I am building a single speed 74 Schwinn Traveler for my son to use as a campus bike/single speed. I had a set of alloy 700 wheels with a 7 speed freewheel in the garage from another project that I am using on the frame and dumping the steel wheels. I already hung the wheel set and they will fit with a little tugging of the chainstays AND the brakes have enough adjustment to work and I am pretty sure that the dropouts will have enough adjustment to avoid using a tensioner. It appears by eyeballing things that I will have to use the smaller chainring (38 teeth I think) on the crank to line things up when I put the freewheel on. What would be the recommended size/brand of freewheel? The bike will only be used around campus (no hills) for probably no more than a couple of miles at a time with moderate loads at best. I know NOTHING about single speed/fixed gear stuff as all of my experience with bikes is OLD mountain/road bikes, monstercross, and touring rigs.

Also I am a bit confused about the single speed freewheels at this point. I see “BMX” freewheels offered for sale. Do these use the same freewheel body as a regular freewheel or is it just a marketing thing? Also, It seems that there are two or three different type of freewheel tools used among the manufacturers? Do any of them use the standard freewheel tool or I am going to have to buy another tool? (I can always use another tool, right?). One of the manufactures uses what appears to use a four prong tool that looks like maybe my old Suntour freewheel tour? Can I find a decent single speed freewheel for 15 or 20 bucks?
I’m sure that, as common as this bike is, that hundreds if these conversions have been done already so I apologize if I am being that guy that asks the same question for the millionth time.

Thanks in advance! Maybe??

Well, the english threaded hub on your multispeed wheel can only accept a 16tooth freewheel (or larger). "BMX" freewheel may refer to the 14 and 15tooth freewheels which have a smaller diameter threading which fit special BMX flip flop hubs. Otherwise, it is usually just referred to as a singlespeed freewheel if it is 16-23tooth. The 4-prong SS freewheel tool is the most common puller-type used for freewheels and is different from your older Suntour 4-prong tool.

The 4-prong SS freewheel tool looks like this:




Some cheaper brands sometimes have no removal interface at all and require you to clamp the freewheel in a vice for removal. Buy a decent quality freewheel.

38x16 would by a very low gear. I have personally run 39x16 and found it to be fun on a fixed gear, but most people prefer 42x16 or a little higher gear ratio than that. You would probably have to replace the 38tooth chainring to give a gear ratio your son would enjoy riding.

If you install a singlespeed freewheel on a multispeed hub you will have to respace and redish the wheel for a good chainline. This article mentions respacing and redishing: https://sheldonbrown.com/deakins/how-...onversion.html

Just buy a BMX freewheel. You can get Dicta (cheapies) from most shops for $10-$20 and they're fine for what you're asking it to do. The above tool only works up to about 18 teeth, after that, you can have fun getting the sods off again, but don't let that stop you using bigger freewheels, I can usually get them off using a centre punch and if that fails, you can use a destructive method (they're cheap remember).

Chainline? Just spin on the freewheel, a wonky chainline won't bother you (remember how the chain has to flex with gears) but if you feel like mucking about, just mess about with spacers to get the chain line right, then redish the wheel so the rim is in the centre of the fork. You can do this on the bike and the spokes will have enough room on the threads to let you do it (Sheldon Brown has an article called 'Fixed gear on the cheap' or something similar that describes it).

Don't buy a Dicta, spend a little more and get an Excess, GT Ratchet or ACS Crossfire, hell even a shimano is better than a dicta if you have money to blow a Crossfire Pro or better yet an White Industries is your best bet. I have used most of the BMX freewheels made and the White Industries is hands down the finest, whether it's the best for you only you can decide

Yeah, Dicta freewheels are terrible, and cheaper ACS are not too good either. I've heard people refer to ACS as "A Clunking Sound" because their lower-end freewheels are noisy and crappy. I used an ACS Claws and it sucked. Cheaper freewheels don't have good seals so water and dirt get into them and make the pawls rust and stick or not engage fully because of interfering dirt and grime (esp. a problem on SS mtb). White Industries freewheels reputedly have the best seals and longest service life but are very pricey. I personally like Shimano freewheels for good compromise between quality and price.

ACS Crossfire is excellent and priced very moderately, but requires its own special proprietary removal tool. White Industries is the best at a very high cost; I paid over $40 just for the White Industries freewheel removal tool, which is the only tool that will work properly.

IME the Excess freewheel is as good as the Crossfire (haven't used the crossfire pro) and while they make a special tool for it as well it can be removed with a quad tooth frewheel remover quite easily. I have just about every freewheel tool shape made (including the crossfire) but the most reliable/functional one I have is a quad tooth one I picked up in a bike shop in Sagamihara Japan, but I bought a lot of my bike tools when I lived in Yokohama that I haven't seen for sale here in the USA. I traded a bunch of parts for my White it was by far the best trade I have made so far. I have an old 18t Suntour thats really nice, Origin 8 made a really nice one for a while though not in 5 years at least. Not a fan of Shimano freewheels they pop too much under start loads and feel like they drag when coasting at speed. I have 5-6 17t Claws that I have all but destroyed BMX racing. If you can find a AC racing freewheel they are really nice though they use a BB tool for installation

if the bike is more than a beater/lockup, white industries is well worth the money.