Bike shop says freewheel cant be rebuilt?
 

so I took my freewheel apart to clean it and replace with new bearings. I didn't have the tool to unscrew the part that's attached to the wheel (if you know what I mean) so I took it to a local shop (I needed the broken spokes to be fixed anyway).
when I came to pick it up he ended up replacing with a new freewheel.
the bike shop says you can't rebuild a freewheel because they are pressed fitted from the manufacturer. once you take them apart they are broken.
I've seen multiple videos of how to do it and it didn't seem hard. I mean you just put them back together what's the big deal.

so is he just ripping me off or is it true that once a freewheel is taken apart you cant fix it.

The cost of a new freewheel compared to labor for a rebuild makes it more cost effective for your basic freewheel.

Yep, a shop can't afford to spend a couple hours to do a job right when they can sell a replacement part for $20 (nor would it be cost effective for the consumers).

On the other hand, there are many people that enjoy projects like that. Consider them to be "mancave puzzles".

The other issue is that while things like bearings and grease are available, there just isn't much of a distribution network for spare parts for the freewheels. Rings, pawls, etc.

I'd still go back to your LBS, and ask for any parts he removed from your bike (plus a waste basket full of everyone else's discarded freewheels).

If you have a modern splined freewheel, then buy the tool. You should be able to find it for about $5, and it should last a lifetime.

Supporting vintage freewheels with a variety of removal tools is up to you.

How much did he charge you for the freewheel?

Are you willing to pay $100 labor for a $20 part?

To answer the OP's question directly, yes, freewheels can be rebuilt. However, as others have pointed out, it was cheaper to sell you a new one. It went together in the first place, it can be taken apart.

And how much are question marks going for these days?

Long winter?
 

Yea, What is your time worth? is this a collectors item you are dealing with?

a Rebuild would be replacing worn parts and The smallest cogs wear the fastest,

And no one has a cog board any more to replace worn cogs.. that faded away in the early 80's...

So its all or nothing .. you can flush out the old lubrication around the bearings yourself, but you cannot un wear the worn..






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Freewheels can be rebuilt, I did many back when I was young, patient, and had keener eyesight. It is a tedious frustrating job, especially some older French and Italian freewheels. By comparison many older Japanese freewheels were much easier to work on. Try it as a character building exercise. Your bike shop saved you money by installing a new one

lol, I'm a newbie. no need to be so tough.
so I gather rebuilding a freewheel is possible but it's just cheaper to buy a new one and the guy wasn't ripping me off.

mine's just a simple bike, not collectors' stuff.

I just didn't think assembling the freewheel is that time consuming.

but thanks for all the replies.

just 20 bucks.
what got me was that he didn't say it's not worth it but rather "its broken, you cant fix it".
I told him I have no problem with a new one I just don't understand why you can't re assemble it and he said "it's a freewheel, you cant do it".

yeah I do enjoy working on it (I guess it's fun for at least the first few times). problem is I don't have all the tools and my bike is a chinese cheapo. the freewheel got no brand/model on it so I couldn't buy the tool online. bike shops don't sell them near my place.

Maybe there was indeed something wrong with what you showed him and he was correct in saying it was broken. There is however a high probability that he has never seen a freewheel before. How old was this dude?

Actually, now that I think about it - are you sure that what you had was a freewheel?

Modern freewheels are pretty awful though. They are mostly bottom end components with lower grade metal and meant for light duty tasks. Some of the older freewheels before cassettes became the norm were high quality components by top manufacturers. It's quite possible rebuilding a freewheel could be beneficial compared to fitting a modern replacement freewheel in my opinion. Obviously if the cogs are worn or more likely the smallest cog then that could be an issue.

Follow this link OP

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/1161045-dura-ace-mf-7400-freewheel-disassembly.html

Nothing to it but time; they don't come apart any further than that.

OK good news: that's not a rip-off.

This guy rebuilds them: https://www.freewheelspa.com/

Freewheels on modern bikes usually mean something of very very low quality. Back in the day you could build and rebuild a freewheel in whatever gears you wanted and shops would have spare cogs for a freewheel and could provide a lot of service for them. These days I would bet the modern freewheel isn't easily torn apart and put back together like the old stuff and certainly is better off replaced for $20. It could also have been broken as a lot of cheaper modern parts are designed to be replaced rather than repaired. Especially the no-name stuff a lot of that is designed to be as cheap as possible, those sometimes need to be broken off.

If your freewheel was a nicer 50s-80s then I would send it to Freewheelspa.com and see if he can save it.

Get an old SunTour freewheel and rebuild it. As simple as they come. No special tricks involved. Unscrew the face plate and figure it out. Also a freewheel that's worth doing. If you get that far you should feel confident about doing most others. I would not bother with any current production freewheel. Do not attempt Shimano. Basic procedure is the bearings won't work if the races are full. Little 1/8" bearings. At the factory they will leave out 6 or 8 or 10 bearings. You can pretty quickly figure out if the freewheel in your hand works best two or three or four short of a full race. Repack with Phil grease or any clear synthetic grease. No, grease will not make pawls stick. Will stick if you ride really cold, I used to ride at zero Fahrenheit and that was too cold for grease. The other problem frequently encountered is the pawl springs are out of place or bent. Bend them back. If broken find a similar freewheel and cannibalize. Of course clean out rust and gunk. Once greased a freewheel body will run basically forever. All this was worth doing back when it was simple to buy replacement cogs. Now the primary way to get cogs is to cannibalize.

Gods bless the bike shops who tell owners of classic and vintage bike that their equipment is archaic and beyond repair, so they should buy a new (high margin?) bike. It places welcome downward pressure on the used prices for these lovely machines for those of us who will appreciate them, At a certain age, a bike should be owned by a rider who will do her own repairs. As Bertram Russell observed "time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time."

-Will

New bikes are not high margin. I don't know where you get this data?

A lot of folks don't know much about the C&V bikes especially the young ones and a lot of folks bring in bikes that have never been touched and need a lot of work and while it might be an old bike it just doesn't quite have that value a new bike can make a lot more sense. Yes some people will pour a lot of money into an old bike and sometimes yes it is worth it but a lot of times it is an expensive proposition for a bike that is a bit out of date for what the customer is doing.

OK yea , if you have the time and patience Freewheel bodies can be rebuilt..

insurmountable is; if the company is out of business for 20+ years, Like Suntour, Regina , Mailliard Atom and so forth..

no replacement cogs for the worn ones are made anymore.. so you are not able to replace the worn out cogs..


Chains, Freewheels, and chainrings are consumable parts they wear out by normal use..






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Maybe a little late now, but take a good photo of the freewheel, and someone will identify the tool.

Almost all of the freewheels made in the last 10 years will take either the Park FR1, FR1.2, or FR1.3, with the 1.2 and 1.3 being longer for the freewheels that overhang the attachment, but otherwise backward compatible.

This is especially likely for generics.

For Newbies, put your photos in the Album, and tell us to look for it. :foo:

Good for picking up deals on Craigslist, but there are some that are truly beyond hope.

I've got mixed feelings on this. I think the modern Hyperglide derived freewheels shift much better than the vintage freewheels.

However, those vintage ones can be TOUGH. I think I only ever wore out one 12T sprocket on a freewheel before upgrading to "modern". Now I have to be very careful with them, and using good chains. A brief lapse of attention and they're shot.