Bike shop says freewheel cant be rebuilt?
12-22-18, 06:58 PM
#27
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Gods bless the bike shops who tell owners of classic and vintage bike that their equipment is archaic and beyond repair, so they should buy a new (high margin?) bike. It places welcome downward pressure on the used prices for these lovely machines for those of us who will appreciate them, At a certain age, a bike should be owned by a rider who will do her own repairs. As Bertram Russell observed "time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."
-Will
-Will
12-23-18, 03:40 AM
#28
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Freewheels can be rebuilt if you have the patience, time and tools. I think RJ the Bike Guy on YouTube has a video tutorial.
I did my Suntour freewheel back in the 1970s, just because I was curious. I don't remember whether there were instructions from Tom Cuthbertson's "Anybody's Bike Book," which was my only tech reference back then. Not really worth the effort other than for fans and enthusiasts of classic and vintage bikes who want to maintain original parts as long as possible. As other folks noted there are a handful of specialists who still offer this service.
Otherwise just buy a SunRace replacement -- they cost $10-$20. Much less fussy than the cheap Shimano MegaRange freewheels, which won't work reliably with anything but chains labeled "narrow" from Shimano, KMC or others. Any other chains will skip over the teeth in the smaller cogs -- not enough space between the cogs and spacers, so it pushes chains up and they skip. SunRace freewheels have enough clearance between the cogs and spacers to avoid that problem so they aren't picky about chains.
I have two or three SunRace freewheels and the work fine, although quality control is sketchy. One 13-25 SunRace freewheel I got to replace my '89 Centurion's original Suntour 13-24 had a slight wobble in the two smallest cogs -- not a problem in friction shifting mode, but glitchy on my road bike's ultra-picky Accushift indexed mode. The cog spacing and wobble were just slightly off, enough to interfere with index shifting. I moved that freewheel to my errand bike which uses Shimano RevoShift grip shifters and low end Altus derailleur. The tolerances are generous so the wobble doesn't affect that bike.
Another SunRace 14-28 freewheel is aligned just about perfectly and works as well as the original Suntour 13-24 with the Accushift system. For what they cost it's hard to complain about SunRace. No idea if they can be rebuilt, I probably wouldn't bother.
I did my Suntour freewheel back in the 1970s, just because I was curious. I don't remember whether there were instructions from Tom Cuthbertson's "Anybody's Bike Book," which was my only tech reference back then. Not really worth the effort other than for fans and enthusiasts of classic and vintage bikes who want to maintain original parts as long as possible. As other folks noted there are a handful of specialists who still offer this service.
Otherwise just buy a SunRace replacement -- they cost $10-$20. Much less fussy than the cheap Shimano MegaRange freewheels, which won't work reliably with anything but chains labeled "narrow" from Shimano, KMC or others. Any other chains will skip over the teeth in the smaller cogs -- not enough space between the cogs and spacers, so it pushes chains up and they skip. SunRace freewheels have enough clearance between the cogs and spacers to avoid that problem so they aren't picky about chains.
I have two or three SunRace freewheels and the work fine, although quality control is sketchy. One 13-25 SunRace freewheel I got to replace my '89 Centurion's original Suntour 13-24 had a slight wobble in the two smallest cogs -- not a problem in friction shifting mode, but glitchy on my road bike's ultra-picky Accushift indexed mode. The cog spacing and wobble were just slightly off, enough to interfere with index shifting. I moved that freewheel to my errand bike which uses Shimano RevoShift grip shifters and low end Altus derailleur. The tolerances are generous so the wobble doesn't affect that bike.
Another SunRace 14-28 freewheel is aligned just about perfectly and works as well as the original Suntour 13-24 with the Accushift system. For what they cost it's hard to complain about SunRace. No idea if they can be rebuilt, I probably wouldn't bother.
12-23-18, 08:21 PM
#29
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Maybe there was indeed something wrong with what you showed him and he was correct in saying it was broken. There is however a high probability that he has never seen a freewheel before. How old was this dude?
Actually, now that I think about it - are you sure that what you had was a freewheel?
Actually, now that I think about it - are you sure that what you had was a freewheel?
now I'm pretty sure when he says something can't be done he means he'd rather not do it. lol.
I had to return to the shop after picking up my wheel because the edge of the free wheel was sticking out farther than the nut at the end of the axle which makes it touch the bike frame (the replacement freewheel was a different brand and he just matched it with the old axle when screwing them in). so I ask if he could move the axle a bit and he said no and proceeded to look around for some spare nuts to add to that end. but then there was not enough clearance for the axle so he ended up sliding the axle. lol. and he's like murmuring "you know it's just an axle but it become pretty technical quickly blah blah..".
12-24-18, 02:40 AM
#30
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it is a freewheel. it's not broken. he's pretty old, like 50+
now I'm pretty sure when he says something can't be done he means he'd rather not do it. lol.
I had to return to the shop after picking up my wheel because the edge of the free wheel was sticking out farther than the nut at the end of the axle which makes it touch the bike frame (the replacement freewheel was a different brand and he just matched it with the old axle when screwing them in). so I ask if he could move the axle a bit and he said no and proceeded to look around for some spare nuts to add to that end. but then there was not enough clearance for the axle so he ended up sliding the axle. lol. and he's like murmuring "you know it's just an axle but it become pretty technical quickly blah blah..".
now I'm pretty sure when he says something can't be done he means he'd rather not do it. lol.
I had to return to the shop after picking up my wheel because the edge of the free wheel was sticking out farther than the nut at the end of the axle which makes it touch the bike frame (the replacement freewheel was a different brand and he just matched it with the old axle when screwing them in). so I ask if he could move the axle a bit and he said no and proceeded to look around for some spare nuts to add to that end. but then there was not enough clearance for the axle so he ended up sliding the axle. lol. and he's like murmuring "you know it's just an axle but it become pretty technical quickly blah blah..".
Here are some vidoes on freewheels
12-24-18, 07:33 AM
#31
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I had to return to the shop after picking up my wheel because the edge of the free wheel was sticking out farther than the nut at the end of the axle which makes it touch the bike frame (the replacement freewheel was a different brand and he just matched it with the old axle when screwing them in). so I ask if he could move the axle a bit and he said no and proceeded to look around for some spare nuts to add to that end. but then there was not enough clearance for the axle so he ended up sliding the axle. lol. and he's like murmuring "you know it's just an axle but it become pretty technical quickly blah blah..".
12-30-18, 03:46 PM
#32
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it is a freewheel. it's not broken. he's pretty old, like 50+
now I'm pretty sure when he says something can't be done he means he'd rather not do it. lol.
I had to return to the shop after picking up my wheel because the edge of the free wheel was sticking out farther than the nut at the end of the axle which makes it touch the bike frame (the replacement freewheel was a different brand and he just matched it with the old axle when screwing them in). so I ask if he could move the axle a bit and he said no and proceeded to look around for some spare nuts to add to that end. but then there was not enough clearance for the axle so he ended up sliding the axle. lol. and he's like murmuring "you know it's just an axle but it become pretty technical quickly blah blah..".
now I'm pretty sure when he says something can't be done he means he'd rather not do it. lol.
I had to return to the shop after picking up my wheel because the edge of the free wheel was sticking out farther than the nut at the end of the axle which makes it touch the bike frame (the replacement freewheel was a different brand and he just matched it with the old axle when screwing them in). so I ask if he could move the axle a bit and he said no and proceeded to look around for some spare nuts to add to that end. but then there was not enough clearance for the axle so he ended up sliding the axle. lol. and he's like murmuring "you know it's just an axle but it become pretty technical quickly blah blah..".
You were on the right track, with wanting to add a spacer, by you have to add the same amount of space to both sides of the wheel, or the wheel won’t be centered in the frame. Your frame has to be capable of accommodating the now wider axle. Some are, some are not. No way to tell from just the wheel.
If the frame can’t fit the wheel with extra spacers, then the existing spacers would need to be adjusted to move the axle relative to the hub (and sprockets) If you move the hub, you now have to adjust the rim relative to the rest of the wheel, known as re-dishing. If you balked at $20 for a flywheel swap, then you probably wouldn’t want to have your wheel completely rebuilt. Not worth your money or the shop’s time.
I’d ask for a different freewheel. I’ve found that modern Shimano sit out farther than vintage Shimano, but Sunrace fit more like the vintage stuff.
01-02-19, 06:21 PM
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Not to nitpick, but Regina isn't out of business, they simply seem to be out of the bicycle business. They still make fantastic motorcycle chains, as well as some other nice products.
01-03-19, 05:43 PM
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Most bikeshop are not interested in educating potential customers on how to repair their own bikes. From what I can tell, the guy you gave the job to was also incompetent. On the other hand, if you wanted to fix the thing up yourself, why did you hand it over to someone else? Start educating yourself on bike repair and you will never have to deal with frustrating bikeshops again.
Here are some vidoes on freewheels
Here are some vidoes on freewheels
If the hub were something special, by all means, spend the money but not for a $20 freehub or a $20 freewheel.
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Stuart Black
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
