I still have 5 bicycles in my collection all with freewheels, one of the bikes I've had since 84 and raced it back then and raced freewheels before that and never had a freewheel fail...wear out yes, fail no. Nor never suffered from a bent or broken axle or hub, in fact never even had bearings fail just the gears would wear out. I've had not problem whatsoever finding new freewheels in todays world of cassettes.