Lbxpdx

So my ignorance runs deep with free wheels. Currently my new to me bike has suntour friction shifters, a Sachs Huret duopar eco RD and a suntour 5 speed freewheel.

What is the largest number of speeds on a freewheel can I use with my setup?

I have found a 27” wheel set with new gatorskins and a 6 speed Shimano freewheel for roughly the price of the tires and want to make sure it would work.

ehcoplex

If it's a 5sp, your bike probably has a 120mm spaced rear, and the wheel you're looking at probably is 126mm.... You could probably just squeeze it into your frame... or if it's a steel frame, spread the dropouts to 126mm. And if you spread to accommodate 126mm, you can likely fit a 7sp freewheel.

A good starting point would be to measure the OLD of your current hub, or the spacing of the rear dropouts- then you'll know where you stand, what you'll need to do to get more speeds, etc.

Aardwolf

Velobase says that RD has 36T chain wrap and 36T max cog size: https://velobase.com/ViewComponent.a...67ba9&Enum=108
That means it will probably handle most any freewheel.

Given you've got a Suntour 5 speed on there I'm guessing the dropout spacing might be 120mm.
You need to measure that before anybody can give a final verdict.

I've built a wheel with a 7 speed Sunrace (13-28) freewheel that fits a 126mm OLD (6 speed) bike, it works very nicely (Suntour Cyclone Mk2 GT RD, Suntour Power Shifters).

davester

A 5-speed hub will have a 120mm OLD (over locknut distance; i.e. the distance between the inside faces of the rear dropouts. With the exception of Suntour Ultra-6 freewheels, a standard 6-speed freewheel will have a 126mm OLD. This means that you will need to spread the rear stays apart by 6mm to get a standard 6-speed wheel in there. Some folks simply pry the stays apart and jam the wheel in. This can work, but the resulting non-parallel dropouts will then cause extra stress on both the dropouts and axle, which can result in a broken axle and/or cracked dropout (both of these problems have happened to me). Alternatively, you can have the frame spread by cold-setting and then realign the dropout faces to parallel. This can either be done at a competent LBC with the correct tools, or by following Sheldon's instructions here: https://sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

Another solution would be to find yourself a used Ultra-6 freewheel and narrow chain (any 8-speed chain will work) to put on your 5-speed hub. Less chance of axle breakage that way too.

Lbxpdx

If I have the bike cold set and if I chose to go back to the stock wheel set, would I need to put spacers in to accommodate for the new width?

davester

Yes if you want the dropouts to be aligned correctly. Not a big deal though.

52telecaster

What bike is this? I've seen plenty of 5 speed setups on 126 frames.

Lbxpdx

1985 Schwinn Voyageur SP. I measured the distance with the wheel on it presently and it measures right about 123mm

davester

That's a good compromise distance between 120 and 126. That year was fairly transitional between 5-speed and 6-speed freewheels which is probably why they did that. Sounds like you are good to go with either wheel set.

randyjawa 

Basically, you can run a five cog or a 7 cog freewheel. You can even run an 8 cog freewheel, if you can find one. To run an increased number of cogs freewheel, you will need to equally spread your stays and install a longer rear axle. That's about it buy my question would be why bother? Five cog freewheels are just fine and are used with shorter axles, reducing the possibility of an axle bending or breaking. Also, five cog freewheels come in a wide range of cog sizes, offering decent gearing ranges (important to my really old and worn out legs). The one drawback that might present itself, is the cog tooth design. I prefer the angled teeth but most five speeds don't offer that option.

The Golden Boy 

If you have the original Suntour sealed bearing hubs- you may not be able to get the freewheel on- I have an 84 Voyageur SP and a 6 speed just *starts* to thread before it runs out of threads.

That being said- there's a lot of good 5 speed freewheels out there in a lot of good cog choices.

52telecaster

Personally I run a lot of half step and granny. 5 speed with a modern 8 speed chain runs that real well. 14-17-20- 24 28 will do nicely. 14-17-21-26-32 is even better.

Lbxpdx

Thank you for The info.