Originally Posted by
Campy12
With alloy being fairly useless as a freewheel material and Titanium being waaaay overpriced if someone was going for a lightweight steel freewheel what is the lowest weight option? Currently my Regina 6 speed 13-21 is 340grams and my 5 speed Suntour winner pro 13-21 is 334grams. Anyone?
I have a 50 pound pail of 6 and 7 speed Dura-Ace freewheels and spare cogs. I also have an equivalent stash of Winner and Winner Pro hardware. So here is my unbiased advice.
The best freewheel right now for the combination of light weight and shifting quality is Shimano's TZ20 and TZ21 (6 and 7 speed respectively) Tourney freewheels. Why:
- They cost less than $15 each.
- They feature Shimano's superior Hyperglide cog profiles, which provide worlds better shifting than any of the old freewheels. Uniglide and Suntour freewheels were somewhat better than the old Italian cogs, which were hopeless.
- They have a unique design in which the 2 largest (heaviest) cogs are heavily cut away and supported (pinned to) the smaller cogs. This accounts for their low weight.
- They have a sensible 14-28 gear range. This elimates the useless 11 and 12 tooth cogs found in current cassettes, and includes lower gears for use with standard crankets. We're not getting younger.