Hey guys,

So I recently built an SS for my prof but I found the freewheel I got (a cheapo ACS Main Drive) to be absolutely abysmal. It sort of "catches" occasionally, such that he can feel a sort of clanking every once in a while, especially up hills. I also noticed that if you walk the bike backwards or forwards, occasionally the teeth engage extremely briefly and the pedals move. I squirted lube in there like mad, but it hasn't seemed to alleviate the problem, and now I attribute it to just cheapness. It's also extremely loud. I suppose I can't expect much as it only cost like $12.

Any recommendations for a nice, smooth freewheel that won't give my prof such a scare? He was willing to spend up to $100 on one, but I think I'd like to keep it under $50. 1/8", 18T.

Get at Shimano DX single freewheel for under $20. It will be 3/32, but it works just fine with a 1/8 chain. Excellent quality.

I got one of these in 18 teeth, and it's been doing me fine whenever I use it.

https://www.amazon.com/Shimano-16-too.../dp/B001GSSIIG

Put one of those SHimano's on an old conversion I made. Ran just fine

Gah. CyclingCloseouts only sold ACS freewheels so I figured that there wasn't too much difference between the Main Drive and the Claw or whatever besides perhaps how loud it was. I'll give the Shimano freewheels a try! They're about $25 here locally.

i just got a main drive and i dont recall ACS making such crap freewheels...

No brainer - White Industries ENO Freewheel. Virtually indestructable.

https://www.bikeman.com/WIND-FWENO18....ign=GoogleBase

I was using the Shimano on my bike that got wrecked. It was working just fine and it ran dead silent. I actually wished it was a bit louder.

I figure if he's ready to go $ 100, you want to hit around $ 50 or less, compromise with White Industries, they have 3 flavors, $ 69,95, $ 79.95 and $ 89.95:

https://www.bikeman.com/store/merchan...eed_Freewheels

That place also offers other brands under $ 45.

I'll add another vote for the White Eno.