zsmith

Hello all,

Last weekend I purchased a Peugeot PA 10E for all of seven dollars at a local yard sale.

The bike is pretty, with the usual white paint and many decals, Brooks saddle, and beautiful details so characteristic of these French bikes. It worked in the sense that you could get on and peddle it but nothing was right. It has rust, all the cables are frayed, the cable housings are ready to meet their maker, the wheels are completely out of true, brake levers are bent from an accident, and the paint is badly chipped all over. The real reason I'm taking on this bike is because it was never really ridden. It has the original Mafac brake pads, worn only because of the uneven wear from the wobble in the wheels, and it has the original tires that are dry-rotted to pieces. I think this bike deserves to be ridden because it apparently never really was and so I'm trying to restore it generally mechanically and save the cosmetics from complete destruction by rust.

At the moment, I'm working on the rust and have been able to shine a lot of the pretty pieces on the bike. But now I'm stuck because I want to remove the freewheel on the rear wheel and I cannot find the appropriate tool. It is a Simplex design from 1974 (I believe) and I would like to be able to remove the freewheel, the cassette, shine up the HUGE chain guard, and put everything back together. So, my question is, can anyone point me towards a freewheel removal tool for this particular bike. I know they sold a gajillion of them so there must be a tool floating around somewhere.

Thanks!

auchencrow

Hi Zsmith - There is a saying here that without pics' it didn't happen !

But you came to the right place and I am sure someone here more knowledgeable will answer your freewheel removal question. ( You can also check the Park Tool website - they have a guide to help you identify which removal tool to use for 90% of the cases.)

John E

The freewheel is probably either a Normandy or an Atom. If there is a dork disk between the freewheel and the hub, and if the rims are clinchers, then the wheels are not original. Lots of PA-10 buyers substituted the cheaper UO-8 wheels for the original close-ratio sewups. Your hub takes either an internal spline tool or a dual-pronged tool -- you should be able to tell by looking, or shoot a good closeup and post it.

For safety, replace those original brakepads with salmon colored KoolStops.

High Fist Shin

I've never heard of a Simplex freewheel. Are you sure it's not an Atom freewheel? We need to see pictures of it. See where the writing is on these freewheels?



Take your rear wheel off and check that area and report back to us with what it says. You may have to clean the area, lots of grease and gunk collects there.

Shin.

TejanoTrackie 

The derailleur is Simplex, the hub is Normandy, and most likely the freewheel is an Atom, which takes a splined removal tool such as the Park FR-4 https://www.parktool.com/products/det...at=4&item=FR-4 that will cost about $7 + tax/shipping. If you can't find one at your LBS, try Harris Cyclery online.

zsmith

It seems like the PR-4 tool from Park is appropriate. Thanks for the clarification on the branding, I'm not familiar with these manufacturers. I'll be sure to post up pictures of the bike when it looks good but it's just in such a sorry state at the moment.

Here's a pic of the rear hub, does that look like the Atom you mentioned?

Thanks for your help; it's clear you folks know quite a bit.

High Fist Shin

That's a Maillard. Parktool PR-4 will do the job.

wrighty38

I just bought a pair of wheels with one of those freewheels too. I thought I had every freewheel remover under the sun till I came across this design. It is a Maillard freewheel but a Park FR 4 will not fit. The FR4 fits freewheels with 20 splines but looking at your pic yours has 24. This freewheel requires something like the old Bicycle Research CT-3. I finally found one here https://www.bicycletool.com/normandym...wheeltool.aspx.

Regards,
Jon

Primitive Don

+1 Bicycle Research CT-3

Grand Bois

The PA10 is a nice riding bike. My '74 with 28c tubulars weighs less than my '74 PX10 with 27X1' clinchers.

You can touch up the paint with Dupli Color acrylic enamel wheel paint. I repainted my stays and fork with it and the match is so close thay nobody can tell.

Bianchigirll 

Hi zsmith welcome to the forum. IMHO unless you intend to reuse this Fwheel on a bike you are going to keep I would just ask at the bike shop if they would remove it for you. if you have a good relationship witht hem chances are they may kick it loose and say have a nice day.

zsmith

Thanks for the welcomes.

The folks at my bike shop just removed the freewheel for me; they've been very helpful with advice and never have charged me. My dilemma now is whether to save the chain guard. I'm going to wirebrush it and chrome polish it to see how it looks. Normally I'd dump it but I think it complements the style of this particular bike.

I'm contemplating paint. The bike needs new cabling all-around and I plan on working on the paint once I've removed the cables. But my current job is to finish with these wheels.

That is a beautiful PA10! I love the chrome on the front fork on these bikes.

JohnDThompson 

Simplex freewheels were made by Everest and use the same 2-prong remover as Regina:

High Fist Shin

I stand corrected. Thanks for clearing that up. 24 spline freewheels must be pretty uncommon if Park tool doesn't have a remover for it.

John E

Dump the dork disk, an AO-8/UO-8 feature which cheapens and downgrades the look of P-series Peugeot. The original PA-10 wheelset has a 14-21 freewheel, high-flange QR hubs, tubular tires, and no dork disk. Without the disk, you may also have room for an ultra-6 speed freewheel, assuming you have ISO threading instead of French.

Oregon Southpaw

"Dump the dork disk, an AO-8/UO-8 feature which cheapens and downgrades the look of P-series Peugeot."

An interesting unrelated sidenote: I looked at a $6400 bike the other day that had a dork-dsk on it. ? I thought they didn't do those anymore. They do.

WNG

Thanks for the BikeTools.com link. I see they carry an old Regina 2-prong remover. I was given a wheel with such an old Regina freewheel, and the Suntour 2-prong was too small. I couldn't find info on this Regina.

Also, good info on the Maillard freewheel, I have one from 70s Peugeot. I was planning to use it and thought the PR-4 tool works. Guess it's going to be a Suntour Perfect will see duty instead.

Primitive Don

They're not that uncommon. Pretty sure most of the freewheels on old Schwinns are Normandy; plus there are lots of department store bikes with Asian freewheels that use the same spline pattern. Old and low end, but not that uncommon.

I need to get that Regina tool!

cranky old road 

The Biketools.com two-pronged Regina tool is well worth the money. It has a collar that keeps the prongs from sliding sideways out of the slots. You'll still need to hold the tool in place with your quick release skewer though. To the right is a Simplex freewheel (exchanged the original outer cog with a two cog unit from the Regina on the left so I would have the Regina 5 speed). The freewheel body was damaged when my modified Suntour tool slipped.

stronglight

Here is a box from an old Simplex freewheel. As shown in the illustration, the notches were typically raised above
the freewheel body.The extended collar which encirles the two prongs of the Regina freewheel removal tool indeed fits over raised ring...
However, just as cranky old road advised, you would still want to secure the tool (tightened down with your
quick-release lever to keep it in place)... or it will nevertheless tend to slip off the freewheel and damage either the
two notches of the freewheel or even the prongs of the tool itself.

Splined freewheel bodies were really a wonderful development in freewheel design!

cranky old road 

But don't tighten the quick release ALL the way down 'cause something's got to give when the freewheel moves out from the hub.

TejanoTrackie 

This is a Shimano Dura-Ace freewheel removal tool that also fits the Regina with the non-recessed slots. Some early Shimano freewheels used the bad Regina design. As far a using the quick release is concerned, you have to progressively back it off as you unscrew the freewheel body from the hub. I do all this sort of work using a bench vise to hold the tool, while I turn the wheel.

JohnDThompson 

They were pretty much obsolete before Park really got going in the tool business. 14T is the smallest cog that fits, and by the 1970s pretty much everybody wanted a 13T small cog. Schwinn was the biggest importer of those 24-spline freewheels back in the 1960s.