tmoneygetpaid

A friend wants me to build him a cheap single speed. I've started thinking about what parts to put on it, and I remember that I have a wheelset lying around that I could use. The problem is that it uses a Uniglide cassette/ freehub body. This raises some complications:

1. What tool do I use to remove the cassette? There's one on loosescrews that says it removes "virtually all shimano cassettes since 1982," but that seems strange since the splines on HG are different than on UG. There's also the Park Tool FG-1...

2. Can I get spacers that would fit those splines? Again, loosescrews has a part they say will work in this situation. Again I am skeptical because of the splines.

3. Do you think I'd be better off replacing the freehub body with a HG body? It'd add about $40 to the cost of the build, which I don't see him wanting to do, but give him flexibility if he wants to run a multi-cog setup later.

As always, thanks!

Old Fat Guy

If it is a freehub, you use two chain whips to remove the top cog. The tools you referenced are for freewheels, as it notes on loosescrews. Nowhere does it say it removes freehubs.

I would think just about any spacers could be used to convert it to a single speed, the splines have nothing to do with it. You could probably use the spacers in it plus a few to achieve good chainline. I'm not sure what you would use for a lockring.

I like having gears, so I've never explored the possibilities, and my uniglide works good enough, so I've never converted to hyperglide.

You are probably better off asking about conversions in the fixed forum.

jtarver

Yeah, since the last cog is the lockring I guess you could use it to lock everything together. I bought that puller at Harris for $15, pre-97 Dura Ace I think they call it.

tmoneygetpaid

Right right, but you need to remove the cassette to remove and replace the freehub. So now, once I get the first cog off I will be able to remove the cassette without any other tools, right? There's no other funkiness with Uniglide?

And thinking back, the spacers I installed on another wheel to make it single speed weren't splined at all. They are kept in place entirely by the tightness of the lockring, so you're right on that.


I doubt they have any idea in the fixed forum what uniglide is. I asked here because I thought people might still be running with uniglide wheels and know what tools you needed, etc.

Thanks

Old Fat Guy

Two chain whips are the only tools you need.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showpost.p...26&postcount=9

unworthy1

another *possible option* is to replace the *freehub body* (which unscrews with a big Allen key, I think) with a later Uniglide body (one that has both the external Uni threading AND the internal threads for the HG lockring) or a Hyperglide body, in which case you can then use any HG cog and you won't be forced to use only the UG spline-pattern cogs (and forced to use that outer cog as a lockring to hold the stack on). OOPs, I see you have already considered that option (#3): I'd go for that mainly because HG parts are SO much more common, I doubt you'd have to spend $40 for a usable HG rear hub you could cannibalize.

Gonzo Bob

1. As others have said, use two chain whips. Or put the wheel in the bike and shift to the 2nd biggest cog and use 1 chain whip on the smallest cog.

2. Spacers fit both HG and UG freehub bodies (they don't have the fat tab) so no worries there.

3. Only if he will run multi-speed.

If you get one of the special single-speed cogs for a freehub (rather than just running a UG cog which is meant for derailer applications), it will likely fit the HG spline pattern but you can just grind the fat tab narrower to fit on the UG freehub.

Also, the threading for non-Dura-Ace UG freehub top cog is the same as English BB (1.37"x24) so you can use an old BB lockring (example picture attached) to lock it all down (or just use the top cog if you don't have a BB lockring).

I'm not very familiar with Dura-Ace UG but I know that the top two cogs thread on. The smallest cog is smaller than 1.37"x24 to allow 11T cogs but the 2nd cog is probably 1.37"x24 and can probably serve as the lockring for SS (you probably don't need the top cog at all).

Also, Dura-Ace UG freehub bodies attach differently than all other Shimano and conversion to HG will be much more than $40 if this is what you have. Only the Dura-Ace 8sp HG freehub will fit and you need a special tool https://sheldonbrown.com/harris/k7.html#bodies

Old Fat Guy

I have 6-7-8 speed DA UG freehubs. Only the top cog threads on. On the 7-8 speed freehubs, the second cog has a built in spacer, but it does NOT thread.

Gonzo Bob

Thanks for the correction, OFG. I thought I had once seen a photo of a Dura-Ace UG freehub that had two threadings. And I know I've seen info (probably at loosescrews.com) that the Dura-Ace UG top *two* cogs are unique. So if the 2nd cog isn't threaded, why is it unique to Dura-Ace? Does it have a different spline diameter or pattern?

Old Fat Guy

That I can't answer. I only have Dura Ace, so I don't know what a 600/105.

The difference in the 7-8 speed is just that the 2nd cog has a built in spacer. I can take pictures if you need/would like to see what I'm talking about.

PlatyPius

That is very, very useful information! Thanks for mentioning it. I'll add that to my internal catalogue of "odd information that I might need someday". lol

reverborama

I have a Dura-Ace uniglide that I singled-speeded for the wife. I bought an SS kit from somewhere that was essentially a bunch of aluminum spacers. I picked up a Uniglide cassette (for Dura-Ace only) then spaced one of the cogs out until I had a perfect chainline and locked it all down with the smallest cog. The wheelset is probably worth more than the rest of the bike!

Gonzo Bob

I don't think pictures would necessarily clear it up. Let me ask it this way: Is the Dura-Ace 2nd cog restricted to the 2nd position or could it go in the 3rd position? If it's possible to go in the 3rd position, it's not unique to Dura-Ace as from 3rd on are the same as non-Dura-Ace.

Old Fat Guy

Nope, 3rd position is a normal cog. I think anything would work there. The critical 2nd position cog with built in spacer is only for 7-8 speed, 6 speed uses all the same, except fotr threaded top cog.

FWIW, the 7-8 speed top cog is marked as such, but I've never had a problem using an older 6 speed top cog in it's place.

tmoneygetpaid

I picked up a second chain whip today and have been *struggling* to get off the top cog. Just to make sure I'm doing this right, the hub is part Shimano FG-6400, like the one here.

I am trying to unthread the top cog by moving it counter-clockwise (not reverse-thread) while holding the other chain whip steady with the counterpull clockwise. I worked at this for a good 20 minutes with a pretty crazy amount of force to no avail. Annoying!

Old Fat Guy

Like this? Shoot it with PB Blaster and try again