getting a sprocket off....

hi I've been wrestling with my back wheel trying to get the freewheel thing off using one of those
custom tools that fit in to the inner bit...but it's just not happening - does anyone have any tips
- stupid mquestion, but which way do I turn it...ah, few more attempts and it's down to the local
bike shop cheers for any advice anyone can throw my way....

 

munkee <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> hi I've been wrestling with my back wheel trying to get the freewheel thing off using one of those
> custom tools that fit in to the inner bit...but it's just not happening - does anyone have any
> tips - stupid mquestion, but which way do I turn it...ah, few more attempts and it's down to the
> local bike shop cheers for any advice anyone can throw my way....

You need to use it in conjunction with a chain whip. You can pick these up for under £10 or make
your own with an old chain. The 'locking nut' need to be turned in the 'free movement' direction and
requires the sprockets to be held while you do so.

If you want to try it NOW, you can attempt to make do by wrapping an old cloth around the sprocket
and twist the ends together to hold it tight. Worked for me until I bought the proper tool.

--
Mark
____________________________
Practice does not make perfect... Perfect practice makes perfect

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munkee wrote:
> hi I've been wrestling with my back wheel trying to get the freewheel thing off using one of those
> custom tools that fit in to the inner bit...but it's just not happening - does anyone have any
> tips - stupid mquestion, but which way do I turn it...ah, few more attempts and it's down to the
> local bike shop cheers for any advice anyone can throw my way....

Mike has replied talking about getting a cassette lockring off, but you may be talking about a
freewheel. If, when you put the tool in the tool cannot rotate relative to the wheel it is a
freewheel.

Put the tool in a sturdy vice, pop the wheel on (so the sprockets are facing down and the tool is
facing up in the vice) and heave on the wheel. The freewheel has a normal right hand thread, so when
you have it in the vice you need to turn the wheel anticlockwise, as if the wheel was a giant screw
you were trying to undo.

--
-Alex

----------------------------------
[email protected] www.westerleycycling.org.uk http://alexpg.ath.cx:3353/cycling.php
----------------------------------

 

Alex Graham wrote:

> Mike has replied talking about getting a cassette lockring off, but you ...

Sorry to reply to my own post, but that should say mark, not mike.

d'oh

--
-Alex

----------------------------------
[email protected] www.westerleycycling.org.uk http://alexpg.ath.cx:3353/cycling.php
----------------------------------

 

On Thu, 15 May 2003 20:15:29 +0000 (UTC), MSA <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> munkee <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> hi I've been wrestling with my back wheel trying to get the freewheel thing off using one of
>> those custom tools that fit in to the inner bit...but it's just not happening - does anyone have
>> any tips - stupid mquestion, but which way do I turn it...ah, few more attempts and it's down to
>> the local bike shop cheers for any advice anyone can throw my way....
>
>
> You need to use it in conjunction with a chain whip. You can pick these up for under £10 or make
> your own with an old chain. The 'locking nut' need to be turned in the 'free movement' direction
> and requires the sprockets to be held while you do so.
>
> If you want to try it NOW, you can attempt to make do by wrapping an old cloth around the sprocket
> and twist the ends together to hold it tight. Worked for me until I bought the proper tool.
>
Isn't that to remove a cassette, not a freewheel?

I believe the Sheldon Brown approach has you put the freewheel remover tool in a vice and then
unscrew the wheel from the freewheel.

I've only removed one (and been defeated once by the windcheetah) and in that instance a foot long
spanner was sufficient. I put the wheel at right angles to a wall so it wouldn't roll and then just
leant heavily on the spanner.

Given my experiences with the windcheetah, unless you have a very strong vice very securely mounted
then use the LBS if my wall trick doesn't work. Otherwise you are likely to break something - if you
are lucky it will be a spanner or vice, if unlucky it will be you as the freewheel tool springs free
of the vice and hits you. (The windcheetah doesn't allow
S.B.s approach which is probably safer in this respect but not actually having tried it I don't know
quite what might go wrong)

Regards,

Tim.

--
God said, "div D = rho, div B = 0, curl E = - @B/@t, curl H = J + @D/@t," and there was light.

http://tjw.hn.org/ http://www.locofungus.btinternet.co.uk/

 

Tim Woodall <[email protected]> wrote: ...
| I believe the Sheldon Brown approach has you put the freewheel remover tool in a vice and then
| unscrew the wheel from the freewheel.
|
| I've only removed one (and been defeated once by the windcheetah) and in that instance a foot long
| spanner was sufficient. I put the wheel at right angles to a wall so it wouldn't roll and then
| just leant heavily on the spanner.

I've done this with a spanner bolted to an 6ft long plank. A friend (it was his wheel) jammed the
wheel against the kitchen taps (his partner was asleep or at work or something) and I still had to
push hard on the other end of the plank. It can be a tough job.

--
Patrick Herring, Sheffield, UK http://www.anweald.co.uk

 

Alex Graham <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Alex Graham wrote:
>
> > Mike has replied talking about getting a cassette lockring off, but you ...
>
> Sorry to reply to my own post, but that should say mark, not mike.
>
> d'oh

thanks a lot for the advice folks, I will re-attempt this evening seeing as how the weather has
turned Will

 

I find a car oil filter removal tool works just fine, if you don't have the correct chainwhip tool.
In fact I find it works better for this job then it does for removing the car oil filter! Apologies
for mentioning four wheeled devices,

Rupert

>
> If you want to try it NOW, you can attempt to make do by wrapping an old cloth around the sprocket
> and twist the ends together to hold it tight. Worked for me until I bought the proper tool.

 

Rupert Smith wrote:
> I find a car oil filter removal tool works just fine, if you don't have the correct chainwhip
> tool. In fact I find it works better for this job then it does for removing the car oil filter!

Yes, thats I use at the moment, although I was wondering if it might end up squashing the
sprockets....

--
-Alex

----------------------------------
[email protected] www.westerleycycling.org.uk http://alexpg.ath.cx:3353/cycling.php
----------------------------------

 

Tim Woodall <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> Isn't that to remove a cassette, not a freewheel?

You know-it-alls make me SICK! Why the hell didn't ya tell me before I started typing instead of
sitting there waiting for my post to arrive!

No thought for others...it's just Me, Me, Me.

Oh, before I forget

--
Mark
____________________________
Practice does not make perfect... Perfect practice makes perfect

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What Alex said, but be warned that a B&W Workmate does not, in this instance, qualify as "Sturdy". I
have a 10" adjustable spanner with an old Bickerton seat tube artfully squashed so as to slip over
the end of said spanner, and have not yet been defeated by a freewheel, though I am give to
understand that those who used to tour on laden tandems equipped with the old Sun Tour Alpine
freewheel[1] were rarely, if ever, able to remove the block afterwards.

1 - IIRC the cogs were 14-17-21-28-38

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================

 

On Tue, 20 May 2003 15:07:06 +0100, "Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I have a 10" adjustable spanner with an old Bickerton seat tube artfully squashed so as to slip
> over the end of said spanner, and have not yet been defeated by a freewheel

Obviously my night for memories of the College of Knowledge where my aged P used to work: we had to
remove the fifth gear from a Maxi gearbox once and we managed it by holding the gearbox in a 10" jaw
engineering vice bolted to a steel bench, locking the gears, and unscrewing with a 4 1/2" deep 2
1/2" AF 3/4" square drive socket, with a 3/4" drive bar over the handle of which we slipped a 6ft
scaffold pole. I do solemnly swear that the pole did bend as pressure was applied. And I am here to
tell you that when that sucker released it made the most God-almighty bang! I thought I'd stuffed
the gearbox, I really did. The source of the problem, of course, was having spent most of the
previous day tring to undo it in the workshop at home before a touch of RTFM revealed the secret: a
LEFT HAND THREAD!

There, almost bike-related. Which way does the left pedal unscrew? Same way as the fifth-gear nut on
a Maxi, mate.

Guy
===
** WARNING ** This posting may contain traces of irony. http://www.chapmancentral.com (BT ADSL and
dynamic DNS permitting)
NOTE: BT Openworld have now blocked port 25 (without notice), so old mail addresses may no longer
work. Apologies.

 

On 15 May 2003 13:08:57 -0700, contributor Munkee had scribed:
> I've been wrestling with my back wheel trying to get the freewheel thing off using one of those
> custom tools that fit in to the inner bit...but it's just not happening - does anyone have any
> tips - stupid mquestion, but which way do I turn it...ah, few more attempts and it's down to the
> local bike shop
>

I am guessing that you are describing an integrated freewheel here rather than a cassette and
freehub. Correct freewheel removal tool, correct size _ring_ spanner to fit (take freewheel removal
tool to tool merchants/hardware shop to get best fit and a the biggest hammer you can lay your hands
on. Do not remove tyre, need a cushion for the rim. Fit freewheel tool to freewheel, fit ring
spanner onto tool ready to move anti-clockwise. Apply hammer to spanner (now you know why stated
ring spanner!) increasing the force by which you are striking the spanner end, until it yields. It
helps to be in a foul mood before starting.

Make a mental note that next you buy a new wheel to get one with a freehub and cassette. They are
far easier to remove. Correct cassette removal tool, which may the same as the freewheel removal
tool, ring spanner and chain whip, yank in (correct) opposite directions and it's off.

Gary

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Gary Timeshift <[email protected]> wrote:
( Iam guessing that you are describing an integrated freewheel here ) rather than a cassette and
freehub. Correct freewheel removal tool, ( correct size _ring_ spanner to fit (take freewheel
removal tool to tool ) merchants/hardware shop to get best fit and a the biggest hammer you can
( lay your hands on. Do not remove tyre, need a cushion for the rim. Fit ) freewheel tool to
freewheel, fit ring spanner onto tool ready to move ( anti-clockwise.

Vandal. When you say ring spanner and hammer, you mean vice. Clamp tool in vice, try to turn wheel;
pause to check that you really believe it's a right-hand thread; try to turn wheel; check you really
believe it's a right-hand thread; and then turn wheel with ease; check (with surprise) that spokes
have survived.

 

Geraint Jones wrote:
>
> Gary Timeshift <[email protected]> wrote:
> ( Iam guessing that you are describing an integrated freewheel here ) rather than a cassette and
> freehub. Correct freewheel removal tool, ( correct size _ring_ spanner to fit (take freewheel
> removal tool to tool ) merchants/hardware shop to get best fit and a the biggest hammer you
> can ( lay your hands on. Do not remove tyre, need a cushion for the rim. Fit ) freewheel tool
> to freewheel, fit ring spanner onto tool ready to move ( anti-clockwise.
>
> Vandal. When you say ring spanner and hammer, you mean vice. Clamp tool in vice, try to turn
> wheel; pause to check that you really believe it's a right-hand thread; try to turn wheel; check
> you really believe it's a right-hand thread; and then turn wheel with ease; check (with surprise)
> that spokes have survived.

Having damaged a vice that way, I would use a ring spanner with a 4' pipe slipped over the handle.
Get a second person to hold the wheel while you apply leverage to the pipe.

If that doesn't work, get a longer pipe. Warning, if you use a clothes-pole for the pipe you may
bend it using this method.

The cassette freewheel is a wonderful invention!

Mike

 

"Mike K Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> > Vandal. When you say ring spanner and hammer, you mean vice. Clamp tool in vice, try to turn
> > wheel; pause to check that you really believe it's a right-hand thread; try to turn wheel; check
> > you really believe it's a right-hand thread; and then turn wheel with ease; check (with
> > surprise) that spokes have survived.
>
> Having damaged a vice that way, I would use a ring spanner with a 4' pipe slipped over the handle.
> Get a second person to hold the wheel while you apply leverage to the pipe.

Get a bigger vice! My 4" record one coped with tandem freewheels...

(even when not bolted down - you do need a long piece of wood to counteract the turning though...)

cheers, clive

 

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 14:27:18 +0100, Mike K Smith <[email protected]> wrote:

>Geraint Jones wrote:
>>
>> Gary Timeshift <[email protected]> wrote:
>> ( Iam guessing that you are describing an integrated freewheel here ) rather than a cassette
>> and freehub. Correct freewheel removal tool, ( correct size _ring_ spanner to fit (take
>> freewheel removal tool to tool ) merchants/hardware shop to get best fit and a the biggest
>> hammer you can ( lay your hands on. Do not remove tyre, need a cushion for the rim. Fit )
>> freewheel tool to freewheel, fit ring spanner onto tool ready to move ( anti-clockwise.
>>
>> Vandal. When you say ring spanner and hammer, you mean vice. Clamp tool in vice, try to turn
>> wheel; pause to check that you really believe it's a right-hand thread; try to turn wheel; check
>> you really believe it's a right-hand thread; and then turn wheel with ease; check (with surprise)
>> that spokes have survived.

Not having anything to fit a vice heavier than a fly tying vice to, I used the drain grille outside
my house. It was a big job, and as a frequent spoke pinger, a major problem.

My current cassette job is a great improvement.

Richard Webb

 

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 14:27:18 +0100, contributor Mike K Smith had scribed:
> Having damaged a vice that way, I would use a ring spanner with a 4' pipe slipped over the handle.
> Get a second person to hold the wheel while you apply leverage to the pipe.
>

You didn't specific the type of pipe, presumably you are referring to scaffolding tube as something
like plumbers' copper pipe will just bend.

Gary

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On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 15:06:23 +0100, contributor Clive George had scribed:
> Get a bigger vice! My 4" record one coped with tandem freewheels...
>

Just because the freewheel was used on a tandem doesn't mean it is likely to be more difficult to
remove. There was an occasion when I was on a 24 hour standard ride when a tandem freewheel packed
(palls broke), a replacement freewheel was found ('local' Halfords at 8.00am) and replaced and the
tandem got going again, but I doubt the luxury of a vice and a plank of wood was available in the
vicinity of Kendal to enable the repair. The only luxury was that the ride organiser for the first
time, due to ill-health, had driven from checkpoint to checkpoint with the riders. For those from N
Yorks, the organiser was John Hessle, who died later that year.

Gary

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"Gary Knighton" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 25 Jun 2003 15:06:23 +0100, contributor Clive George had scribed:
> > Get a bigger vice! My 4" record one coped with tandem freewheels...
> >
>
> Just because the freewheel was used on a tandem doesn't mean it is likely to be more difficult
> to remove.

You may wish to rephrase that : it is definitely likely to be more difficult to remove, having twice
the tightening torque n'all. Ours were certainly jolly hard to get off! However it is certainly
possible for a solo freewheel to be harder. (hmm - do tandems get more maintenance so less likely to
have corroded on problems? I wonder how the distribution of amount of maintenance compares. But this
is now getting a bit silly )

and yes, some sort of cassette freehub is far superior. Which is one reason why we have them

cheers, clive