I recently installed a NOS SunTour 'Perfect' 6-speed freewheel onto a wheel intended for my current project bike (a 1980 Schwinn Voyageur 11.8). The freewheel was still in its plastic bag and in the original box. It is engraved with a date code of 'AF,' which I believe indicates a manufacture date in early 1985. It spins beautifully, but it's virtually silent ... no characteristic 'tick tick ticking' of pawls whatsoever. I've never heard a freewheel so quiet. So here's the question ... is something wrong with it, or were new out-of-the-box SunTour freewheels just that stealthy?

Trailtrekker in Iowa