Freewheels

mike ives

Is it easy to replace or repair these? I haven't done either before and was thinking of having a practice on an old wheel. I was more interested in Esaton or Shimano wheels.

Nigel Bennett

You can't (for all practical purposes) repair a Shimano free-hub. I've had a go at taking one to bits and failed miserably. Not that I'd have been able to do much apart from changing the balls if I had succeeded!

Removing the freehub is quite simple - remove the axle and the balls, making sure you see where they go under the darkest recesses of your shed when they fall out! Probably just as well replacing them anyway - not expensive. Check the cones for wear, too.

With the axle out, use a 10mm Allen key and remove the special screw that retains the freewheel. Fit a new freehub, tighten the screw and put the axle and balls back again.

The Shimano website should give you help, too.

mike ives

Many thanks. I'll have a look on the Shimano site as suggested and possiby Youtube as well.

desweller

Do you mean freehub or freewheel?

Freewheels are the older method. The sprockets and pawl/ratchet assembly come as a unit and screw onto the wheel. Freehubs separate the sprockets so that you don't have to replace the pawl/ratchet assembly every time you have to replace worn-out sprockets.

Not that I know how to service either. Freewheels are not designed to be user-serviceable though, so might be tricky. I think some freehubs can be rebuilt/regreased/etc.