old/cheap SS freewheels: check it before you wreck it!
 

just wanted to post a quick warning: some old (and maybe some new?) shimano SS freewheels are essentially not removable by design. i recently ordered two cheapo shimano BMX freewheels from Quality (a big bike supply company -- i work at a shop) and, rather surprisingly, they are both the irremovable kind.

an example of a two-notched, irremovable freewheel made by falcon:
http://www.parktool.com/images_inc/r...wheel_293w.jpg
image from park tool

a picture of my shimano freewheel is attached.

park has, as usual, awesomely-clear instructions on what to do if you need to remove one of these suckers: http://www.parktool.com/repair/readhowto.asp?id=46
(that second to last picture is pretty sweet, i might add)

of course, i installed one without realizing that it was evil. i needed to remove it, and luckily i got it off without having to take it apart a la park's instructions, but i consider myself lucky.

frankly, i'm surprised that shimano makes these, or at least used to make them. i would expect it from falcon, but not shimano. sheldon might want to add something about this to his site.

Email complaint -> Free replacement?

- tks for the warning!

- unacceptable that a manufacturer would put something like this into the supply system...

I've had to deal with those before. It is a pain. If you can get a bolt on the end of the axle to hold the tool against the freewheel, it's much better. I loosened up the cones and moved the axle over to give myself enough length.

Really, this is emblematic of why bike shop mechanics hate wallmart-style bikes.

wtf, even the dirt cheap Dicta freewheel I got for a mere $7.50 was removable...

I have a bunch of freewheels almost identical to that. I for the life of mine can't find a suitable tool, so I'll probably have to go the destruction route. But I thought those two notches were for the freewheel removal, not just that "lockring" removal (the thing that keeps the freewheel's insides inside).

BTW, big thanks for bringing this up. Even though there is no solution, it is good to know I am not alone.

any good professional mechanic knows exactly what to do when they come across one of these and is not an issue. for the home mechanic it can be quite a nuisance.

Bizarre. I have a freewheel that looks like those examples but it has the normal removal notches on the other side. How much money could be saved by the manufacturer by not including the notch in the design?
I've had to do the destructive method with crappy freewheels where the metal shredded instead of loosening. It sucks.

considering the number of wal-mart bikes i work on, im surprised i haven't seen one of these yet. probably only a matter of time though. good to know now that i'll need a pin-spanner when it happens.

EDIT: just remembered i have seen these. i used a screw driver and mallet to spin it off (my shop is ultra-low budget), but it sucked.

Dicta is higher end than Falcon-contrary to the OP's presumtion, this t'aint a Shimano.

schit. i just ordered a shimano freewheel from quality through my lbs for my new build.

i'll find out what kind it is when i bring my frame in tomorrow to get my headset in and my steer tube cut.

Bingo. The shimano's usually aren't that bad.

Side note:

Radial drive on the parktool site?
http://www.parktool.com/images_inc/r..._notool_49.jpg

orly?

I have a dicta freewheel lacking even the two notches that I`m trying to remove without killing.
Anyone know how feasible it is to disassemble it to remove it and then rebuild it?

Not your average wheel. That thing looks like it's got about 500 spokes.

Well, perhaps 48. Single speed tandem? More bling than go? Uber-Clydesdales?

k so I decided to attempt the so-called destructive freewheel removal method without actually destroying the freewheel. Victory was achieved.

It wasn`t even especially difficult. I took it apart using a punch and dumped the bearings out, then used a pipe wrench to get the core off the hub (probably the most brutal method possible). I wiped off the junk from the freewheel parts, put light grease in the bearing races, put all the bearings back, and screwed it back together. The only tough part was actually picking up the individual balls. The freewheel appears to be in good working order now.

I seem to have one without any notches as well. Why do these exist? I'm going to take mine to the physics department's instrument maker and see if he can get it off without destroying my hub. I don't really care about the freewheel. It's junk, obviously.

The destructive removal technique as described by Sheldon on his site works just fine, this really isn't that much of a pain. Also, when you strip one down, the guts yield a treasure trove of useful spacers and whatnot.

72 spokes. I've seen some (currently manufactured/new) "chopper" bikes with such wheels. Purely for the bling. Everything on a chopper bike is for the bling.

Rim looks like its only 20". It's probably for a little chopper. Also I've seen bmx bikes around town with radial front and rear.

radial drive wheel probably isn't too bad for BMX, not a whole lot of pedalforce or braking going on.

i've run the shimano freewheels before, a few actually, and i've only once had much trouble getting them off...

i put a big fat flathead screwdriver (the thicker the tip the better) against the notch and tap it with a hammer counter clockwise. it's worked fine for me on 3 freewheels, the only time i had trouble was some old bmx wheel that i had no history on, but the piece of the freewheel with the notches just deformed from the screwdriver.

that said, if you're gonna go the destruction route like on the parktools website, might as well try that first...

Ummm.... the "destructive method" described by parktool is nowhere as destructive as yours. I don't even know why they call it destructive. I'd call it... reconstructive. As in, you'll have to rebuild the freewheel afterwards, but no part is actually damaged in the process, and can be reassembled.

From the story you tell, your method (which I know exactly what it is, and it's the normal way of removing freewheel when the appropriate tool doesn't exist) has the possibility of actually wrecking the poor thing. I'd use that AFTER trying the Parktool thing.

Right, but rebuilding them is not the simplest process ever, there are about 100 tiny bearings in those suckers, and you can't just stick them down with grease, you want to use heavy oil. I've done it, it's not fun. Also, you're probably only taking it off if it's shot anyway, I guess occasionally you might pull a freewheel to change gearing or replace a spoke on a LF hub, but generally it's because they're done for.

Add to the list: remove a freewheel to replace the bearings in the hub. I have that problem right now, and can't bring myself to do the freewheel removal. Mostly for the reasons you mention. So I just "enjoy" the random clicking from the hub.