SunRace freewheels: trash or no?

First thing: I need a freewheel, not a new rear wheel or hub.

Second: I don't want to drag through EBay looking for a 12x24 6 speed.

Are the SunRace freewheels sold by, among others, Harris Cyclery, any good? Or, as Sheldon has
previously posted here some time ago, are they "trashy"?

I assume that they could have been improved, or the lack of good alternatives alone may have made
them a more acceptable choice.

Anyone?

Thanks

Ken

A shy person asked:

> Are the SunRace freewheels sold by, among others, Harris Cyclery, any good? Or, as Sheldon has
> previously posted here some time ago, are they "trashy"?
>
> I assume that they could have been improved, or the lack of good alternatives alone may have made
> them a more acceptable choice.

I may have been too hasty to condemn all Taiwanese freewheels on the basis of some very bad
experiences with self-destructing Falcon units.

I haven't actually seen any failures with the SunRace units, was convinced to give them a try by
Grant Petersen who also has had good things to say about them.

SunRace is also the company that bought Sturmey-Archer, and the SunRace/Sturmey-Archer internal gear
hubs actually appear rather better made than the later English production.

Sheldon "SunRace OK" Brown +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, | and breeds reptiles of the mind.
| --William Blake |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton,
Massachusetts Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 http://harriscyclery.com Hard-to-find parts
shipped Worldwide http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

"Sheldon Brown" <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote in message
news:3F3D0A04.3070608@sheldonbrown.com...
> A shy person asked:
>
> > Are the SunRace freewheels sold by, among others, Harris Cyclery,
any
> > good? Or, as Sheldon has previously posted here some time ago,
are
> > they "trashy"?
> >
> > I assume that they could have been improved, or the lack of good alternatives alone may have
> > made them a more acceptable choice.
>
> I may have been too hasty to condemn all Taiwanese freewheels on the basis of some very bad
> experiences with self-destructing Falcon
units.
>
> I haven't actually seen any failures with the SunRace units, was convinced to give them a try by
> Grant Petersen who also has had good things to say about them.
>
> SunRace is also the company that bought Sturmey-Archer, and the SunRace/Sturmey-Archer internal
> gear hubs actually appear rather
better
> made than the later English production.

I've looked them over and I'd pretty much think that they got the drawings from Shimano. They aren't
as well finished as Shimano stuff but they will perform well above their price point.

On Fri, 15 Aug 2003 16:38:18 GMT, "Tom Kunich" <tkunich@earthlink.net> may have said:

>I've looked them over and I'd pretty much think that they got the drawings from Shimano. They
>aren't as well finished as Shimano stuff but they will perform well above their price point.

I looked at one of their freewheels at an lbs recently, and the guy there said that he wasn't
familiar enough with them to say for sure how well they would hold up, but he'd seen some come
through on customers' bikes who were reporting no problems and good results. My impression when I
looked at one side by side with a Shimano was that they may have reverse engineered Shimano's
product to some extent. This is a common practice in the Asian manufacturing community.

The price is certainly attractive. Time will tell if it's money well spent.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail. Yes, I have a killfile. If I
don't respond to something, it's also possible that I'm busy.

"Sheldon Brown" <captbike@sheldonbrown.com> wrote in message
news:3F3D0A04.3070608@sheldonbrown.com...
> A shy person asked:
>
> > Are the SunRace freewheels sold by, among others, Harris Cyclery, any good?

> I haven't actually seen any failures with the SunRace units, was convinced to give them a try by
> Grant Petersen who also has had good things to say about them.
>
> SunRace is also the company that bought Sturmey-Archer, and the SunRace/Sturmey-Archer internal
> gear hubs actually appear rather better made than the later English production.

I'd bet a round of beers that the Interloc/IRD "Black Lightning" cassettes are actually SunRace
cassettes coated in Teflon. From the photos I've seen, they appear identical. For that matter, some
of the SRAM cassettes bear a close resemblance to SunRace cassettes. Any possibility that they are
made in the same factory?

-Barry

In article <bhjaen$62r$1@wildfire.prairienet.org>, "B. Sanders" <barry@bsanders.net> wrote:

> I'd bet a round of beers that the Interloc/IRD "Black Lightning" cassettes are actually SunRace
> cassettes coated in Teflon. From the photos I've seen, they appear identical. For that matter,
> some of the SRAM cassettes bear a close resemblance to SunRace cassettes. Any possibility that
> they are made in the same factory?

I would say the odds are excellent, as Asian manufacturers frequently subcontract things out to
other makers (even competitors). Sun Tour did this a lot, and I recall reading that Shimano has done
it as well. I wouldn't even be surprised to learn that SunRace made freewheels for Shimano...

kharper-<< First thing: I need a freewheel, not a new rear wheel or hub.

Second: I don't want to drag through EBay looking for a 12x24 6 speed.

Are the SunRace freewheels sold by, among others, Harris Cyclery, any good? >><BR><BR>

about as good as you would expect it to be for $18-$20.

I have DA, NOS 13-23 6s freewheels...expensive, but the best FW ever made, IMO-change the chain
regularly and you'll get years outta it.

Peter Chisholm Vecchio's Bicicletteria 1833 Pearl St. Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535 http://www.vecchios.com "Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"