I installed a new IRD freewheel on a bike today. When I rode the bike, I would notice a regularly periodic grinding/rubbing noise when I was freewheeling.

When I returned home, I eventually determined that the noise was coming from the freewheel. If you spin it with no pressure, it is fine, but if you turn it with some pressure, as would be done with the chain tension on it, there is a rough spot in the rotation, about 20-30 degrees of turning, always in the same spot.

When riding, I could clearly hear this, although it wasn't a horrendous racket. Sounds like tight bearings, although the hub body has a little play in it. I dripped some oil into it with no affect...

Has anyone else experienced this? It was enough to be worrisome and get my attention during riding, so I don't think I'm being super picky. I wrote back to Harris Cyclery about this, we'll see what they say, but I also wanted to see if anyone else had a similar experience.

The freewheel is/was a Mark III version, 13-24.

Yeah they suck, I've had two that have completely failed- they just spin.

Did this happen while they were fairly new? This one is literally right out of the box. Was there any warning sign(s) that failure was approaching? Your story doesn't really inspire a whole lot of confidence.

Dang, I hate looking for new freewheels on ebay. And I sure wish Shimano would ditch the large black cog w/"Shimano" on it and make a few more cog combinations. This is all a plot to get C&V'ers to throw in the towel (and their old hubs) and go w/cassettes.

Heard the same about IRD freewheel pawl mechanism problems. Enough posts in these forums about problems with them that being wary about them is justified.

Chombi

I've not experienced this with IRD freewheels, but have heard the grind on newer cheapo freewheels. I've taken them apart & greased/oiled everything and the grinding sound still remained. I attributed it to some tolerances being off. I eventually tossed those freewheels in the parts bin for flipper bikes.

I've never had trouble with used Suntours. I've accumulated enough of them now that I just mix and match cogs to get whatever gearing I need.

1) I had the same issue with a NOS Shimano 600 freewheel.
2) I've also had pretty good luck with SunRace freewheels, and they make a 13-24.
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I have a 13-28 IRD freewheel with about 1200 miles on it. Works perfectly. No problems or noises. Shifts great too. I'll keep an ear out for the grinding.

FWIW, I'm not ready to swear off IRD yet. I had a 7 speed 13-32 that I used for a while, the only reason it is gone now is I sold a wheelset & the buyer needed a widish range freewheel. And lemons do turn up occasionally, so it more or less hinges on how Harris Cyclery/IRD responds.

The issue of VO making freewheels came up a few days ago on the VO blog comments. Chris K. responded:

"The reason that we're not doing multi-speed freewheels is that none of the factories we work with have experience with high-end freewheels. I like to choose a factory that has made a similar product in the past. For example, our headsets are made in a factory that makes headsets for several companies, so there is a lot of institutional experience there."

That's a shame because, as much fun as it is to poke fun at VO's Gallic pretensions, they seem to have a pretty good track record working out bugs in the products they commission. Maybe if they heard from some more forum members, they'd reconsider, especially since their upcoming marquee hubset is going to be offered in a freewheel configuration.

I just got a brand new IRD freewheel 13-28 right out of the box it was binding and slipping in my hands let alone if I would have installed it. The freewheel didn't even sound like a freewheel no clicks just binding and slipping. I emailed Harris Cyclery and was told I got one of the bad ones and they would be sending me a replacement. I do hope the next one works.

MIke

Had a similar bad experience with one a few weeks ago...took it back to the LBS. Never again, I'll stick with Shimano and Suntour.

This is interesting. If you web search the topic, it seems like IRD had some problems early on, then seemed to have worked them out. But maybe things have gone south again for them on the manufacturing - pretty small sampling of buyers, but a lot of problems. Me, I'm set for years and years on the wider range, I've got a stack of new 13/30 Suntour Winner 7 speed, I just need a consistent supply of some narrower range ones. Doing some web searching, I found a Sunrace 13-25 that looks a little nicer in the pics than what I've seen before from them. That made me a little curious, I'm wondering if anyone has bought one of these.

Harris Cyclery blog had an article about hacking two new Shimano freewheels, a 13-28 and a 14-28 and ending up with a 13-24. Pretty cool - these hub bodies are really high quality, seems like you can get each freewheel for 10-20 dollars each. Only problem is that you end up with a 21/22 tooth jump, which is a little weird.

I have used IRD freewheels (wide range 7 speed) without issue for 1000's of miles between the two that I have, FWIW.

I just got this from Harris Cyclery:

"Hi Jay,

We found out that many of the IRDs are bad a couple days ago. IRD is sending us a new batch in a few days and I'll get one off to you as soon as they come in.

The problem appears to be the retaining ring on the pawls. During assembly it gets bent, then breaks, causing the pawls to move out of alignment.

Sorry for the problem. "

I purchased a Shimano 7spd freewheel and didn't like it, upgraded to the IRD and found the quality to be much better. Is it worth 2x the price? Really depends on what you consider quality. The IRD is very quite and shifts equal to or better. However, the Harris email should be of some concern about outgoing quality inspection at the manufacturing plant! Good thing there are quality distributors to help those who find a problem.

Yeah, I've been delighted with the IRD freewheels. I just hope that they can get their hands around maintaining a consistent quality level, as I'm not crazy about the Shimanos either. Kudos to Harris to being stand up guys about this.

Sorry to move up the old thread again. But I just bought two different IRD freewheels and they both wobble. One more than the other. At first I thought I may have bent something when removing my old Regina. I just tested it and out the Regina back on. Runs completely straight. The IRD wobbles. I don't think this is a real problem, but I thought I mentioned it.

Other than that I put some miles on the first one that I bought a few weeks ago. Works nicely except for the wobbling when freewheeling. Very quiet (almost too quiet), shifting is excellent. Not sure if I should try to exchange it because of the wobble - or just safe up for a NOS Regina...

Wobbling is normal. All freewheels wobble to some extent. Some more than others. It has no effect on anything since they only wobble when freewheeling.

I agree, I have had more wobble than not wobble. I suppose if it were excessive, as in hitting the spokes it could be an issue. But I have never seen one that bad. FWIW I have a couple of IRD's and haven't had any issues with them. None have seen any high mileage yet either.

Aaron