Short version: Do they fit?

Too-much-longer version: I really like the 14-18-22-26-30 I put on the '71 Raleigh a couple of weeks ago, but the low could stand to be lower, especially with the 52/40 up front. (Which will stay on the bike for now, 'cuz I'm hella broke.) I find that I quite like the 18-22-26 midrange. And it's a Uniglide, which is apparently a pretty good thing. When I bought it, I also grabbed the other wide 5-speed that was in the bin-o'-freewheels, a Shimano "model J" 14-17-21-26-32.

So the J has the low cog I want, but the 17-21-26 moves the midrange up just enough to be annoying to my so-called legs, especially with the weirdo spacing. (5-18-5% vs 10-11-6.) Plus it's got that stupid, ugly, Schwinn-mandated outer dork disk. (Which I really hope doesn't screw up disassembly, since it seems to spin all by it's lonesome.)

Thus the titular question:

Can I swap the 32 from the J for the 30 on the UG? (If it matters, the J isn't one of the skip-tooth ones.)

What about a 34, if I find one somewhere? (Which would be cool; the 31% 26-34 shift is a lot like the 29% 14-18 I have now. A big shift on either end, tighter in the middle.)

--Shannon

*I spent over an hour trying to not start Yet Another Gearing Thread (YAGeT?) Goole site search, quoted strings, excluded words, you name it. Nothing useful was found. Might this be an actual, real, honest-to-Deity, new question?

(No. Can't be. No way. Every possible question about any topic will have been asked within the first year of there being a forum dedicated to that topic.)

At first I wasn't sure if you were talking about a "cassette" body and putting freewheel cogs on it, which would probably be a big no.

Unless you can find some FW diagrams on the interwebs you may have just try it. If they both use the same removal tool it's possible the freewheel body is the same for both. pastorbobnlnh at the Freewheel SPa might know for sure.

Removal tools are no problem. The co-op has the small Shimano one that the Model J needs, and chain whips. But if the 32t from the J body won't fit the Uniglide body that's on the bike now, I'll just run it as-is until I can afford chainrings.

One tooth in the back can make a huge difference on a 5'er... it's really easy to end up with a big hole right where you want there to be a gear, if your rings don't play along.

In our current example, with a 52/40 up front, the 18-22-26 in the middle of the cluster on the bike now (14-18-22-26-30) gives a pretty evenly-spaced midrange, albeit a slightly awkward one to access. (It's a 1.5-step in the middle, which are kinda lame to shift in friction.) The 14-17-21-26-32 of the Model J's 17-21-26 is overlap city in the middle three cogs with the 52/40. Riding it in the city would suck. But, if you switch the rings to a 46/42 or 44/40, both freewheels work about the same. The 52t big ring messes things up in the middle, and I don't need the 102" high gear. High 80s is fine.

The advantage of the kit-bashing approach is that I have the parts and access to the tools, so it's just a matter of time and effort. T/A rings are expensive, and I'm really, really broke. Like, I can out-count my bank account just by talking my socks off kinda broke. Sweat and soap are free.

--Shannon

The Schwinn-approved "Model J" looks a lot like a normal, Schwinn-disapproved 3.3.3.

If that's true, does it help the answer to "can I bosh these two together and make a 14-18-22-26-32?" be "yes, you can?"

If Uniglide cogs and bodies interchange with earlier Shimano freewheels, that opens up a lot of possibilities, wide-range UG freewheels costing what they do.

--Shannon

So, today, as I was JRA the ORB, as one does, and thinking about gearing, as this one does, I thought this:

As noted above, the 40x22 middle gear is just that little bit to low of a gear to be the right gear for where I want to be in that gear. And, as I ride the bike more, I'm learning that the 40x22 to 40x18 is just that little bit too big of an upshift, so that what I really want is the 52x26 to start with, but then the 52x22 is just that little bit too high, so I'm back down to the 40x18, and that's a double-double. Good for a cheeseburger. Not great for a bicycle.

And, of course, the overriding factors in all of this are:

1. I'm a bike dork.
2. I'm really slow.
3. I'm really, really friggin' broke.

So, thinking about parts that I already own and thus won't have to buy, here are the thinks that I thunk:

• I have 3 5-speed freewheels. A 14-17-20-24-28 Shimano Z012, a 14-17-21-26-32 Shimano "Model J", and the Shimano UG 14-18-22-26-30 that's on the bike.
• The 14-32 would be awful with the 52/40... 23-24-5-18-5-24-21% gaps, (low to high gear, no crosses) with that 18% hole dead center. Really, really dumb.
• But, if I can bash them together, I can build a 14-18-21-26-32. This would move the small gap to the low side of the midrange (40x21 --> 52x26, a 5% gap) from where it is now (40x18 --> 52-22 a 6% gap), which seems like it would make my legs happier. (Plus the 7% lower low, of course.) So we're going from 15-18-10-11-6-22-29% to 23-24-5-11-11-17-29%.
• I can build a not-stupid 14-17-20-24-30 out of the leftovers, which is a nice bonus. (Similar layout, higher gears overall.)
• None of this requires the spending of any money.

Anyway, that's what I think I'm going to try to do. We'll see if I can make it work, and if I hate it if I do.

Does anybody see any rakes that I'm about to step on?

--Shannon

Shannon, can you post pictures of the three freewheels? Some Shimano sprockets are cross compatible, others are not. Some use three tabs on splined sprockets (older versions which are usually not UG), and others use a ratchet tooth looking pattern (newer versions which are usually UG). Also newer models tend to only have the smallest sprocket as a threaded one, and older models usually use two threaded sprockets. It's a complicated system.

Here we go, Your Reverendship:

The UG that's on the bike now: (14-18-22-26-30)



Schwinn-Approved Shimano "Model J": (14-17-21-26-32)


Shimano MF-Z012: (14-17-20-24-28)


Again to sum up:

I'd like to use the 32 and the 21 from the "Model J" on the UG body (or the UG 18 on the J-body, or whatever combo of cogs and body will fit together) to build a 14-18-21-26-32. Without the outside dork disk, if possible. With as many UG cogs as possible. Then, if I can, use the Z012 body and leftover cogs to make a spare 14-17-20-24-30. (Not necessary, nice bonus.)

The UG body does have a bit of a clatter when freewheeling on the stand or pushing the bike down the hallway to the building's front door. When I'm sittting on the bike and coasting, I can hear the freewheel sounding like a freewheel, and no clatter. (If that makes any sense.)

--Shannon

I believe the sprockets on the two UG freewheels will be compatible. The Model J one's will not work on the UG body.

I can dig through my spares and see if I can help with the needed sprockets in order to build the desired gearing.

Do you see the snap ring between the bottom of the chain guard and the top of the small sprocket? Remove it and the guard will come off. It's not necessary for freewheel to work.

Thanks, Bob!

Looks like I'll be using the J for now, if I want lower gears, and I'll have to change chainrings instead. In which case, I'll just half-step it, since that's what it's designed for anyway, and send you the other 2 for reconditioning and regearing. At which point, I'll have three, which should keep me going for as long as I am likely to keep me going.

--Shannon

* Anybody got a 45t x 50.4bcd chainring?

Never mind on the chainring thing.

I just learned that the inner ring on the Nervar 631/633 is a weirdo 128mm 5-hole bolt circle. Which explains why all of the TA / 50.4 inner rings I'm looking at on the Bay of E have six arms and six holes, where the 40t inner on my crank has only 5.

Unless I luck into a 128 mm 38t, (1.5-step 'alpine' with the 52, 52/38x14-17-21-26-32,) it looks like I'll be buying two new chainrings. Fortunately, the 14-32 works with a 46 outer and any of:

• 42t (90"-36" half-step)
• 34t (90"-29" 1.5-step 'alpine')
• 30t (90"-26" wide crossover)

All of which can easily bought new, albeit for ~100 bucks a set. And that's if I can reuse all the Nervar bolts.

5-speeds are picky.

--Shannon