Source for new 13-24 ish freewheels?
 

Where do you find them? Most of the stuff I'm seeing have buzzsaw 28T or larger?

Would like to go with a new option, rather than used or NOS. 24T is the max I would need since I'm in Chicago.



Thx.

Sunrace makes a 13-25 7 speed.

And for a good price. I've read bad reviews on the quality of some but mine seems OK. At the price you could always buy two (from different vendors so they'll be from different batches) and increase your chances of getting a good one.

NOS units do appear on ebay from a number of makers from time to time. Bicycleclassics I think had something you might be interested in. I bought a Sunrace in a similar size and it appears smoother than a Regina Extra out of the box. IRD units can be found too. I suggest on those you might buy direct from them to get the latest version which is noted to be improved.

For me, the key would be plenty of odd numbers, 13-15-17-19-21...

I found a NOS 13-24 seven speed Suntour Winner freewheel on eBay this spring. It was an investment. It has not been disappointing in anyway: great shifting performance and very good overall performance.

Almost as good: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-SUNTOUR-...item51aee820e8

The 13-25 Sunrace I have seems quite good. For 6 speed, IRD are the only ones that I can think of, and they do offer a 13-24 in both 6 and 7 speed:

http://www.interlocracing.com/freewheelbreakdown.html

One place that has them: http://www.renehersestore.com/servle...ssorted/Detail

I've recently scooped up a whole bunch of lightly used freewheels in that range from ebay. A lot of NOS freewheels are priced for crazy high prices, but you can get really good slightly used ones for $20-$30. It isn't hard to crack them open to clean and relube once you know how from internet guides. A lot of the new FWs have their cogs riveted together, and that just drives me nuts. It's interesting to see the construction and metallurgy differences inside.

^ I would agree. I've never had any trouble with all but one of the good condition Suntour Winners I have bought in that gearing range. I did buy one that feels a bit rough inside that I will disassemble (or send to pastorbob's freewheel spa) for cleaning/relubing, but the gears on that one look to be in top condition.

That is a bit harder to find range, seems the kind found on higher end racers...that got ridden and worn out, as opposed to wider range Freewheels that came on more common bikes. I have a 12-23 6 speed Sante' I am trying to decide on which ride gets it...pretty good shape except for 3 chipped teeth...saw some HARD use by someone at some point...how do you break TEETH if you know what you are doing?!?

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

I should have specified that I want to use this in a Shimano 600/Tri-color system with indexed shifting.

I'm currently running a Suntour Winner (which is excellent) with Suntour friction shifters. I'm not sure if the Suntour would work in Index with the Tri-color stuff. Anyone tried this?

More specific information is needed, at least for me. Not knowing any better, I'm assuming you're talking about 6 speed standard (not Ultra) spaced. In that case, if you want to keep the same shifters, you're locked into a 6 spd standard spaced freewheel. That's actually a pretty easy order; anything but an Ultra-6 Suntour should fit the bill. Two surefire ways to get a 13-24 6-spd in new or as good as new condition are Ebay, and Pastorbob.

I think it will not work, Ultra is not right and standard spacing will not.

If you want index... you indeed have a narrow acceptable range of parts of which to choose.

More specifically, looking for 7sp, Shimano index compatible.

Well, we all know what happens when one aSSumes... ;)

Re new Sunrace freewheels, I've only owned one, so I'm not speaking from a vast amount of experience...but the one I did recently purchase came "loose" with a quite a bit of wobble to it. I had to adjust the bearing race out of the box, but it worked fine otherwise.

In my experience, the rarest freewheels are in my favorite sizes of 13-26 and 14-26.

I've got one of these: http://www.interlocracing.com/freewheels_steel.html

Again, no 26T cog. This is the size I need for a short cage rear derailleur and a 42T inner chainring, for a low gear in the mid 40s.

Especially the 14/26 6 speeds....impossible to find anymore.

according to Sheldon's cribsheet
http://sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-spacing.shtml#k7fw
what you want for Shimano 7-S indexed compatibility is any FW with 5.0 C-T-C cog spacing, and then match cog thickness to chain.
SunTour standard 6-S, and Accushift both have 5.5mm C-T-C spacing and so will not be ideal unless you can find a cable-pull adapter designed for this mis-match.
However the Sun Tour Ultra 6 looks to have exactly the same C-T-C spacing and cog thickness as Shimano HG 7-S, so should work (but YRMV)

Yup, and there is nothing like a 14-16-18-20-23-26 progression with a 50-42 (1.5-step) up front for hills and a 50-47 (half-step) for flat rides. This is what I currently use on the Bianchi. The Peugeot has a 45-42 / 13-15-17-20-23-26 half-step, which I find ideal for commuting and utility riding. I am building Capo #2 with 49-46/14-16-18-21-24-26. Again, 26 is a magic number if you want to go as low as possible with a short cage derailleur.

Ended up ordering this from Niagra. $18 shipped. Seemed like the path of least resistance.

this is going on my Battaglin, which i'm going to use for commuting. If I take the "long way" home, it can get in a 40 miler.

Thanks again for all the super helpful replies!

I'll post some pics of the Battmobile one I get it back in fighting form.

I have an old Regina 5 speed, 13-26, OLD School, probably a FRICTION ONLY gearset IF ever used. Got it on an old wheel that was trash...the steel rim and spokes totally rusted out, the Chromed Steel Shimano hub...not TOO bad, and this old freewheel, light wear, but surface rust from sitting for 30 years. Probably good for some older Italian museum piece! It spins NICE, inside was VERY clean.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/p...psef321840.jpg

The Suntour Winner is not going to index with Shimano and depending on which generation it is, may not index with suntour stuff. Suntour winners are great freewheels but suntour was late to the indexing game. One of my better scores was buying all the winner freewheels from a bike shop. I'm sitting on a lot of 5 and 6 speed freewheels. Ideally you would pick up a 6 speed Shimano freewheel. They were beautiful freewheels and indexed nicely. I think I have one or two in the old parts box but they are probably 13-21. IRD would be a very good choice and they are not bad at $40 or so online.

For what it's worth, I think the spacing on the IRD (13-14-15-17-19-21-24) makes a lot more sense than the SunRace (13-15-17-19-21-23-25) -- the SunRace has two-tooth jumps from top to bottom, which means the lower gears are a lot more closely spaced than the top gears.