need help removing broken freewheel

In article <[email hidden]>,

Carl said:

I've got myself in a real spot. I've got a wheel that has a
Campy Record hub and a Regina freewheel. I was going to
remove the freewheel to replace it with one that has larger
cogs (hope I'm using the right term - I'm trying to make it
easier to go up hill). The freewheel tool for this
freewheel is the type that has two prongs that extend down
into two matching slots in a ring on the front of the
freewheel. Well, I succeeded in breaking the two prongs and
the ring that the slots were in in the process and still
haven't made any progress in loosening the freewheel. If
you want to know how I broke these let me know - it's a
long painful story that I won't inflict on everyone.

Bottom line is, I can't figure out how to get this
freewheel off now that the normal method is out of the
question. The only thing I can think of is to try and cut
it off very carefully with a grinder. That seems quite
risky and brutal.

If the freewheel is already toast, then you can just take it
completely apart and clamp the remainder of the freewheel
body in a vise. You want to disassemble the body so all the
teeny bits fall out and then clamp onto what's left.
Grinding some flats sometimes helps if you can't get a good
grip on it.

--Paul

(Carl) said:

I've got myself in a real spot. I've got a wheel that has a
Campy Record hub and a Regina freewheel. I was going to
remove the freewheel to replace it with one that has larger
cogs (hope I'm using the right term - I'm trying to make it
easier to go up hill). The freewheel tool for this
freewheel is the type that has two prongs that extend down
into two matching slots in a ring on the front of the
freewheel. Well, I succeeded in breaking the two prongs and
the ring that the slots were in in the process and still
haven't made any progress in loosening the freewheel. If
you want to know how I broke these let me know - it's a
long painful story that I won't inflict on everyone.

The next time I hope you'll use Sheldon's excellent advice
to use the hub QR's to hold the freewheel tool onto the
freewheel when you try to remove it.

There are at least 3 ways to get the freewheel off now.

1. Buy a chain whip and use it on the largest (outside)
cog. better yet, take the freewheel to a shop and this
is probably the first thing they will try.

2. Use a freewheel vice.

3. (This is one i've actually done, I think) - get 2 tall
medium sized screw drivers, clamp them into a vice
vertically, and then lay the wheel horizontally onto the
vice, and find a pair of holes in the backside of the
freewheel body where you can insert the screwdriver tips
firmly. Drivers must be at least 150 mm long, and
smaller tips can pass through campy large-flange holes
and into the freewheel (this is what I actually did when
I was a teen.) No need to thread through the hub holes
if you have small-flange hubs and a decent to wide ratio
freewheel.

now, gently rotate the rim in the vice by a small
amount, maybe an inch or two. The screwdrivers will hold
the freewheel in place from the backside, and the spokes
will twist the hub away from the freewheel.

voila !

- Don "Love my Vise" Gillies San Diego, CA

[email hidden] (Paul Southworth) wrote
in message news:<%4Psc.553$Jp.58214@ord-
read.news.verio.net>... <snip>

Quoted message said:

If the freewheel is already toast, then you can just take
it completely apart and clamp the remainder of the
freewheel body in a vise. You want to disassemble the body
so all the teeny bits fall out and then clamp onto what's
left. Grinding some flats sometimes helps if you can't get
a good grip on it.

--Paul

Old-school bike mechanics (like me) used to do this- not all
the time, but those old Regina freewheels were awful easy to
strip out. Even the Bicycle Research tool would take the
lugs off of the freewheel body occasionally.

As Paul says, disassembling the freewheel with a punch as
described by Sheldon:
sheldonbrown.comfreewheels.htmlOpen ↗ .
You should be able to grip the inner freewheel body with a
large bench vise or pipe wrench and loosen it. Dispose of
the old freewheel artistically.

Jeff

On 25 May 2004 18:19:27 -0700 [email hidden] (Donald Gillies)

Quoted message said:

There are at least 3 ways to get the freewheel off now.

1. Buy a chain whip and use it on the largest (outside)
cog. better yet, take the freewheel to a shop and this
is probably the first thing they will try.

2. Use a freewheel vice.

3. (This is one i've actually done, I think) - get 2 tall
medium sized screw drivers, clamp them into a vice
vertically, and then lay the wheel horizontally onto
the vice, and find a pair of holes in the backside of
the freewheel body where you can insert the screwdriver
tips firmly. Drivers must be at least 150 mm long, and
smaller tips can pass through campy large-flange holes
and into the freewheel (this is what I actually did
when I was a teen.) No need to thread through the hub
holes if you have small-flange hubs and a decent to
wide ratio freewheel.

now, gently rotate the rim in the vice by a small
amount, maybe an inch or two. The screwdrivers will
hold the freewheel in place from the backside, and the
spokes will twist the hub away from the freewheel.

I've been trying to understand these suggestions, but I
don't think any of them actually work. The freewheel will
"freewheel" in each case.

If you've misused the freewheel tool such that you've ruined
the drive slots, then your only other option is to
disassemble the freewheel and clamp directly on the inner
body. Cyclo even made a special plate for this, years ago.
The plate has drive dogs which will slip into the pawl
spaces in the inner body. But the cogs, lockring, outer
body, pawls, springs and bearings all need to be removed
first. Fortunately this is easier than it may sound.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney [email hidden] Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

Carl said:

I've got myself in a real spot. I've got a wheel that has
a Campy Record hub and a Regina freewheel. I was going to
remove the freewheel to replace it with one that has
larger cogs (hope I'm using the right term - I'm trying to
make it easier to go up hill). The freewheel tool for this
freewheel is the type that has two prongs that extend down
into two matching slots in a ring on the front of the
freewheel. Well, I succeeded in breaking the two prongs
and the ring that the slots were in in the process and
still haven't made any progress in loosening the
freewheel. If you want to know how I broke these let me
know - it's a long painful story that I won't inflict on
everyone.

Bottom line is, I can't figure out how to get this
freewheel off now that the normal method is out of the
question. The only thing I can think of is to try and cut
it off very carefully with a grinder. That seems quite
risky and brutal.

First, see if you can remove it by properly securing the
tool in the stumps, fastened tightly with a skewer. MOunt
the tool in a vise and rock it so the tool's pegs mate into
the slots as well as possible. Retighten the skewer.

If you can get a purchase that way ( and that's how you're
supposed to use that tool) then give the wheel a spin. If
the freewheel moves, unscrew the skewer right away so you
don't snap it as the freewheel lifts.

Failing that, several methods to destroy the freewheel can
be used. One way is to slit the cover plate with a disc
grinder , knock that off, drop the outer half of the body in
the trash and grab the inner body itself in a vise. Unscrew
the wheel. That is the fastest way once you've given up.

The Schwinn shop manual suggests removing the axle and using
a 3/4"~1" EZ-Out in the body. Yikes.
--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1
April, 1971

cdgrove-<< Bottom line is, I can't figure out how to get
this freewheel off now that the normal method is out of the
question. The only thing I can think of is to try and cut it
off very carefully with a grinder. That seems quite risky
and brutal. >><BR><BR>

Take it apart, all but the final portion that is
attached to the hub and use a dremel disc cutter to cut
it off in sections.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 vecchios.comvecchios.comOpen ↗ "Ruote convenzionali
costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Carl Fogel said:

Bottom line is, I can't figure out how to get this
freewheel off now that the normal method is out of the
question. The only thing I can think of is to try and cut
it off very carefully with a grinder. That seems quite
risky and brutal.

By all means don't do that, you will only damage the hub
threads when the FW core is near separation. Take the FW
apart by using a pointed punch to drive the cone (the plate
with two holes and embossed text) counter-clockwise (it is a
left hand thread) to unscrew it. A pile of
1/8" bearing balls will come out as you lift the sprocket
shell off.

Now you can remove the core using a pipe wrench. This does
not cause serious damage. I have reused such cores after
replacing broken spokes.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden]

There has been a LOT of bad advice on this thread.

Getting close to correct said:

By all means don't do that, you will only damage the hub
threads when the FW core is near separation.

Keerect.

Quoted message said:

Take the FW apart by using a pointed punch to drive the
cone (the plate with two holes and embossed text) counter-
clockwise (it is a left hand thread) to unscrew it.

He meant to say "clockwise."

See also: sheldonbrown.comfreewheelsOpen ↗

Sheldon "Deasil, Not Widdershins" Brown +---------------------------------------------------------
+
| It is good to learn from your mistakes; | It is better
| to learn from the mistakes of others. |
+---------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone 617-244-
9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find
parts shipped Worldwide captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗
sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Carl Fogel said:

Bottom line is, I can't figure out how to get this
freewheel off now that the normal method is out of the
question. The only thing I can think of is to try and cut
it off very carefully with a grinder. That seems quite
risky and brutal.

By all means don't do that, you will only damage the hub
threads when the FW core is near separation. Take the FW
apart by using a pointed punch to drive the cone (the plate
with two holes and embossed text) counter-clockwise (it is
a left hand thread) to unscrew it. A pile of
1/8" bearing balls will come out as you lift the sprocket
shell off.

Now you can remove the core using a pipe wrench. This does
not cause serious damage. I have reused such cores after
replacing broken spokes.

Jobst Brandt [email hidden]

Dear Jobst,

Alas, this Carl is not me, but a real person, with a real
bicycle problem, who will appreciate your real solution.

I'm just a pack of eight basset hounds nosing at the
keyboard in hopes of producing the works of William
Shaksper.

Christopher Marlen, Marley, Marlo, Marlow, Marlowe, Merling,
Merlin, and Morley.

Jim Adney said:

I've been trying to understand these suggestions, but I
don't think any of them actually work. The freewheel will
"freewheel" in each case.

Gosh, I think that you are indeed correct. Next time, I'll
try to do a better job of recollecting my practices from 30
years ago !!

- Don Gillies