Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

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rogerzilla
Posts: 2887
Joined: 9 Jun 2008, 8:06pm

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by rogerzilla »

I think it was just the TDC freewheels that were bad. The headsets and bottom brackets have lasted very well. TD Cross is still going as Cross & Morse.
jimlews
Posts: 1476
Joined: 11 Jun 2015, 8:36pm
Location: Not the end of the world.

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by jimlews »

The problem with just flushing (without disassembling and re-greasing)
is that you will very likely flush out any grease that was in there originally.
So your nice clean freewheel will soon be running without any lubricant.

I have never used cotton to retract the pawls on reassembly.

FWIW
I smear a goodly amount of grease on both bearing tracks (inner & outer)
then replace the balls in the inner bearing track - the grease keeps them in place.
I then offer up the sprocket carrier to the freewheel body until the former just rests on the pawls;
then rotate the sprocket cluster anti-clockwise. This causes the pawls to retract and the whole
is seated nicely.
The outer balls can then be replaced and the 'front cover' screwed back in place. Job done.
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by cycle tramp »

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Last edited by cycle tramp on 5 Mar 2024, 10:28pm, edited 1 time in total.
Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
JohnW
Posts: 6667
Joined: 6 Jan 2007, 9:12pm
Location: Yorkshire

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by JohnW »

thirdcrank wrote: 1 Dec 2021, 5:49pm You can dismantle and rebuild a freewheel, but depending on the innards, it can be a total faff. It must have been discussed before. The two main problems are keeping track of the zillions of ball bearings and restraining the pawls to reassemble.
+1 to that tc.
In times past, I did it a couple of times, just to show how clever I was, but the sprockets still wore out.
It wasn't (to me) worth the effort.
Carlton green
Posts: 3645
Joined: 22 Jun 2019, 12:27pm

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by Carlton green »

It’s true, sprockets do wear out and particularly the more frequently used ones with less teeth. At one time you could buy replacement sprockets and re-use the free-wheel body ...

I believe that no one has mentioned fitting fitting new ball bearings instead of cleaning and re-using the old ones. Better quality (than fitted) ball bearings aren’t expensive and improve matters, and with a big bag of them to pick from you’re not worrying about loosing a couple on the floor.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
rjb
Posts: 7200
Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 10:25am
Location: Somerset (originally 60/70's Plymouth)

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by rjb »

I've never bothered about the quality of bearings in a freewheel. After all they only come into play for a very short time. Maybe a few % of your riding and if it freewheels ok I reuse them. What I will do is add a few more to fill the races.
:wink:
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840 :D
drossall
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Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 10:01pm
Location: North Hertfordshire

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by drossall »

I remember when Condor Cycles had a board of Regina sprockets. I think my LBS back in Cheadle, Cheshire in the late 70s also had one. I know I got him to replace a broken 18 sprocket once - it cracked and dumped me on the floor in a hilly time trial at the Harrogate Festival of Cycling.
fastpedaller
Posts: 3435
Joined: 10 Jul 2014, 1:12pm
Location: Norfolk

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by fastpedaller »

rjb wrote: 3 Dec 2021, 5:00pm I've never bothered about the quality of bearings in a freewheel. After all they only come into play for a very short time. Maybe a few % of your riding and if it freewheels ok I reuse them. What I will do is add a few more to fill the races.
:wink:
Indeed. When they do 'come into play' there is also no load on them, so I agree with your approach.
thirdcrank
Posts: 36776
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by thirdcrank »

For anybody a bit younger who's wondering what on Earth is a sprocket board, thanks to the wonders of the internet and ebay, voilà

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/a-SPARE-SPRO ... 2643358169

I think it's fair to point out that those are Regina America type, which had a splined remover for the body and the majority of the sprockets were also fitted to splines. The first (genuine Regina) remover I bought didn't fit, such was the poor quality control and after only a couple of sprocket switches to suit varying terrain, a screw-on 13T sprocket which also acted as the lockring crumbled.

Even older readers will remember that earlier sprocket boards were more complicated in that there was less flexibility of what would go where. On a Regina 5 speed, the two largest sprockets screwed on from the back with a LH thread and the middle two screwed on from the front, with the smallest sprocket screwing into (or was that "onto?) its neighbour - the second to smallest.

Does any of this matter? It reminds me, for one, of the huge advances in technology cyclists' have enjoyed latterly. They may have been let down by marketing strategies but that's another issue.
cycle tramp
Posts: 3532
Joined: 5 Aug 2009, 7:22pm

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by cycle tramp »

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Motorhead: god was never on your sidehttps://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&client=m ... +your+side
thirdcrank
Posts: 36776
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 2:44pm

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by thirdcrank »

Any humour in that post was meant to be self-deprecating. I can ramble on about how things used to be. Look back at some of my earlier stuff and it nearly counted as current affairs, but I'm way past my sell-by date. Bike technology has rapidly advanced in recent decades - although that may be partly through time seeming to pass more quickly with ageing. (Crimbo seems to come round once a month.)

Anybody trying to keep older (legacy?) equipment going has my sympathy - I've been there and done it.
LittleGreyCat
Posts: 1177
Joined: 7 Aug 2013, 8:31pm

Re: Servicing a screw on freewheel - anyone done this?

Post by LittleGreyCat »

Just to add, it's all back together and I've had a short test ride and everything seems to be running smoothly (so far).

The bearings are quiet and the bike seems to run really nicely.

All I need now is a major upgrade to my legs. :(
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