khatfull

Not a fault of the tool.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

SunRace freewheels. They've got the Hyperglide style teeth on the cogs and the reliability has been, for me, excellent. I got scared off the IRD freewheels after reading lots of reviews of them crapping out after just a couple hundred miles.

You can get 3 SunRace freewheels for the cost of 1 IRD and for the price of an IRD I dont wanna end up like the other chumps who shelled out only to get stranded when it crapped out.

ctmullins 

Are you sure? Five-speed is generally 120mm OLD, while the "normal" six and the "narrow" seven are both 126mm OLD. You can spread steel stays to accommodate, but you may need to lengthen the drive side of your hub axle with spacers.

That said, I love old SunTour freewheels, but recently switched to ramped freewheels, one Shimano and one SunRace. I don't care for the way Shimano mounts the two largest cogs via rivets to the smaller ones. But they both shift really well.

Zaphod Beeblebrox 

I just worked on a Shimano freewheel that had the cogs riveted together. Is that only on their low end stuff or is it on all of their freewheels? Its silly.

SJX426 

I tried the Shimano FW before the IRD. There is not a significant difference except the price and the sound. I believe the IRD has more ramps for a quieter sound. Shifting is equivalent.
There was a problem with IRD a couple of years ago, but that has been resolved and most LBS's replaced the ones that were a problem.

atmdad

Spacing is 126. I swung by the LBS on Saturday and we put a 6 and 7 speed fw up to it and they were just slightly wider than the current 5 speed and plenty of space to the dropout. Problem was they were the only 2 he had, I didn't want the 6 speed because I figure if I change I might as well go to 7 and the 7 speed was a 14-34 megarange which pretty much means a different derailler that I do not have.

I was reading a little on the Sheldon Brown site and re-centering the axle, spacers, etc all seemed pretty straightforward. It did mention redishing is not really needed going from 5 to 6 or 6 to 7 but that I should going from 5 to 7. Is that really critical?

It sounds like either the Shimano or Sunrace is adequate. Which is quieter? The Suntour i'm running now is whisper silent and I like the "Ninja" surprise when I overtake modern CF riders on my steel steed

noglider 

The pinnacle of freewheels has been reached. Shimano are the best you'll get, and they're inexpensive. Yes, you can probably substitute a 7 speed for a 6 speed.

Don't get a used one. These are wear items, and you might as well get the best for your money. If the new freewheel causes the chain to skip, quickly replace your chain.

I see no reason to look for anything else. This component on bikes is a basic, boring, wear item, unless you get something less functional for sentimental reasons.

rat fink

The best freewheels... aren't.

atmdad

Fine, you convinced me. I'm just gonna go this route for my Miyata...

due ruote 

I'm told SRAM makes good stuff, but honestly those are some of the most unfortunate looking bits I've seen.

My problems with Shimano freewheels are a) why on earth do they have to make the back cog black and plaster their logo on it; b) I wish they made a close-range model. That leaves the Sunrace and IRD, both of which are shinier than I'd like, which is why I'm still with DA and Suntour. Yes, the shifting is slightly clunky, but then so am I.

jimmuller 

I can't answer your question but I can say it bothers me too.

Now I'm confused. Black is too black but shiny is too shiny. Would you settle for a diffuse gray? I liked the old gold Pro Compe but they all get dirty so fast it doesn't matter much anyway. But yeah, my new Shimano looks ugly by comparison.

Last fall I put a new 6-cog Shimano Hyperglide FW and a new SRAM chain on my Raleigh which has Vx derailleurs. Usually it shifts so quickly and quietly that I hear nothing. The only clue that it shifted is the feel of the pedals. I'm impressed (but it is still ugly).

WNG

There is another...(sounds like Yoda in TESB), SRAM makes freewheels too. 7-speed with silver cogs.
The Sunrace and Shimano 7 speed freewheels sound about the same.

max5480

I just pulled the trigger on a shimano 7 speed hyperglide and a new chain. Thanks for all the input!

Sixty Fiver

I have a Zeus 2000 freewheel that I need to overhaul... cogs are fine but it is very clunky.

It has to be the lightest freewheel I have ever held, some of the old Maillard Course freewheels are also extremely light.

I just received service boards for Suntour, Maillard, Sachs, and Regina CX freewheels so will be able to rehabilitate or refit a good number of them.

noglider 

The Regina with its many size of sprockets, was quite complicated. A cow-orker of mine broke the code and wrote a chart. Some sprockets thread on from the inside, some from the outside.

due ruote 

They can also be rather stubborn. The one time I tried to service Reginas I broke a couple chain whips before throwing in the towel.

pastorbobnlnh 

Recently I worked on two different Reginas with good success. This CX from rothenfield1 looked to be a total basket case. The dark stuff is rust, not chain oil and road dirt. All the bearings were discolored and shot. After an OA bath, the cogs were rust free but some of the silver finish had been eaten away.






I also rehabbed this Corsa for ftwelder. It looked fine on the outside other than some grime and dirt, but was ready for new grease on the inside.

Road Fan

+1000!

Sixty Fiver

One of the innovations that Suntour made and others adopted was the use of splined freewheel sprockets... they can still be a little baffling as when a freewheel like a Winner can be built up as a 5, 6, or 7 speed that makes for a lot of sprockets and spacers.

The joy in playing with them is that you can set up freewheels the way you want them.

atmdad

Put in an order last night for some items including a couple of freewheels from Niagara. I haven't ordered from them in about 6 months, has there shipping turn around gotten any better or is still like waiting for something coming by wagon train along the Oregon trail?

noglider 

I can't say for sure, but Niagara DOES seem to have gotten faster.

ColonelJLloyd 

Tom is right. Freewheels are consumables. One shouldn't worry too much about them. I've been buying SunRace because they're HG, ramped, silver and inexpensive. They're working just fine. I do prefer the quiet stealth of a cassette hub, though.

mazdaspeed

My bianchi has a 7 speed sachs freewheel, I use it in conjunction with tri-color shifters (indexed) and RD and a sram 8 speed chain. It shifts well but not quite as smoothly as shimano hyperglide ones. I just wish someone made new 7 speed freewheels with better gear ratios. 13/14-28 is an OK multi purpose range but it isn't the sportiest.

ColonelJLloyd 

Shimano makes a 13,15,17,19,21,24,27.

SunRace makes a 13,15,17,19,21,23,25.

Chombi

As a French bike owner that only use mostly French components on my bikes, I can only vouch for Maillard/Spidel FWs from the 80's. Never had any trouble with most of them (except for their Helicomatics....breaking bearings on their proprietary hubs) I've been running compacts and super compact 700s and they are very easy to maintain and are very resistat to wear. The notched tooth cogs work superbly with my Sedis made chains too in narrow and regular format. Suprised no one else mentioned Maillard too. I recently aquired a couple of Reginas, They seem to be just as stout and function well on my bikes, but I did notced as others have that they tend to be hard to break apart or remove from hubs for cleaning/maintenance compared to my Maillard/Spidels. I broke a chainwhip on one already when I was removing the cogs for cleaning earlier in the year. Tighter thread tolerances??

Chombi