struby

Hello,

I have an older diamondback hybrid bike with a shimano freewheel. The rear rim got bent and I found a new one for fairly cheap. I had a park tools FR-5 freewheel removal tool I had never used. It said it works with shimano. It looks like it would work, but when I try to put the tool in the freewheel, it just seems like it is juuuuust sliiightly too large. Is there a smaller shimano tool? This is the only tool I have, but a bike shop said all I needed was the shimano key to remove it.

I tried to use the tool on another freewheel, but I might have damaged it a little trying to get it into the initial freewheel too aggressively, so I'm not sure if it would have fit.

Thanks

JOHNinIL

Take a look at Park Tool's website https://www.parktool.com/category/freewheel-cassette and see if there's another tool on this page that can help.

cranky old road 

Looks like the FR-5 is a cassette lock ring tool. Do you have a cassette or a freewheel?

Crescent Cycle

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-...ewheel-removal shows which interfaces tools are meant for. FR-5 is not for freewheels, it is for cassettes, and 23.4mm in diameter. Shimano freewheels are 23mm in diameter. I ran into the same problem and ended up using a Campy lockring/bb tool (22.8mm)

FBinNY 

Park doesn't make the right tool. Older Shimano freewheels take a remover of significantly smaller diameter. The giveaway si looking straight don the axle. If the freewheel's spline diameter is as small or smaller than the axle locknut. That means the modern thin wall removers that fit between the axle and freewheel can't work, and you need to start by removing the locknut to access the freewheel, then using one of these Note the thick wall, and 10.5m ID which clears the axle but not the cones or locknuts.

BTW- these are had to find and can be pricey, so your best bet might be to bring the wheel in and let a shop or co-op remove the freewheel for you.

CACycling

Guessing you need an FR-1. Have not run into any DBs (and I've dealt with a lot of older DBs) with the earlier freewheel style that takes the tool FB shows.

FBinNY 

Yes, rereading the reference to the "just slightly too small" points to the FR-1.

Before spending more money the OP can get a definitive answer by rolling a sheet of paper into a tube just big enough to slide over the locknut and cone. If it slips into the freewheel than he probably needs an FR-1. OTOH- if there's no way it can slip into the F/W, then he needs the old tool.

struby

Ah thank you everyone, that should solve my problem. I'm going to try the FR-1 or whatever cheap knockoff I come across. Luckly, I only spend $1.24 at a warehouse and dent store for the FR-5. I know the difference between and cassette and a freewheel and yet, I read right over like there is none.

Thanks again everyone, in my limited experience with the board, you are a very helpful community.

struby

Will I also need one of those tools with the piece of chain hanging off of it?

Crescent Cycle

You should be fine without a chain whip

mconlonx

A vice bolted to an immovable object may also be useful for freewheel removal...

Crescent Cycle

In case it isn't obvious, the proper way to use a vice with a freewheel remover too is to put the flats of the tool in the vice and spin the wheel which gives you lots of torque for the most stubborn freewheels. Don't try clamping down any part of the wheel.

struby

unfortunately there are no immovable objects in my storage locker where I work on bikes, but I have a grip exerciser at home, so I will get some reps in by the time my new tool comes in the mail haha

I can go to a vice if needed though

is the chain tool just for extremely stubborn jobs or is there a separate purpose for that?

Thanks again everyone

Crescent Cycle

I'm not sure chainwhips really serve any practical purpose for these freewheels. They're needed for cassettes, and before cassettes were invented, they were used for fixed cogs.

CACycling

My method is to jam the wheel against the wall and the floor perpendicular to both, install the freewheel tool (preferably held in place with the skewer but not tight), put a 12" crescent on it and give the end of the crescent a few whacks with a rubber mallet while holding the wheel tight against the wall/floor. Once you break it free, remove the skewer and spin it off. Hasn't failed me yet.

cny-bikeman

Not everyone has one, but a 15" crescent wrench will give you the same amount of leverage as using the wheel in a vise.

JohnDThompson 

Chain whips are also used to remove the individual cogs from a freewheel, e.g. to build a custom ratio, but you need to secure the freewheel in a freewheel vice.

MEversbergII

Or a long pipe fitted over the wrench handle

M.

jsdavis

Would it be bad to hit the wrench with hammer? When I've had to remove stubborn freewheels, I'd smack the end of the wrench with a deadblow mallet.

FBinNY 

If it works for you then it's OK. However the hub isn't dollied very rigidly, so you don't tend to get the full energy of the hammer working for you. I've always done best with a long hard pull.

elcraft

Actually, a 1" box end wrench or (better yet), a 1" six point socket with a breaker bar (for Park pullers) is less likely to slip off the puller tool when you try to loosen the freewheel. At least, if you aren't using the method where the tool is clamped into a bench vice, and the wheel is turned.

MEversbergII

I've had good luck with the pipe (PVC) being of close diameter with an angle allowing some of the pipe to overlap the head of the tool.

Then again, I was using freely scrounged PVC broken at an irregular angle...

M.

Jeff Wills

Ummm... Shimano freewheels that required the FR-1-style tool went away in the early '80's. After that, they all used the FR-5-style. I'm pretty sure that WSI didn't start selling Diamond Back mountain bikes until the mid '80's. and "hybrids" didn't show up until the early '90's or so.

I'm going to bet on either a slightly bent axle or a gunked-up tool cavity are causing the problem.

scott967

This peaked my interest so went out to the garage. I have a Shimano TL-FW80 and just to eyeball it, it looked the same as a Park FR-5, but when I tried on a FW, the Park is a no-go while the TL-FW80 fit like a glove. BTW, that FW is probably 95-00 vintage. My earlier FWs had the 2 or 4 prong style.

scott s.
.

Bill Kapaun

I've never used a vise, since my 1" combination wrench has always done the job (although I had to relieve the "notches" a bit with a triange shaped file to fit the Park removal tools) but a vise would allow one to use 2 hands, spaced apart to help keep the torque "centered".
A solidly mounted vise would be better than a 3rd hand IMO.