rated a half step to smooth things out.

I rebuilt my custom 6-speed Suntour 38t Ultra as follows: 14-17-22-26-32-38. Nice smooth transitions.

Low gearing rules!

ya know this might be the right discussion to ask my long burning question regarding gearing:

Does Going up 2 teeth in the rear have the same effect as going down 2 Teeth in the front?

Much more.

I rebuilt my custom 6-speed Suntour 38t Ultra as follows: 14-17-22-26-32-38. Nice smooth transitions.

Low gearing rules!


That is very nice. Can you just get an ultra-6 freewheel and mix and match cogs with the 14-38 5-speed (using the thinner ultra spacers)?

Drakonchik's 38t in all it's franken-glory:

ya know this might be the right discussion to ask my long burning question regarding gearing:

Does Going up 2 teeth in the rear have the same effect as going down 2 Teeth in the front?

That depends on the relative sizes of the chainring and freewheel cog. If you're running a 28 in front (inner ring of a triple) and a 28 in back, shifting up or down 2 teeth on the front would be exactly the same as doing the same thing on the back. If you're running a 24 in back and a 48 in front, changing two teeth in back would be the same as changing four teeth in front.

I think I've got that right.

Thats cool.

Great ratios too. I much prefer gradual steps to having a huge jump for the big cog.

That is very nice. Can you just get an ultra-6 freewheel and mix and match cogs with the 14-38 5-speed (using the thinner ultra spacers)?

Thanks!

You want an Ultra-6 freewheel core, plus 4 cogs that could be Regular or Ultra, 5 or 6 speed, (Perfect, Pro-Compe, and even Winner if I recall correctly), 3-1/2 spacers that have to be Ultra as I recall, and two locking cogs that have to be Ultra for this to succeed.

I'm recounting this from memory while looking at my 38t freewheel. Don't nail me if I recalled one or more of these details slightly wrong.:)

Thats cool.

Great ratios too. I much prefer gradual steps to having a huge jump for the big cog.

Then you should really really try a half-step and a granny set up, but you would need to get used to shifting up front as much as you shift in the back most of the time

I've been running half-step + granny on my Ebisu for the last six months or so, and I really like it. Yes, I shift the FD much more than on other bikes, but that's what the shift lever is for (and, fwiw, I'm running bar-end shifters). When I don't want to shift, I ride a single speed!

Neal

Drakonchik, I like it!

http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=155683&d=1276729938

ya know this might be the right discussion to ask my long burning question regarding gearing:

Does Going up 2 teeth in the rear have the same effect as going down 2 Teeth in the front?

The change that has the most effect is the change that occurs at the smaller ring.

In most cases that would be the rear, but as we have seen in this thread where unusual configurations are being discussed, say you had a 14-34 in the back and a 50-40-32 triple in the front, going to a 50-40-30 in the front would provide more of a change that going to 14-36 in the back.

I'd be willing to bet that a Suntour V-GT Luxe would handle that 38T cog as well.
It depends on the dropout. On a SunTour GS dropout, sure; on a Campy 1010b, maybe not.

I'm sort of wondering what besides that Huret RD would work
The Campy "Gran Turisimo, (http://www.velobase.com/ViewSingleComponent.aspx?ID=F3318A6D-110A-467F-BDD3-ABF899E2B8B4&Enum=108&AbsPos=32)" given a sufficiently broad definition of "working."
http://www.velobase.com/CompImages/RDerailleur/65F46279-4D29-47D9-B125-992276F26B57.jpeg

The Campy "Gran Turisimo, (http://www.velobase.com/ViewSingleComponent.aspx?ID=F3318A6D-110A-467F-BDD3-ABF899E2B8B4&Enum=108&AbsPos=32)" given a sufficiently broad definition of "working."
http://www.velobase.com/CompImages/RDerailleur/65F46279-4D29-47D9-B125-992276F26B57.jpeg

Good lord, that has got to be the most hideous-looking rear derailleur ever made. It actually hurts my eyes to look at one.

I happen to find it beautiful. I have one on one of my bikes, just kinda as a joke. It works fine, despite dire warnings. I'd be willing to sell it. It is very heavy.

The Gran Turisimo "style" just doesn't seem to fit the Campagnolo image.

No, it doesn't, but they made it for some reason or other.

I happen to find it beautiful. I have one on one of my bikes, just kinda as a joke.

It looks better when attached to a bike, no doubt--gives it a little context.

I always thought they looked fairly cool. The thing is they are disappointing in their functionality.

I always thought the Duopar looked like cheap junk. The thing there was, they actually work.

^ Digging the size of that low cog....looks more like a weapon from Mad Max/Road Warrior. ;)

Regarding the use of Shimano's Saint RD, careful selecting these as some are low-normal, and more importantly, they are supposed to mount on the end of the rear axle.
I'm sure the resourceful C&V members will be successful Frankenstein-ing a functional RD. :D