I may have to replace my vintage Shimano 600 6 speed 13-25 threaded freewheel. Comes from a vintage 1983 Bianchi road bike with shimano golden arrow components.

I took the old one apart, cleaned and re-greased the 90 odd bearings. Seems to work fine but won't know till I ride it. So if I have to replace it what do i get? See picture below.

There are new FWs made now. SunRace of India makes them as does Shimano. I use both. The Shimano's are better FWs and come with Hyperglide cogs (a mixed blessing if you run friction; they shift too easily. With the derailleur between cogs, the chain can shift back and forth at will, usually as you apply pedal pressure, then again as you back off. The SunRace FWs are heavy, clumsy, clunky shifting but work, shift well with good derailleurs and hold up well.

The Harris/Sheldon Brown website shows the options from both and will deliver quickly. Getting your old selection of teeth will probably not be an option.

Ben

IRD also sells freewheels that are based on the Shimano 600 design and have ramps for easy shifting. These are similar quality (high) to your current freewheel but then they cost more. I think they have a lot more cog range choice than you'll find with Shimano (and they look prettier).

I have no issue with using ramped freewheels with friction shifting. In fact, I think they improve the shifting quality significantly. I'm not sure what the issue is that Ben is talking about.

If I'm counting teeth right, the IRD 13-24 should be a good sub. But first I'd try a new chain on that Shimano, and if it doesn't skip on any cog, enjoy it for as long as possible!

Thanks for the info. I thought I would be out of luck. None of my local bike shops had a replacement and most of the younger folks and never seen this type of freewheel. An older fellow at one shop said he used to ride with one and said it was a very good quality freewheel in it's time and would be hard to replace locally. Thank goodness for the internet.

In final stages for refurbishing my old bike. Just have to put the rear wheel on and adjust the gears. Will see how they work.

Didn't realize I could upgrade to a 7 speed. Food for thought.

The IRD freewheel does look nice and yes it's expensive at $59.99 USD vs the Shimano. Converted to CDN it comes to about $77.00 plus shipping. Ouch.

Period suntour or shimano from ebay? Depends on whether you want period correct or brand new.

I've been running a SunRace 7spd for a while now, pretty happy with it. They come in 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9spd. Though I thought we not to do a freewheel over 7...

Anyway, for the cost, you could burn though four of these.

I replaced the original 6-speed freewheel on my Raleigh Super Course with a 7-speed, ramped, SunRace. Here's my review of it. It was a bit tight for my spacing but it works. If you're concerned with that, go for just a straight replacement (6 gears).

I think the improvement in shifting is phenomenal.

If the body is good, Steven has these - usually it is the first couple worn, so 14, 16, 18 may be all you need and stay with the larger ones

https://www.loosescrews.com/product/...6-18-21-24-28/

I have a Dura Ace freewheel with the same body design. Nothing special about the DA or the 600, fit and function-wise. You can replace them with any standard spaced 6-sp FW. The one thing to be aware of is the removal tool is specific to this body design, AFAIK. A Suntour 2-prong tool will work, but you have to use it judiciously.
If you decide to chuck the 600 FW, drop me a line. Maybe we can make a swap (for something more conventional going your direction).

The old Shimano two-prong design is the same as Regina's two-prong design. The Bicycle Research CT-1, Kingsbridge 101, Campagnolo 704, and Shimano Dura-Ace two-prong remover will work better than the SunTour tool.

Adjusted the gears and had it out for a short spin today. Seems to be working fine. For a 33 year old bike seems faster than my 2016 Trek fx 7.3. Will take it out for a road test and see what happens.

Tons of period FWs at eBay. Good thing is, there's a lot if used ones that are not bad at all, for the prices they sell at, so you do not really have to pay the high prices for NOS ones.
Lightly used FWs can sometimes be priced just 1/4 or less than NOS.

[MENTION=251447]ThermionicScott[/MENTION] too...

One advantage of those Shimano freewheels with the twist tooth sprockets is that when they wear out they cane be removed and reversed. It requires the tools to take the sprockets off.

I have a low mileage 13-26 twist tooth Shimano freewheel off of my 1987 Bianchi. PM me if you need a replacement.

If you replace the chain try to find an older style one made for 5-6 speed freewheels. I've had problems with the narrower 6-7-8 speed chains on twist tooth freewheels and cassettes. They hang up on hard shifts and the side plates can twist.

verktyg

Chas.

You only have the option for a 14-28, but the Sunrace is a great freewheel and you can get it for less than $20. I have one on my Univega.

Sunrace FW Multi MFM2A 14 28 6 Speed Index UCP BK | eBay

If you want to keep that freewheel, check with Pastorbob about his freewheel refresh/rebuild service. Worth a look-see, FreeWheelSpa; The Home of Happy Bicycle Freewheels (and so much more)! - Freewheel repair, service and restoration

Bill

Mountain Equipment (MEC) carries the Sunrace free wheels in 5, 6, and 7 speed. 13-28 or 14-28 and $15CDN or less. If you are not local to one they can easily ship to you.

Chas,

I don't think the sprockets on that model can be reversed. It is too new. On the older 5 speeds this was the case.

I surrender the floor to the gentleman from New Hampshire....

I guess I'll have to go back and re-read what Sheldon Brown wrote about them... I've rotated some sprockets on Uniglide cassettes and I thought the FW were the same.




verktyg

Chas.

Yeah, I thought so too.

Thanks for the info. I didn't know if this one would fit. Now I know it will. I live near the Burlington MEC so I may pick one up.

To all those who responded thanks for the information. Unfortunately us Canadian are still in the dark ages when it comes to online shopping. I can get items shipped from England cheaper than I can buy locally/online here in Canada. Lots to choose from in the US but with the poor exchange rate and shipping cost it sometimes becomes prohibitive.

I have just finished my overhaul and will be posting the results with pictures here in the near future.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...i-buy-new.html

Ahhh..., I wondered about that. Good to know.

I do wonder though, what possessed Shimano to adopt a crappy 2-prong design when they already had at least one perfectly good splined freewheel body design? And for that matter, if they were going to copy an established design, they could have copied Atom's spline design.

Indeed. Zeus, at least, tried to accommodate as many as possible by having their freewheel accept both a Regina two-prong remover and the far superior Atom spline remover.

OK. Thinking of upgrading to a 7 speed. Sheldon Brown says the Shimano FW722 will work with my vintage bike 126mm spacing. Unfortunately he won't ship to Canada orders under $50. Does the Shimano FW722 have a different model number? I have seen the Shimano 7sd HG-37 13-28 and the Shimano 7sp MF-TZ21 14-28. Would either of those work? The HG-37 pictures look the same as the FW-722.