Freewheel Removal

Is it a free hub?

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-5-32-7466-1,00.html

tools
Bicycle Freewheels
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html#remove

"bktourer1" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

Thanks

Ed

On 11 Jul 2006 13:11:20 -0700, "bktourer1" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

Thanks

Ed

Dear Ed,

Freewheels aren't usually removed by the side of the road.

If you have an old-fashioned freewheel, you need a vise, the puller or
extractor specific to the splines in your freewheel, and a stout
socket wrench to turn the extractor.

A freehub is a large chunk of threaded metal that you've been
tightening with every turn of the pedals--it doesn't come off easily.

If you have a modern freehub, not a freewheel, look here:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/stein-mini-lock/

A freehub's lock ring can be removed with this tool, if you're
careful. A freehub is a much smaller, daintier chunk of threaded
metal, and it has a lock ring that isn't tightened by your pedal
action.

For pictures and detailed explanations of old freewheel versus modern
freehub, browse around here:

http://sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html

http://sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html

With a modern freehub, you drop a splined stack of gears onto a
splined hub and lock them down with a thin threaded ring.

With an old-fashioned freewheel, you thread a stack of gears and their
ratcheting mechanism onto a threaded hub.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

It is a "free wheel". I'd like to be able to replace any spokes that
break on the freewheel side while far from a LBS. More than one bike
tour packing list has had the tools needed, so it must be possible to
repair at a campsite.

Ed

trino said:

Is it a free hub?

http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-5-32-7466-1,00.html

tools
Bicycle Freewheels
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html#remove

"bktourer1" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

Thanks

Ed

On 11 Jul 2006 14:01:45 -0700, "bktourer1" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

It is a "free wheel". I'd like to be able to replace any spokes that
break on the freewheel side while far from a LBS. More than one bike
tour packing list has had the tools needed, so it must be possible to
repair at a campsite.

Ed

Dear Ed,

Those lists are probably for modern freehubs and a hypercracker tool,
not an older freewheel.

A better approach might be a Kevlar universal repair spoke. Browse
down to the FiberFix Emergency Kevlar Replacement Spokes:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/tools/touring.html

It's a Kevlar loop that goes through the spoke hole, with a clever
tightening device and a spoke end that threads into the nipple after
you remove the broken spoke.

The whole thing fits into a little plastic vial about the size of your
thumb.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

bktourer1 said:

It is a "free wheel". I'd like to be able to replace any spokes that
break on the freewheel side while far from a LBS. More than one bike
tour packing list has had the tools needed, so it must be possible to
repair at a campsi te.

Yes, it surely is, and people have done such for decades. Of course a
vise makes life easier, but a 12" crescent wrench is enough too-
although you may have to jump up and down on it. You need the small
freewheel remover tool specific for your freewheel (which may be
splined or notched) and a big enough wrench, that is all. If the
freewheel/tool is notched instead of splined, you also need the quick
release skewer assembly to keep the tool embedded in the notches.
Tighten, then back off 1/4-1/2 turn. Turn freewheel tool that amount,
back off quick release again, repeat.

You can save yourself a LOT of trouble though by doing some preparation
before you leave:

-Make sure your wheel is properly built, and especially,
stress-relieved as described in the book "The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst
Brandt. Available on either Amazon or at Avocet on their website. If
so, it will not break spokes, period, unless you have some sort of
accident, and even then not likely.

-before installing your freewheel, clean the threads on it and the hub
well, and then lubricate with Molybdenum Disulfide grease. This is a
special extreme-pressure additive, and the only grease that will
actually significantly decrease the force required to remove the
freewheel. Everything else, including teflon, gets squeezed out under
pressure.

But the best bet is to have a properly built wheel in the first place
that will not break spokes. If it is a 36 spoke wheel, and you have a
touring frame with proper clearances, you can continue on even with a
broken spoke and not really care.

Have a great tour.o

I carry the freewheel spline tool, a few spokes, and a small crescent wrench
for emergencies. I run a Phil freewheel hub on my tourer, for reasons I'll
only elaborate on if someone asks (I run 9-10 sp Campy on all my other
bikes) ;-]

I also carry a "Fiber-Fix" spoke, which you can thread through without
pulling the freewheel. This gets you at least to a gas station that has a
larger crescent wrench, or to a bike store, or probably through the rest of
the tour. People have tested these and I've seen where they've logged
several thousand miles without a problem.

That said, I've built the wheels we use on our loaded touring bikes, and
have ridden several tours of >1500mi, including a cross-country, without a
broken spoke. I always re-true/tension before a big tour, seems to pay off,
knock on steel!

-pete

"bktourer1" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

Thanks

Ed

bktourer1 said:

It is a "free wheel". I'd like to be able to replace any spokes that
break on the freewheel side while far from a LBS. More than one bike
tour packing list has had the tools needed, so it must be possible to
repair at a campsite.

Have you inspected your spokes recently, especially behind the
freewheel? Might be good practice for getting the FW off, at home with
the lights on rather than first run by firelight anyhow <g>.

http://www.yellowjersey.org/fiberfix.html --D-y

41 said:

bktourer1 said:

It is a "free wheel". I'd like to be able to replace any spokes that
break on the freewheel side while far from a LBS. More than one bike
tour packing list has had the tools needed, so it must be possible to
repair at a campsi te.

Yes, it surely is, and people have done such for decades. Of course a
vise makes life easier, but a 12" crescent wrench is enough too-
although you may have to jump up and down on it. You need the small
freewheel remover tool specific for your freewheel (which may be
splined or notched) and a big enough wrench, that is all. If the
freewheel/tool is notched instead of splined, you also need the quick
release skewer assembly to keep the tool embedded in the notches.
Tighten, then back off 1/4-1/2 turn. Turn freewheel tool that amount,
back off quick release again, repeat.

You can save yourself a LOT of trouble though by doing some preparation
before you leave:

-Make sure your wheel is properly built, and especially,
stress-relieved as described in the book "The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst
Brandt. Available on either Amazon or at Avocet on their website. If
so, it will not break spokes, period, unless you have some sort of
accident, and even then not likely.

-before installing your freewheel, clean the threads on it and the hub
well, and then lubricate with Molybdenum Disulfide grease. This is a
special extreme-pressure additive, and the only grease that will
actually significantly decrease the force required to remove the
freewheel. Everything else, including teflon, gets squeezed out under
pressure.

But the best bet is to have a properly built wheel in the first place
that will not break spokes. If it is a 36 spoke wheel, and you have a
touring frame with proper clearances, you can continue on even with a
broken spoke and not really care.

All good advice. Some added suggestions:

1) A 12" crescent is not really needed. I think I used to use an 8" -
the secret is to find something very solid to wedge the 8" into so you
can turn the wheel rather than the wrench, giving you ~13.5" of
leverage. Campsite fire grates can work nicely, if they are the
set-in-concrete kind. I've also had good luck with the opening atop
milepost markers.

2) Somebody used to market the "Pocket Vise," an aluminum blob with a
big slot on one side and two horns on the other. The slot fit over the
freewheel remover, and the blob had threads so it could be held in place
with a skewer. The horns went around any handy immovable object, and
again you turn the wheel. I have one and used it at least once. I was
always afraid the horns would break off, but they never did. These
might still be available, if only on Ebay.

3) Try it at home before you leave! and grease as "41" suggests.

Mark

bktourer1 said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

There used to be something called a "gear cracker" or some such that would
attach to the chainstay and engage the freewheel. I don't know whether
those would be available any longer, or indeed whether they would work
with a freewheel as opposed to a freehub. So, let's go to plan b:

If you don't want to take a bench vise with you, take as long-handled a
wrench as you can. This is needed to engage the freewheel puller, a small
tool that you really can take with you.

Another option is to _hope_ that someone along the way has a bench vice,
which is by far the preferred tool to remove a freewheel. Any old fart
who repairs his own car, or any mechanic, should have one. Buy him a
beer, and you should be able to use his vise.

Once you find the vise, you need to know what to do to pull the freewheel.
Hold the freewheel-puller tool against the freewheel, and thread through
the quick-release to hold the tool (not tightly, but not too loosely,
either) against the freewheel. Then chock the tool into the vice (or the
long-handled wrench), grab the wheel, and pull with all your might to
loosen the freewheel. It has right-hand threads, so it loosens in the
usual way. As it loosens, you can loosen the QR to give it a chance to
unscrew.

When you put the freewheel back on, be sure to grease the threads or use
anti-seize.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Some people used to claim that, if enough monkeys sat in front
_`\(,_ | of enough typewriters and typed long enough, eventually one of
(_)/ (_) | them would reproduce the collected works of Shakespeare. The
internet has proven this not to be the case.

Mark <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

41 said:

bktourer1 said:

It is a "free wheel". I'd like to be able to replace any spokes that
break on the freewheel side while far from a LBS. More than one bike
tour packing list has had the tools needed, so it must be possible
to repair at a campsi te.

Yes, it surely is, and people have done such for decades. Of course a
vise makes life easier, but a 12" crescent wrench is enough too-
although you may have to jump up and down on it. You need the small
freewheel remover tool specific for your freewheel (which may be
splined or notched) and a big enough wrench, that is all. If the
freewheel/tool is notched instead of splined, you also need the quick
release skewer assembly to keep the tool embedded in the notches.
Tighten, then back off 1/4-1/2 turn. Turn freewheel tool that amount,
back off quick release again, repeat.

You can save yourself a LOT of trouble though by doing some
preparation before you leave:

-Make sure your wheel is properly built, and especially,
stress-relieved as described in the book "The Bicycle Wheel" by Jobst
Brandt. Available on either Amazon or at Avocet on their website. If
so, it will not break spokes, period, unless you have some sort of
accident, and even then not likely.

-before installing your freewheel, clean the threads on it and the
hub well, and then lubricate with Molybdenum Disulfide grease. This
is a special extreme-pressure additive, and the only grease that will
actually significantly decrease the force required to remove the
freewheel. Everything else, including teflon, gets squeezed out under
pressure.

But the best bet is to have a properly built wheel in the first place
that will not break spokes. If it is a 36 spoke wheel, and you have a
touring frame with proper clearances, you can continue on even with a
broken spoke and not really care.

All good advice. Some added suggestions:

1) A 12" crescent is not really needed. I think I used to use an 8" -
the secret is to find something very solid to wedge the 8" into so you
can turn the wheel rather than the wrench, giving you ~13.5" of
leverage. Campsite fire grates can work nicely, if they are the
set-in-concrete kind. I've also had good luck with the opening atop
milepost markers.

2) Somebody used to market the "Pocket Vise," an aluminum blob with a
big slot on one side and two horns on the other. The slot fit over
the freewheel remover, and the blob had threads so it could be held in
place with a skewer. The horns went around any handy immovable
object, and again you turn the wheel. I have one and used it at least
once. I was always afraid the horns would break off, but they never
did. These might still be available, if only on Ebay.

3) Try it at home before you leave! and grease as "41" suggests.

Mark

The pocket vise is avaiable here:
http://tinyurl.com/k8e4b

$3.50

Rich B.

bktourer1 said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

See if you can find a copy of "Bike Touring" by Raymond Bridge at your
local library or on Amazon. It was published by the Sierra Club in 1979.

On pages 219-220 he describes a diy device consisting of
"6 inches salvaged from a worn-out ... bicycle chain. This is attached
to a loop of cable ... The cable goes through the final rivet of one end
of the chain and is just the right length to loop over the seat post and
reach down so that the chain engages the front teeth of any of the
smaller freewheel cogs.
"To use the cog remover, you put your bike in low gear and position the
right pedal near the top of the stroke without taking anything off the
bike. Then put the loop over the seat post and engage the chain on the
front of the smallest cog. When you push hard on the pedal you turn the
freewheel in the forward direction, but the small cog is held in place
.... so it unscrews a couple of turns. The process is repeated to loosen
the other screwed-on cogs."

I used this gadget a couple of times on tour in the 80's and can vouch
that it works, quite well. But do practice at home beforehand. It also
helps if you have another pair of hands to assist you.

Angus Cameron

David L. Johnson said:

Another option is to _hope_ that someone along the way has a bench vice,
which is by far the preferred tool to remove a freewheel. Any old fart
who repairs his own car, or any mechanic, should have one. Buy him a
beer, and you should be able to use his vise.

I agree with this, for a couple reasons.

First, as others have said, a well built wheel should break no spokes.
In all my considerable touring, I've never broken one. So carrying a
big wrench all those thousands of miles would have been useless.

Second, if you do break a spoke, you can usually keep riding by just
loosening that brake a bit, and/or doing some work with a spoke wrench.
That should get you to the next town, where there's bound to be a
bench vise or big wrench.

My dad pointed out that asking for help is actually a good way of
making a friend. IME, it works especially well when you're touring by
bike.

So take your spoke wrench, your freewheel remover, an extra spoke or
two, and count on the kindness of strangers.

(BTW, if you insist on carrying a wrench, remember that a small wrench
and a thin walled pipe to extend its handle, is lighter than a big
wrench.)

- Frank Krygowski

David L. Johnson said:

bktourer1 said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

There used to be something called a "gear cracker" or some such that would
attach to the chainstay and engage the freewheel. I don't know whether
those would be available any longer, or indeed whether they would work
with a freewheel as opposed to a freehub. So, let's go to plan b:

Cassette crackers were designed for *freehubs* that had the top cog
threaded on; there was a later lockring ?hyper? cracker for freehubs
with lockrings. Might work on a freewheel if only your top cog or two
are threaded on the freewheel, *and* the hub flange is high enough to
replace a spoke with the freewheel body in place.

Here's a current variation:
http://www.biketoolsetc.com/index.cgi?id=300576540308&d=single&c=Tools&sc=Cassettes%20and%20Freewheels&tc=Cassette%20Cracker&item_id=SN-HC

Angus' post in this thread suggests a home-brew variation of the above
cassette cracker.

Mark

"bktourer1" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

Thanks

Ed

Ed: when you install your freewheel, make sure the threads are liberally
greased. Makes removal a lot easier down the road...

As far as removing one, you will need the specific tool for the freewheel.
Plus you will need a big wrench to get enough leverage (I use a 15 inch
model that weighs about 15 pounds). Even if you do have a BFW, then you
still may have to jump on the wrench (with your full body weight) and expel
a liberal number of 4-letter words to crack the freewheel off of the hub.

Second option is clamping the tool in a bench vise, and then spinning the
wheel off. Sometimes this approach requires 2 guys to get enough leverage
on the rim. Don't scrimp on the bench vise either, as you need something
solid. I use an old English-made Record model that weights about 40 pounds.

Not a roadside job in either case.

angusinalberta wrote:
<DIY tool description snipped>

Quoted message said:

I used this gadget a couple of times on tour in the 80's and can vouch
that it works, quite well. But do practice at home beforehand. It also
helps if you have another pair of hands to assist you.

This process (removing the cogs from the freewheel body) is usable only
if the hub has large flanges. If it's a small flange hub, or there's a
spoke protector held on by the freewheel, the OP is SOL. On a
small-flange hub, the spoke holes are still covered by the freewheel
body.

I agree that robust, evenly tensioned wheels are the best solution, but
even then goof-ups happen. I recently had to replace all of the
drive-side spokes on a wheel because the chain got derailed into them.

Jeff

Richard B said:

Mark <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

bktourer1 wrote:

>It is a "free wheel". I'd like to be able to replace any spokes that
>break on the freewheel side while far from a LBS. More than one bike
>tour packing list has had the tools needed, so it must be possible
>to repair at a campsi te.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1) A 12" crescent is not really needed. I think I used to use an 8" -
the secret is to find something very solid to wedge the 8" into so you
can turn the wheel rather than the wrench, giving you ~13.5" of
leverage. Campsite fire grates can work nicely, if they are the
set-in-concrete kind. I've also had good luck with the opening atop
milepost markers.

2) Somebody used to market the "Pocket Vise," an aluminum blob with a
big slot on one side and two horns on the other. The slot fit over
the freewheel remover, and the blob had threads so it could be held in
place with a skewer. The horns went around any handy immovable
object, and again you turn the wheel. I have one and used it at least
once. I was always afraid the horns would break off, but they never
did. These might still be available, if only on Ebay.

3) Try it at home before you leave! and grease as "41" suggests.

Mark

The pocket vise is avaiable here:
http://tinyurl.com/k8e4b

$3.50

Rich B.

Dear Rich,

Curse you!

I have a Fiberfix spoke and ride on a freehub, so I have absolutely no
need for a Pocket Pro.

There's no picture at the nice link that you provide to Bike Tools.

Andrew Muzi of YellowJersey.org said in 2003 that a friend of his
named Angel Rodriguez patented the Pocket Pro, but that the tool is
out of production:

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.bicycles.tech/msg/4c032fa9ebe8ef4a
or
http://tinyurl.com/mj79x

So my strong urge to buy one is very silly.

On the other hand, if I don't spend about ten bucks for the tool plus
shipping, how will I know what a Pocket Pro looks like?

Off to the patent office . . .

http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?PageNum=2&docid=US004374453&IDKey=4DC2338161CE%0D%0A&HomeUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpatft.uspto.gov%2Fnetacgi%2Fnph-Parser%3FSect1%3DPTO2%2526Sect2%3DHITOFF%2526u%3D%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r%3D3%2526p%3D1%2526f%3DG%2526l%3D50%2526d%3DPTXT%2526S1%3D%28rodriguez.INNM.%252BAND%252Bfreewheel.TI.%29%2526OS%3Din%2Frodriguez%252Band%252Bttl%2Ffreewheel%2526RS%3D%28IN%2Frodriguez%252BAND%252BTTL%2Ffreewheel%29
or
http://tinyurl.com/o5wo4

Nice drawings.

So there really is such a dingus. I'd use a guardrail or fence post
instead of a bike frame as the lever. Thanks--now I know better than
to doubt the ingenuity of American inventors.

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

angusinalberta said:

"To use the cog remover, you put your bike in low gear and position the
right pedal near the top of the stroke without taking anything off the
bike. Then put the loop over the seat post and engage the chain on the
front of the smallest cog. When you push hard on the pedal you turn the
freewheel in the forward direction, but the small cog is held in place
... so it unscrews a couple of turns. The process is repeated to loosen
the other screwed-on cogs."

Quoted message said:

From what I can tell contemporary freewheels have lockrings similar to,

but not the same as those on cassettes. And I don't think you can buy
tools to fit the lockrings. Sunrace told me the only place those tools
exist is in the factory. I guess they're supposed to be removable with
a punch and a hammer, but I gave up at that point and switched to
freehubs.

Ed said:

Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
and perhaps photos of each step.

As others have said, you need the correct freewheel removal tool (which
is small and easy to carry), and either a big wrench or a vise. Forget
the wrench. Any gas station will have a bench vise that you can use.

If the FW has been on for a long time, it may be a bear to get off, and
if you're not carefull you may damage the freewheel (especially the
notched type like SunTour).

The emergency type spokes that don't require FW removal may be the best
option. Or just re-true the wheel the best you can, and ride with one
broken spoke. If you have a 36-spoke wheeel, you can get by fine if one
breaks.

Art Harris

JeffWills said:

I agree that robust, evenly tensioned wheels are the best solution, but
even then goof-ups happen. I recently had to replace all of the
drive-side spokes on a wheel because th e chain got derailed into them.

This brings up an important point that I should have added to my list
of things to do before going on the tour, to save yourself a LOT of
trouble:

At home, when you remove the freewheel to clean and relubricate the
threads with molybdenum disulfide grease, add a cheap and nearly
invisible PLASTIC SPOKE PROTECTOR (or an aluminum one, if that's what
you have, but I don't think those are made any more). These save a LOT
of misery, as the regular tales of derailleurs getting caught in spokes
here attest to. I am unable to comprehend why someone would not want
one.
b