Its easy as pie. And you get a new drive side bearing race! Yes!

I'm pretty fair, and I can admit when something really is better. I've worked with enough freewheel hubs, and seen enough crusty, clunky freewheels and bent axles, and cassette hubs have finally won me over.

If you tend to strongly disagree, and you have the resources, try this before you argue :

1. Take a cassette hubbed wheel in great shape
2. Put on a 9 speed SRAM cassette
3. Get an 80s bike with a shimano light action (or similar) 6 speed indexing drive train (earlier bikes with friction shifting will work, but I know the light action rd has enough range for a 9 speed cassette)
4. Set the rear dt shifter on friction
5. Install a 9 speed SRAM chain
6. Install wheel
7. Adjust hi and low on rd to reach all the gears.
8. Feel how it shifts

Things that have gotten better:

-Chains
-Cassettes
-hubs

Duely noted and committed to memory (kinda) ..... much obliged.

Site's bookmarked

Right on

Very true. Save nostalgia, I can't think of too many reasons to go with a freewheel (assuming that you can fit a modern hub in your frame).

no bike that I put serious miles on has a freewheel, there is no good reason to do so.

Well, there's the ever ominous fact that one doesn't need a freehub.

I actually like freewheels a lot. And 6 speeds is okay with me. 9? Hmm...

And cost. That rings out too. I can get a freewheeel for $15.

No, not needed. Just saying they're a better design in a number of ways. I've always shyed away from large numbers of gears, but the 9 speed rear I set up worked great.

I'm still a retrogrouch in that I prefer friction in most cases. I was surprised how well a 9 speed cassette worked in friction. The improvement over freewheels is drastic. And I think it shifts better because of the high number of gears. They're closer together, so the chain always lands on a gear, and trimming is less of an issue. And the ramping on the cogs to assist shifting has improved as well.

Plus, you get a new drive side bearing race when you replace the freehub!

You can upgrade to a freehub without replacing the whole drivetrain if you run friction. All I changed was the rear wheel, cassette and chain. The 9 speed chain worked on the biopace chainrings, and the shifters and derailleur are original. Since wheels need to be replaced every few years or ~x miles anyway due to rim fatigue, its not really an extra expense.

Hmmm, I'm having trouble _picturing_ this conversion process.