quality of sunrace freewheels
 

i have a bike with an 8-speed FREEWHEEL. the original made a horrid clunking, and eventually just became too loose to use (it was moving almost all the way to the dropouts). i found another 8-speed at the LBS, but it suffered the same problem, to a lesser degree but the constant "clunk clunk clunk" as i rode was annoying. they were cool enough to trade it out for a shimano 7-speed, and it has been quiet sailing from there (tho my indexing is just the slightest bit off, not enough to worry over.) harris cyclery sells the sunrace 8-speed, but i do not want to go thru the same problems of the other (cheapie) two that i had, so if anyone knows anything about them, i would appreciate the input.

thanks all.

Nashbar sells Sun Race freewheels and cassettes under their house-brand name and the feedback on the 7-speed freewheel is very positive. They don't list the 8-speed version. Bike Tools Etc does list the 8-speed freewheel but they are out of stock right now. Given that both of these companies sell them, i think that's decent support for their adequate quality.

BTW, 8-speed freewheels have always been a marginal item since their extra width puts even more stress on the unsupported part of the rear axle than 7-speed freewheels.

I've used a couple of Sun Race 8-speed cassettes and they are fine. Not as good as Shimano but a lot less expensive.

Oddly enough, the nicest 8 speed freewheel I've seen is made by Falcon. I sold and installed a couple of these. Very nice finish and smooth running.
Most Falcon stuff is crude by comparison.

I bought a Nashbar 6-speed freewheel (Sunrace) and ignored the noise. The eventual result was freewheeling in both directions. This happened 25 miles from base in the middle of nowhere. The cab ride back was an expensive lesson.

The 6 and 7 speeds appear to use the same body. If anybody tells me that Sunrace freewheels are good, my reply is good for what?

I got a 6-speed Sunrace freewheel for my work bike when mine needed to be replaced and my LBS was out of Shimano. IIRC it was only marginally cheaper. It appeared to be more cheaply machined.

Not 2 weeks after I installed it (and less than 200 miles) it was making an odd clicking noise in one gear. One of the teeth had broken off, with no trauma I can recall. Never had that happen before or since. Maybe because I switched back to Shimano. Maybe just bad luck. My impression, though, is that the Sunrace is actually inferior.

okay, i guess i will just skip the sunrace then. i will wither leave it a 7-speed, or just get a freehub wheel and cassette and see if that works out.

I have been using the 7 speed Sunraces with no problems so far. I did lube them before i put them on the bike however by soaking oil (Phil tenacious) in them until it came out of the other side of the freewheel.

I run SunRace 7-speed freewheels on three different bikes and all have worked well, including one I installed four years ago.
I particularly like the 13-30.
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