Freewheel removal - which direction

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I'm about to do a well overdue overhaul of my rear wheel hub. I did the
front a while ago but have been putting off doing the back because I
didn't have a freewheel remover. Now I've got one I've just gone to take
the freewheel off but it's stuck on pretty tight. Beofre I go all brutal
on it with the vice I thought I better check which way it comes off. If
I'm looking at the freewheel, do I turn it anti-clockwise to come out,
or does it go in the opposite direction? I remember reading something
about it going a certain direction so that the turning wheel tightens
it. BTW it's a Shimano freewheel if that makes any difference.

_Pedaling_ tightens it, if that will help you. In other words,
clockwise tightens it, counter-clockwise loosens it, just like a
normally threaded bolt or nut.

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

It has a right-hand thread. Just think about how the action of pedalling
tightens the freewheel by rotating it on the hub. It unsecrew in the
opposite direction.

If you have the remover mounted in a vise, it will be easier to loosen the
freewheel by an initial jerk rather than just using steady pressure.

Nick

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

Quoted message said:

I'm about to do a well overdue overhaul of my rear wheel hub. I did the
front a while ago but have been putting off doing the back because I
didn't have a freewheel remover. Now I've got one I've just gone to take
the freewheel off but it's stuck on pretty tight. Beofre I go all brutal
on it with the vice I thought I better check which way it comes off.

In article <[email hidden]>,

DaveB said:

I'm about to do a well overdue overhaul of my rear wheel hub. I did the
front a while ago but have been putting off doing the back because I
didn't have a freewheel remover. Now I've got one I've just gone to take
the freewheel off but it's stuck on pretty tight. Beofre I go all brutal
on it with the vice I thought I better check which way it comes off. If
I'm looking at the freewheel, do I turn it anti-clockwise to come out

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes, counter-clockwise unscrews it.

Quoted message said:

or does it go in the opposite direction? I remember reading something
about it going a certain direction so that the turning wheel tightens
it. BTW it's a Shimano freewheel if that makes any difference.

Thread-on freewheels of various makes pretty much screw onto
the same hub interchangably, although I suppose there can be
exotic exceptions.

The best way is to clamp the tool in a vice mounted on a heavy
workbench, and turn the wheel by the rim. If you have to use a
wrench instead of a vice, the longer the handle, the more leverage
you can apply. Slow & steady force with a lot of leverage does the
trick better than a lot of whalloping. I use a very big crescent
wrench and a length of iron pipe to extend the handle. Vice grips
will kill the flats on the freewheel tool in no time; they also
rather annoyingly tend to spring open right at the moment before
progress is made. There used to be "pocket vices" available, which
fit over the tool's flats and take the brunt of the punishment
dished out by the wrench or whatever tool is used to do the turning,
but I don't know if they still make 'em. I haven't seen one in a
long time.

Incidentally, if the hub has loose bearing balls, a wire-mesh tea ball
works wonderfully to dunk them in whatever degreaser you use, and keep
them all together. It can save a bunch of counting later on.

cheers,
Tom

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Tom Keats said:

Thread-on freewheels of various makes pretty much screw onto
the same hub interchangably, although I suppose there can be
exotic exceptions.

Old French freewheels had a slightly different thread, IIRC.

Quoted message said:

Incidentally, if the hub has loose bearing balls, a wire-mesh tea ball
works wonderfully to dunk them in whatever degreaser you use, and keep
them all together. It can save a bunch of counting later on.

Nah. Chuck the balls. Get new ones. They are cheap.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "What am I on? I'm on my bike, six hours a day, busting my ass.
_`\(,_ | What are you on?" --Lance Armstrong
(_)/ (_) |

DaveB said:

I'm about to do a well overdue overhaul of my rear wheel hub. I did the
front a while ago but have been putting off doing the back because I
didn't have a freewheel remover. Now I've got one I've just gone to take
the freewheel off but it's stuck on pretty tight.

Always the way with freewheels.

Quoted message said:

Beofre I go all brutal
on it with the vice I thought I better check which way it comes off.

Normal right-hand threads. Hold the freewheel against the tool using the
QR skewer (not too tight), chuck the tool in the vice, and grab the rim
with both hands to loosen. It takes a lot of force. Use anti-seize on
the threads before you put it back on.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | It is a scientifically proven fact that a mid life crisis can
_`\(,_ | only be cured by something racy and Italian. Bianchis and
(_)/ (_) | Colnagos are a lot cheaper than Maserattis and Ferraris. --
Glenn Davies

I tried for a while then gave up and went back to the bike shop. They
used the vice the same as I tried but it took two men to get it off, one
arm on each quarter of the rim. No wonder I couldn't do it.

Dave B.

DaveB said:

I'm about to do a well overdue overhaul of my rear wheel hub. I did the
front a while ago but have been putting off doing the back because I
didn't have a freewheel remover. Now I've got one I've just gone to take
the freewheel off but it's stuck on pretty tight. Beofre I go all brutal
on it with the vice I thought I better check which way it comes off. If
I'm looking at the freewheel, do I turn it anti-clockwise to come out,
or does it go in the opposite direction? I remember reading something
about it going a certain direction so that the turning wheel tightens
it. BTW it's a Shimano freewheel if that makes any difference.
Dave B.

DaveB said:

I'm about to do a well overdue overhaul of my rear wheel hub. I did the
front a while ago but have been putting off doing the back because I
didn't have a freewheel remover. Now I've got one I've just gone to take
the freewheel off but it's stuck on pretty tight. Beofre I go all brutal
on it with the vice I thought I better check which way it comes off. If
I'm looking at the freewheel, do I turn it anti-clockwise to come out,
or does it go in the opposite direction? I remember reading something
about it going a certain direction so that the turning wheel tightens
it. BTW it's a Shimano freewheel if that makes any difference.
Dave B.

Here's a trick I've used for when you don't have a vice (apart from
smoking, drinking, etc.) but do have a socket set. Put the appropriate
size socket on the freewheel tool, and on the socket put that funny
bar-type handle on which the (usually 1/2"😉 drive can slide up and down.
Now find a door frame that doesn't matter if it gets a bit dinged up
(e.g. a back shed), or wrap the socket handle in a rag, and wedge the
handle in the hinge side of the door. This gives you resistance against
which you can unscrew the wheel (anti-clockwise [as we say in
Australia], holding it by the rim).

HTH,

&roo

As far as I know, all freewheels are removed in the same way. You should be
sure that you have a freewheel, and not a cassette. I have never removed a
cassette, and don't know how to do that. Freewheels are threaded with a
normal right hand thread. In this fashion, when the chain pulls on it, it
tightens. To remove it you turn it counterclockwise when viewing it from the
drive side. They can be quite difficult to remove.

Ernie

DaveB said:

I'm about to do a well overdue overhaul of my rear wheel hub. I did the
front a while ago but have been putting off doing the back because I
didn't have a freewheel remover. Now I've got one I've just gone to take
the freewheel off but it's stuck on pretty tight. Beofre I go all brutal
on it with the vice I thought I better check which way it comes off. If
I'm looking at the freewheel, do I turn it anti-clockwise to come out,
or does it go in the opposite direction? I remember reading something
about it going a certain direction so that the turning wheel tightens
it. BTW it's a Shimano freewheel if that makes any difference.
Dave B.

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

Quoted message said:

As far as I know, all freewheels are removed in the same way. You should be
sure that you have a freewheel, and not a cassette. I have never removed a
cassette, and don't know how to do that. Freewheels are threaded with a
normal right hand thread. In this fashion, when the chain pulls on it, it
tightens. To remove it you turn it counterclockwise when viewing it from the
drive side. They can be quite difficult to remove.

Ernie

I'm sure the guys in the bike shop would have got it right...

Anyway, removing a cassette is as easy as pie - use the splined tool
to remove the lockring and then all the sprockets and spacers just
slide right off.

Ritch

(Ritch) said:

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

Quoted message said:

As far as I know, all freewheels are removed in the same way. You should be
sure that you have a freewheel, and not a cassette. I have never removed a
cassette, and don't know how to do that. Freewheels are threaded with a
normal right hand thread. In this fashion, when the chain pulls on it, it
tightens. To remove it you turn it counterclockwise when viewing it from the
drive side. They can be quite difficult to remove.

Ernie

I'm sure the guys in the bike shop would have got it right...

Anyway, removing a cassette is as easy as pie - use the splined tool
to remove the lockring and then all the sprockets and spacers just
slide right off.

Ritch

A chain whip helps when you try to remove a cassette lockring- holding
using your hand can lead to some interesting wound patterns 🙂

Dan Daniel said:

A chain whip helps when you try to remove a cassette lockring- holding
using your hand can lead to some interesting wound patterns 🙂

As a substitute for a chain whip you can wrap a piece of chain around
the cassette and clamp both ends in a vice so they form a tightish
loop around the sprocket with the wheel at 90 degrees to the vice
jaws. Be careful not to bend anything, Oh and don't use you good chain
;-} It's a bit of a juggle but works fine.

By the way a chain whip is about $15.00.

Regards,

Neil.

That's where an old pair of leather motorcycle gloves come in handy.
Dave B.

Dan Daniel said:

(Ritch) said:

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

Quoted message said:

As far as I know, all freewheels are removed in the same way. You should be
sure that you have a freewheel, and not a cassette. I have never removed a
cassette, and don't know how to do that. Freewheels are threaded with a
normal right hand thread. In this fashion, when the chain pulls on it, it
tightens. To remove it you turn it counterclockwise when viewing it from the
drive side. They can be quite difficult to remove.

Ernie

I'm sure the guys in the bike shop would have got it right...

Anyway, removing a cassette is as easy as pie - use the splined tool
to remove the lockring and then all the sprockets and spacers just
slide right off.

Ritch

A chain whip helps when you try to remove a cassette lockring- holding
using your hand can lead to some interesting wound patterns 🙂

Dan Daniel <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

(Ritch) said:

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

Quoted message said:

As far as I know, all freewheels are removed in the same way. You should be
sure that you have a freewheel, and not a cassette. I have never removed a
cassette, and don't know how to do that. Freewheels are threaded with a
normal right hand thread. In this fashion, when the chain pulls on it, it
tightens. To remove it you turn it counterclockwise when viewing it from the
drive side. They can be quite difficult to remove.

Ernie

I'm sure the guys in the bike shop would have got it right...

Anyway, removing a cassette is as easy as pie - use the splined tool
to remove the lockring and then all the sprockets and spacers just
slide right off.

Ritch

A chain whip helps when you try to remove a cassette lockring- holding
using your hand can lead to some interesting wound patterns 🙂

Oh yes, I forgot that most people don't have hands like the incredible hulk.

Ritch

The reason your free wheel was so tight is because of the pressure from
tightening up as you pedal the threads chemically weld to the hub, a bit of
grease on the threads be for you put the cluster back on can help prevnet
this. Over all though a cassete is better if only because it makes it easier
to replace broken spokes. Personally I keep my cassette only a bit over
finger tight and it has never come undone on the road.

Regrds Matt

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

Quoted message said:

I tried for a while then gave up and went back to the bike shop. They
used the vice the same as I tried but it took two men to get it off, one
arm on each quarter of the rim. No wonder I couldn't do it.

Dave B.

DaveB said:

I'm about to do a well overdue overhaul of my rear wheel hub. I did the
front a while ago but have been putting off doing the back because I
didn't have a freewheel remover. Now I've got one I've just gone to take
the freewheel off but it's stuck on pretty tight. Beofre I go all brutal
on it with the vice I thought I better check which way it comes off. If
I'm looking at the freewheel, do I turn it anti-clockwise to come out,
or does it go in the opposite direction? I remember reading something
about it going a certain direction so that the turning wheel tightens
it. BTW it's a Shimano freewheel if that makes any difference.
Dave B.