Looking for a quality freewheel. Thoughts?
 

Dura-ace freewheel on my Fuji "the Ace" is worn. I have a longer ride coming up and would like to replace both the chain and cassette with something decent though it looks like new offerings are slim. What do you guys do?

A freewheel and a cassette are no the same thing. A cassette is a set of cogs that slides onto the splines of a freehub while a freewheel screws onto a threaded hub. I'm guessing that you are talking about a freewheel since you are here in C&V. If so, IRD freewheels are nice quality and come in a variety of cog counts Classica Freewheels 5/6/7-Speed ? Interloc Racing Design / IRD. There are also a few Shimano and Sunrace freewheels but the cog count is very limited.

Definitely mean a freewheel. Believe it's currently a 5 speed but it's first gen DA so the friction should be fine with 6. IRD were the only ones I could find.

Plenty of good vintage freewheels are available, depending on the range you need.

I use Sunrace with great results, pretty cheap to.

Trying to get it back into top shape for the farm to fork fondo

The IRD's are nice, but I've had good results with the Sunrace and Shimano (Tourney) units. The Sunrace come in chrome / silver that are good for keeping a vintage bike looking period correct, but the Shimano's have a 'MegaRange' option that gives you a 34-T 'bail-out' gear if you're expecting some big hills.

Niagra Cycle has a decent selection and most of them are less than $20.

I wasn't sure if a 6-speed would fit on my Bridgestone, but at that price, I didn't have to think twice about grabbing a 5-speed, too, in case the 6 didn't fit.

I still like the Sachs the best. If you can find a N.O.S. one (from the 1980's-90's), then it's a good freewheel. Also, the cogs will fit a Normandy/Maillard, if you need to swap any.

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...I think the Shimano, Sunrace, and IRD's are about the only multi cog ones being bade and sold new right now.
White industries makes a high end single speed freewheel......which they must sell to single speeders with a lot of cash to burn.

It's worth looking for a source for used locally, like a bike co-op if you can find one on Google. That's where all mine came from.

lots of Suntour freewheels out there... Some used, some lightly used, and even NOS. I've been collecting (um...hording) 6-speed Winner/new winner/winner ultra-spaced freewheels for the past few years so I'm set for life -- or at least another 10-15 years or riding ;) considering I'm already 60! 13-18. 13-21(3), 13-24(2), 13-26, 13-28(2) and 14-34! Heck, I even picked up a 13-32 7-speed.

Calling PastorBobinNH!

Check out the Pay It Forward thread. Velocivixen has a couple to be given away.

Signal boost to [MENTION=42162]pastorbobnlnh[/MENTION]. :thumb:

Your 5 speed freewheel on "The Ace" is almost certainly spaced for a 120mm rear hub. You can probably re-space the axle, and re-dish the wheel for a 6 speed, 126mm dropout spacing, but I wouldn't recommend it casually. Without cold setting the frame and re-aligning the dropouts, you will be stressing the chain / seat stays, dropouts, and rear axle. Can you just cram it in there? Sure, but you're probably running a greater risk of axle breakage, uneven cone wear, and possibly dropout cracking. (There are probably thousands of cyclists that have done just that, and gotten away with it, but axle breakage on 6 speed + is much more common, so just keep that in mind.)

Any 5 speed freewheel will be compatible with your current hub spacing, as will the Suntour "Ultra" spaced 6 speed. This was their solution for 6 speed retrofits. They used thinner spacers, to fit 6 sprockets in the space of a regular 5 speed. These "Ultra" freewheels are nice, but command a decent premium now. Probably $50-75 on ebay. Regular Suntour Perfect, Pro Compe, Winner, or New Winner 5 speed freewheels are all excellent, and can be found for $20-$50 without much trouble in decent shape.

If you want to stick with Shimano, the first generation Dura Ace freewheels were available in 5 speed, and were pretty nice. They differed from the cheaper Shimano freewheels in having gold color finish (titanium nitride?), compared to their entry level sprockets with a black finish. The bearing races were also ground to a better finish. I'm not sure there were any real differences in the steel used for the sprockets. Later, Shimano came out with a really nice freewheel system for their 600 (Ultegra) and Dura Ace lines, but they were only 6 and 7 speed. They featured seals front and rear to keep crud out of the bearings, and almost all of the sprockets were splined, rather than threaded like many of their competitors. Also, they had the twisted tooth "Uniglide" system to improve chain upshifts.

For 126mm spacing, the 6 speed Shimano MF-6208 and 6 speedMF-7400 freewheels are probably the best ever made -- much better quality than anything available now. (From what I've seen anyway.)

For 120mm, the Suntour New Winner, or older Winner are both very nice, and readily available. They're not as well sealed as the later Shimano units, but the cogs are probably easier to come by, thanks to their large market share back in the day.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Not too worried with keeping it Shimano, bikes a frankensetup anyway. Found an NOS new winner in the cob type ratio that I think would be close to what is on it, but haven't heard from the seller.

Another stupid comment, do you use used freewheels? Currently have chain skip issues and am worried I'm just going to have more of the same if I go with a used freewheel and new chain.

I put a 6 speed Shimano Megarange on my Raleigh Super Course. It works very well with the Sugino AT triple, speaking of Frankensetups. I built it up for Eroica rides, since I walked my old Legnano up hills last time with a best gear 42/28. As I recall, it was less than $20.

I'm going to be a bit of an outlier here and recommend Regina Oro. I used to burn through a lot of freewheels and Reginas would last the longest. I know some people I respect here have mentioned QC issues, but I never had problems myself. The basic truth is the teeth lasted longer. Harder steel or something. Cyclo were good too. Suntour New Winner were OK. This is if we are talking very vintage freewheels. I didn't care for Shimano, but when 7400 came out in about 1985 they did more less pass everyone, and are still ahead.

For modern freewheels: Sunrace are quite good and reliable IME and cost very little. They're not that light, but neither were vintage FW. For something fancier, I know the first batch of IRD had some problems but supposedly the new ones are good. Haven't tried them.

[MENTION=170517]rccardr[/MENTION] and [MENTION=251447]ThermionicScott[/MENTION] thanks for the mentions, but I believe the only other thing I can mention is that Suntour ProCompe and Perfects can be an alternative and can be ultra or narrow spaced as 6 speeds which in most cases fit in 120mm rear spacing.
[MENTION=185055]higgins617[/MENTION] it is always a good idea to service the internals on a vintage freewheel.

Another vote for a Suntour if you want something less expensive and well made. And I wouldn't trash the Dura Ace either, perhaps a conversation via PM or email with [MENTION=42162]pastorbobnlnh[/MENTION] would be enlightening about his Freewheel Spa service. I've had two freewheels reworked by him and they come back even better than new, both were Regina Extras, one an Oro 6 speed and the other a standard Extra 5 speed. Its well worth checking into.

Bill

Salamandrine - Yes. Atom was identical to Regina, never understood how that worked making them in France and in Italy and all interchangeable. In olden times Schwinn stocked replacement Atom cogs, any Schwinn dealer would order them for you, and you could use them on your Regina block. Still means that graveyard Varsity needs to have the FW salvaged.

Higgins617 - Of course we use pre-owned freewheels. Problem is it can be very hard to look at a freewheel and make a good appraisal of how worn it is. If it does look worn those teeth are cooked. If it looks just slightly used you have to try it. Might be good, might not be so good. Internals always come back with cleaning and lube. Unless you lost a pawl spring. For that you will have to open it up and see what can be done.

I would get a Sunrace. They only have like one gearing option and if that doesn't work for you get an IRD. The new Shimano freewheels are horrendously ugly with the black big cog and Shimano logo on it, looks like something on a Walmart bike. But the main thing is that all three have ramped teeth which will greatly improve shifting, especially with friction shifters. The chain goes into gear way smoother and you have to make less fine tune adjustments. I will never use a non-ramped freewheel again.

Well it looks like there are supporting opinions/experiences with nearly every supplier over the years! The Colnago was pulled off the desk the other day to be used for commuting to work. Its been about 3 years since it has been ridden. It has a 7 speed IRD from about the transition time of the QC issues. The bike is 100% Record/Super Record except the chain and freewheel. It shifted flawlessly, I was pleasantly surprised. A lot quite than the DA DT clack of SIS.

The alternate wheel set has Regina on it and it too shifts surprisingly well.

So counter to the experiences of some, the Regina and IRD with SR RD shifts fast and quietly. Maybe because they are on a Colnago?!

I'd have no problem with used. I'd prefer to inspect it before I bought it though or have a favorable return policy. The 35 year old Suntour 5 speed I took off my '78 Raleigh is was smoother running and had no play in it unlike the new 7 speed Shimano I replaced it with. My original Campy shifter though made for 5 speeds works very well with the seven speed.

Chain skip can also be a worn out chain. Which chains are fairly cheap, so if yours is not new, then you might want to try that. Though you can measure the stretch, I do not find it easy to get a precise measure with a common tape measure and old eyes. I've been wanting to buy that Park tool for checking stretch, but I keep forgetting (another issue for us vintage types).

I don't think you'd see any skip issues with a worn cog and new chain. Though the teeth are worn, they still are in the correct position to hit the proper position on the chain. And just because it's used doesn't mean it is worn out of spec.

The worst combination for skipping is a new chain with worn cogs...The worst combination for causing damage is a worn chain with new cogs. Good freewheels are becoming a rare commodity. The best strategy is to keep a careful watch on chain stretch (wear) and discard the chain at about 0.75% wear. Park and VAr (and others) both make inexpensive "go-no go" chain wear tools that pay for themselves very quickly.

Too....sorry