Classic & Vintage - Best way to get a custom 7 speed freewheel?

I want a 7 speed freewheel something like 14-15-16-17-18-24-34(or32)

I know 24-34 sounds like a big jump but Shimano uses that exact jump on their Megarange freewheels such as this (http://harriscyclery.net/product/shimano-14-34-thread-on-7-speed-freewheel-quotmegarangequot-778.htm) So if it doesn't work its Shimano's problem ;)

So I ran across this (http://blog.harriscyclery.com/customizing-shimano-7-speed-freewheels/) Harris Cyclery blog post about customizing Shimano 7 speed freewheels.

Anyone got a better idea than ordering 2 freewheels from Harris and doing a little grinding? For some reason I feel like Suntour would have made this easier at some point in the past.

Other than Harris, I'd say "first run down to Harbor Freight and buy yourself one of their time machines ... "

What you want sounds similar to the 14-34 Megarange 7 and clones. It's not the same, but can you use it?

it is similar to a 14-34 Megarange 7. I just don't like the gear combinations that result from the 14-16-18-20-22-24 gear increments.

ZB, I might be able to help you out. Thanks to ftwelder and nlerner I have a huge supply of cogs. I'm almost certain I can build you a 6 speed Suntour Perfect or Procomp in a similar range, something like 14-15-16-17 or 18-24-34. But I do have a couple of 7 speed Shimano bodies and hopefully the needed cogs. I have a very busy day, but should be able to dig through the gears on Friday.

Back in the day you could have your freewheel built up to order and it wasn't just Suntour... Sachs, Regina, Maillard, and Shimano all offered single cogs in a wide range.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/freewheelboards1.JPG

Might be interesting to call IRD and see if they would assemble one for you. Looks like between their various models that you could get something pretty close to what you want.

That corncob up to 18 leaves a pretty big jump to the 24, leaving aside the megarange 34. Unless you have specific reason for it, you might want to consider something like:

14-15-16-18-21-24-34

or thereabouts.

Bob thank you, I may take you up on that offer, I'll PM ya about it a little later today.

This is going on a 52-43-34 crankset.

robatsu, I sort of have a specific reason but its more an idea that I'd like to bring to fruition, and I'm definitely open to suggestions outside of what I've come up with. My aim with the corncob+bailout cog is basically to use 6 out of 7 cogs for normal riding, and get the benefit of nice close ratios from the corncob and save the big cog for big hills when I'm already in the small chainring.

even with a 5 speed (on the aforementioned triple) 14-15-16-17-??? I'd get around 6% steps between gears all the way from 50 on up to 100 gear inches and the ??? is however big of a Jump i can convince my RD to do.


The other thing I considered is the 14-16-18-20-22-26-34 Megarange freewheel and change the middle chainring to a 49T. the resulting 52-49-34 chainset would produce about the same results as the corncob+bailout idea. Problem is finding a 49T 86mm BCD chainring :rolleyes:

I haven't looked but have you tried loose screws? They have a custom freewheeling service but I don't remember the particulars right now.