Sachs Maillard cassette removal

[Mike59]

I have acquired a 1958 Mercian bike (from this very forum!), and I would like to change the rear gearing. As far as I can tell. it is a Sachs Maillard six-cog cassette with the largest cog having 18 teeth. This is too high a gear for me, and I would therefore like to know :

1. How do I remove the cassette? I've only removed modern ones before.

2. Can I get another six (or seven?) cog cassette that will fit OK with a lower gear big cog? (24t or more?)

3. Is this the best way of achieving what I want?

Many thanks in advance.
Mike.

PS The rest of the chainset consists of a Record Strada crank, Record front mech and Record downtube friction shifters, and a Suntour Cyclone rear mech.

[Mick F]

Firstly, it's a Freewheel, not a Cassette.

The cogs will be screwed on the freewheel unit - or at least the first two or three will be, the others may be located by splines.

Secondly, I doubt very much you can find individual sprockets to change them, so possibly all you can do is to buy a complete assembly - cogs and all. They come in a variety of ratios and ranges, but sadly the quality end of the market no longer exists as freewheels tend to be manufactured for the cheaper bikes nowadays.

Have a look at these:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/category-FREEWHEELS-75.htm
Probably a 6sp or even 7sp would fit on your hub, it depends on what clearance you have.

There are a variety of freewheel removal tools. Dual Peg, Quadruple Peg, and Spline. You need to look in next to the wheel nut and see what would fit. It unscrews anti-clockwise but it may be VERY tight.

Good luck, and get back on here if you have any more questions.

[Mike59]

Mick, many thanks. Here are a couple of pics - still not sure what I'd need to take the thing to bits.

[thirdcrank]

If it's a 1958 bike, a six speed block will not be original. It's possibly a maillard Helicomatic hub, which needs a special lockring remover shaped a bit like a bottle opener. The bad news is that the lockring removers are hard to find. That may not matter because the even worse news is that a helicomatic hub will take no other type of sprockets so you are almost ceratinly talking about a new hub at least, if not a whole wheel. OTOH if it's a relatively modern freewheel hub, then the remover is readily available - it's the same size as a Shimano freewheel.

(I cannot see your pics )

Info on removing freewheels

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html

Helicomatic hubs

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/velos.html#helicomatic

[tatanab]

As MickF and Thirdcrank say, this is potentially a can of worms to people used to modern parts only. Let us assume that it is not a Helicomatic, since they were not common. If you can identify the remover needed (probably in your photos that I cannot see) then you can buy one from SJS Cycles, but why not ask your local shop to take it off for you? The reason for saying this is that you will probably be better off putting on a completely new freewheel because whilst Maillard sprockets can still be found they are getting pretty rare. I know Francis Thurmer http://www.cyclesplus.co.uk/ has some, you'd have to phone him. However, you would have to be precise in what you want because there are 3 and 4 spline variants and the code on the individual sprocket would have to be quoted. Far too much hassle for somebody not used to these parts.

So, my recommendation is to get your local shop to take it off; then buy a block with a range you want, and buy a remover for the new freewheel. The freewheel comes away from the hub completely - just pretend you are undoing the lock ring on a cassette and you will get the unscrewing motion right.

[Mike59]

Try this, (and thanks for all your help so far)

[Russell160]

Pics still not showing Mike

[Mike59]

[thirdcrank]

That's a modern freewheel.

You need a suitable freehwheel remover and something to give enough leverage like a socket + long handle or a big spanner. It unscrews anti clockwise. No special tool needed to replace it as the action of pedalling tightens it up. (Which is why you need leverage to remove it, although a close ratio block like that should not be as tight as something with a big cog.)

http://www.freeflowbikes.com/park-tool- ... 7887-p.asp

That's an example of a suitable remover, picked because it was the top of the google list. From this screen I cannot see your location. If you're near me, be my guest.

[Mick F]

Yeah, simple tool and simple to remove.
Buy one of these
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Park ... -15087.htm
I have no doubt it will fit.
You need to mount the tool vertically in a vice, place the wheel/freewheel onto it and engage the splines, and turn the wheel anti-clockwise. It may be tight, but it should shift.

Then buy a new freewheel in the range/ratio you would like.

A better suggestion is to buy a new wheel that takes a modern cassette. More expensive, but better in the long run.

[Mike59]

Brilliant. Thanks for all that help.

A new wheel sounds a good choice, but will there be a problem with the spacing?

Thirdcrank, I live in Guildford.

[thirdcrank]

... A new wheel sounds a good choice, but will there be a problem with the spacing?

Thirdcrank, I live in Guildford.

Unless you burdened with huge piles of £££ I'd just go for a wider range sprocket, but beware of not going for for one that's too big for the rear mech. (AFAIK Suntour Cyclone stuff was available in different models. If it was bought for a close ratio block like that, it's unlikely to be a long arm job. Try to identify the exact model of your mech and google, there is all sorts of info on some restoration / retro sites.)

Bear in mind that if this is a 1958 frame, then the Suntour stuff, 6 speed etc is all an upgrade on the original 5 speed spec. There's a whole load of info on here about respacing and a lot more, but unless you really know what you are doing, you can be taking a lot on. Unless you can do everything yourself, paying a shop is likely to be expensive - if you can find one prepared to do it. A whole new bike might be cheaper.

Even though our southern friends tend to spell our address as Guildersome - I'm a long way from you.

[Mike59]

OK, thanks.

All I really need are a couple of lower gears, so I don't want to spend a fortune on it.

I've always wanted a vintage bike, and this came up. Perhaps I should have thought more about it first! I might put it back on the market, as I'm sure someone will want it.

Cheers
Mike.

[CJ]

About the mech: the short cage SunTour Cyclone will cope with up to 25T.

[spanner]

If it's a 1958 bike, a six speed block will not be original. It's possibly a maillard Helicomatic hub, which needs a special lockring remover shaped a bit like a bottle opener. The bad news is that the lockring removers are hard to find. That may not matter because the even worse news is that a helicomatic hub will take no other type of sprockets so you are almost ceratinly talking about a new hub at least, if not a whole wheel. OTOH if it's a relatively modern freewheel hub, then the remover is readily available - it's the same size as a Shimano freewheel.

(I cannot see your pics )

Info on removing freewheels

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html

Helicomatic hubs

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/velos.html#helicomatic

use a pair of long nosed mole grips to turn the lockring and it will unscrew these helical hubs are complete crap they used 5/32 bearings in the gearside and 1/4 bearings in the none gearside
strip the wheel out and build in a screw on hub to match the front the best place for helicol hubs is the bin
i bought a 1988 peugeot aspin and it had one of these hubs but my original plan of building in a maillard screw on hub to the original rim was squashed as the rim was buckled
i found a pair of mavic 20 alloy rims on maillard q/r hubs and stripped these and cleaned and serviced the hubs polished everything up and rebuilt them with sapim double butted spokes
they run absolutely straight and the only noise you can hear is the air humming on the spokes when freewheeling