Freewheels Forever! A few years ago, I had a thought that new or serviceable freewheels would be impossible to get in the future, so I stocked up on NOS or good used freewheels from ebay. Now I have good ones on each bike and about 20 extra ones.

I still enjoy riding 5-blocks in the range of 14-22 or 13-21 but have several 6-blocks in the 13-24 and 13-26 range. If they don't shift a well as a (blah-blah-blah), or the gear range isn't as wide as a (blah-blah-blah), who cares, that's part of the ride.

The trick I've seen for converting a multi-speed freewheel to a single speed is to use a lathe to make some alloy spacers to put the gear (or two) you want in the center and then turn the teeth off the smallest cog to make it into a retainer nut. Although, really, the single freewheels on ebay aren't terribly pricey.