Trying a new freewheel. Need tech advice.
 

Ok, going to give a twist tooth freewheel a try over my 5 speed Winner. I'm seeing that Sunrace is a decent sub for Uniglides, but... I want to build a custom setup. I want to stay within 13-24 teeth count.
1. Can I get individual Sunrace cogs out there? I haven't see a lot in America.
2. Are any of them compatible with Shimano cogs?
3. What's the best chains to use with these types of freewheel to further aid in smooth and quiet shifting?
4. What cogs fit on Dura Ace bodies? I ask because I was under the assumption that Dura Ace is the cats pajamas, so to help out my search I was wondering if the other cogs fit in case I can't find a Dura Ace cog of my liking.
5. What's the difference between the Dura Ace and 600 freewheels?

I have had very good luck with the $20 freewheels in 6 and 7 speed configurations that are variously labelled Shimano and Sunrace. However most of them are riveted together and custom ratios are not possible.

I have a large box of cogs and bodies for the DA MF-7400 freewheels. Some say these are the best ever made. There are 2 sizes of spline, plus threaded outer cogs. I can build most ratios, not all, but they are not $20.

The DA and 600 cogs are the same, the DAs have a hard chrome or nickel plating on them. As far as I know there are no other cogs that will fit these bodies.

Mark Petry
Bainbridge Island, WA USA


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a3cff4b97d.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0cd0f8c76a.jpg

You're probably going to be the man I come to for the future. Are you selling any of these cogs by chance?

And did you mean that the Dura Ace and 600 cogs are the same? So does that imply the bodies are pretty similar as well?

Yeah, Dura-Ace freewheels were the highest quality ever, both in construction and materials. Shimano 600, Sante and Dura-Ace 6 and 7 speed freewheel cogs are largely cross-compatible.

New generation Shimano HG22 (6 speed) and HG37 (7-speed) cogs can be retrofitted on the older bodies, with a little grinding.

I have pulled apart a recent Sunrace freewheel and inspected for cog compatibility. IIRC, they looked compatible with the Dura-Ace spline pattern. I'm not surprised that the Dura-Ace design was copied by other manufacturers; it was that good.

Just to establish the boundary conditions for your quest, is it correct to assume that you are happy with the freewheel hub you have now (or freewheels/freewheel hubs in general), and are not considering migration to a freehub configuration?

Yes, the 6-speed Dura-Ace and 600 freewheel bodies were dimensionally identical. The 7-speed Dura-Ace was dimensionally identical to the 7-speed Santé. If you felt like it, a 7-speed 12-34 freewheel was easy to build if you didn't mind a "600" 34-tooth cog.

I built a few custom Shimano freewheels back when I worked at Euro-Asia Imports. I bet they still have some parts laying around: https://www.euroasiaimports.com/prod...mano-c1102.htm

True :) I'm stuck with what I got. Not much room in the budget for a hub change anyhow, plus, I just love old school too much :)

I picked up a few of these for the 600 freehub body

https://www.loosescrews.com/product/...6-18-21-24-28/

just a little grinding to get them to fit - great shifting and the body is pretty bulletproof

Ah ok, I will research that option too. Thank you!