Re: [CR] Freewheel re-spacing

(Example: Framebuilding:Paint)

Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2009 18:02:33 -0800
From: "Thomas Adams" <thomasthomasa@yahoo.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
In-Reply-To: <20091230012224.92C127EC68@lvs1-r2.ece.ubc.ca>
Subject: Re: [CR] Freewheel re-spacing


Dear Don and List:

Yeah, you can re-space a 120mm to 126mm, but is it morally right?  Especially with really old frames, which never would have been available in 126mm rear spacing.  So rather than wrestle with the moral dilemma, is it possible to convert a modern production narrow 7 freewheel (IRD, Sunrace, or whatever) to Ultra six by pulling out one cog?  Right now I've got a lovely old touring Harry Quinn in the stand, and could really use more than five cogs in the back but I'm not going to spread it if I can help it.

Tom Adams Bought 4 13-32 Ultra six freewheels two years ago but now am out in Manhattan, KS, USA


--- On Tue, 12/29/09, donald gillies wrote:


From: donald gillies <gillies@ece.ubc.ca> Subject: Re: [CR] Freewheel re-spacing To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2009, 7:22 PM

Some hard-to-find ratios these days are 13-26 (ultra) and 13-28 (either ultra or regular).  I know 'coffeeride' (David Taitano Jr.) here in san diego tried for a long time to sell some NOS 14-30 winner ultra freewheels with little success on ebay.

Good-quality 13-28 freewheels are available in 7-speed ratios (SunRace and IRD).  So, by cold-setting the rear triangle to 126mm you can have a wide choice of 7-speed freewheels.  Everybody does this.

Just about any SRAM 8-speed chain (they all start with '8' like 820, 850, 870) should work with ultra 6,7 spacing (and normal 5-speed spacing too).

Even rarer and more expensive (and getting more rare all the time) are ORO freewheels (especially suntour) in reasonable gear ratios (like 14-24 or 14-28, in 6 speed or higher.)

- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA


--- On Tue, 12/29/08, Tom Adams wrote:


    Is it possible to take a "modern" 7 speed freewheel, remove one cog, and have an ultra six freewheel?  If you can, what cog can you remove? I presume the small cog must stay to lock the rest of the cogs on the body, but can you only remove the biggest cog, or any of the middles?

While I appreciate the resurgence of freewheels in the market place, we have regular five speed, wide six speed, narrow (ultra) 7 speed, but no one is making narrow six speed freewheels.  The high prices the Suntour Ultra six freewheels fetch on ebay, especially in the touring ratios, seems to indicate there's some demand.

Tom Adams
Manhattan, KS, USA


--- On Tue, 12/29/09, Andrew R Stewart wrote:


From: Andrew R Stewart <onetenth@earthlink.net> Subject: Re: [CR] Freewheel re-spacing To: "Pablo Brena" <pbrena@yahoo.com>, classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Tuesday, December 29, 2009, 6:36 PM

Pablo- As you might know this is the principle behind the Sun Tour Winner (And lower cost later Perfects) free wheels. By changing the width of the spacers between the cogs you could cram 6 cogs in the space of about 5.2 cogs. At one time I thought this was the best combination of gear count and spoke dish (if used on a 125mm hub).

Most of the Euro. free wheels I've seen have not used this cog/spacer design. Often the cogs will have a thicker section at the inside diameter, where the threading is to mount onto the free wheel core. This thicker section sets the cog to cog spacing. So respacing many of the Regina, Atom, TDC (although why you'd do that I don't know), Maillard/Normandy free wheels popular during the 1970s is not too easy.

The few "free wheel kits" (with a core or two and a bunch of cogs) I remember during the late 70s/early 80s didn't have provisions for cog to cog spacing changes, excluding the mentioned Winners.

----- Original Message ----- From: "Pablo Brena" <pbrena@yahoo.com>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 5:21 PM
Subject: [CR] Freewheel re-spacing


> Hello CR List Members,

>

> Has anyone re-spaced a

> (Suntour for example) 5 speed freewheel into 6 speed so as to keep the

> 120mm rear axe spacing (like the "Ultra Six")???

>

> If so, what sort of spacers

> and chain would be suitable? Any other considerations???

>

> Regards,

>

> Pablo Brena

> Mexico, Distrito Federal