Freewheel advice anyone?

joule said:

Have an old 1974 Colnago Super that I'm still riding. Has the old resistance Campy Record setup, 5 speed freewheel, two chainwheels. Anyway have two wheels sets and figured I'd take off the racing freewheel 13-14-15-16-17 and replace with a 14/28 to augment my other wheel setup 13/24 for days when the hills are too much. After some searching I got someone to order me a Shimano 14/28. Well two weeks later (about 100 miles) at least 4 teeth on the freewheel are broke and all are pretty worn out. Mind you my old 13/24 shows almost no wear after at least 2 years of use, but the shimano is just about junk after 2 weeks. Asked the local bike shop but think they are not too interesting in diagnosing something so ancient. Like to continue to ride the Colnago and looking for suggestions what might be the issue. Comparing the spacing between the cogs make me thing the Shimano has a wider spacing. Also having a larger freewheel might accellerate wear on the same length chain? Considering replacing the chain, but just seems wrong that could be the issue. Ideas? I did just recently buy a Trek 5500, but still would like to do some of my solo training rides on the Colnago.

I never had an issue with a low end shimano freewheel. Sure you chain isn't wore out too. You should have sized the chain for the bigger cog and probably used a new one too.

boudreaux said:

I never had an issue with a low end shimano freewheel. Sure you chain isn't wore out too. You should have sized the chain for the bigger cog and probably used a new one too.

Well for now put the wheel with the 13/24 back on and will watch it for wear every day. Last freewheel I got.

A worn chain will accelerate wear on cogs. It could also be that the chain does not match the tooth profile of the Shimano cogs and prematurely wore out the cogs. Or it could just be bad cogs.

I recently put some brand new (old stock) Shimano Uniglide cassette cogs on my mountain bike. At the same time, I put on a new chain. Since you can't get Uniglide chains anymore, I just grabbed a low-end chain at my LBS. After riding this for about a month, I noticed the chain skipping under hard accelerations. I got home and found that the 17T cog had 4 teeth broken off! The chain wear looked OK and all the other cogs are fine so I suspect it was a faulty cog.

Gonzo Bob said:

A worn chain will accelerate wear on cogs. It could also be that the chain does not match the tooth profile of the Shimano cogs and prematurely wore out the cogs. Or it could just be bad cogs.

I recently put some brand new (old stock) Shimano Uniglide cassette cogs on my mountain bike. At the same time, I put on a new chain. Since you can't get Uniglide chains anymore, I just grabbed a low-end chain at my LBS. After riding this for about a month, I noticed the chain skipping under hard accelerations. I got home and found that the 17T cog had 4 teeth broken off! The chain wear looked OK and all the other cogs are fine so I suspect it was a faulty cog.

Tooth profile and chains aren't the issue with 5 speed freewheels. If you look closely,There are teeth on on NEW uniglide cogs that appear to be broken.That's the way they are made. I never had an issue with using any chain on uniglide cogs as long as it wasn't worn.