On 11 Jul 2006 13:11:20 -0700, "bktourer1" <
[email protected]>
wrote:
>Please advise exaclty what tools I'll need to remove a freewheel on
>the road while touring to change a broken spoke on the freewheel side.
>I would like to know if there is a good site with exact instructions
>and perhaps photos of each step.
>
>Thanks
>
>Ed
Dear Ed,
Freewheels aren't usually removed by the side of the road.
If you have an old-fashioned freewheel, you need a vise, the puller or
extractor specific to the splines in your freewheel, and a stout
socket wrench to turn the extractor.
A freehub is a large chunk of threaded metal that you've been
tightening with every turn of the pedals--it doesn't come off easily.
If you have a modern freehub, not a freewheel, look here:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/stein-mini-lock/
A freehub's lock ring can be removed with this tool, if you're
careful. A freehub is a much smaller, daintier chunk of threaded
metal, and it has a lock ring that isn't tightened by your pedal
action.
For pictures and detailed explanations of old freewheel versus modern
freehub, browse around here:
http://sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html
http://sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html
With a modern freehub, you drop a splined stack of gears onto a
splined hub and lock them down with a thin threaded ring.
With an old-fashioned freewheel, you thread a stack of gears and their
ratcheting mechanism onto a threaded hub.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel