maddog34

well let's see... last time i removed one of those was 7 or 8 years ago... and i used this with an arbor and a cutoff wheel attached to it.
i wanted to save a nearly pristine normandy hub.. the spokes were shot and the rim was more rust than steel.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-1-...ce=google&wv=4

hey,,, you asked.
mine's a Mac tool model...

you don't know how to open links, huh?... ok then.
i don't post pics, just links... personal choice.

Jeff Neese

I'm sorry, I'm just not understanding why, if you're replacing the entire wheelset, you are even bothering with that rusty old freewheel.

That has nothing to do with whether the wheel is centered in the frame, at all. The rear wheel should sit centered between the dropouts either with or without any freewheel installed. In fact, you should take the one off the donor wheel and see how the wheel fits in the Collegiate then. It sounds like something's off.

What is the rear spacing? Is it 120mm? Unless the frame is bent, any properly dished 120mm wheel, with just about any 5 speed freewheel should fit. That old freewheel should be recycled along with the wheels, and zero dollars should be spent removing it.

JohnDThompson 

FWIW, I've successfully used the FR-4 to remove those freewheels many times, most recently, just yesterday.

maddog34

i guess i prefer to use the correct tool.... and avoid trying to recenter a wheel by merely swapping freewheels....

FWIW.. is it a "hammer time!" fit or loose fit?

and i'd still advise that the OP gets the correct tool, since he doesn't have one at all right now... or that he/she goes to a local shop, and has them cuss and sweat that french freewheel, with 50 years of gunk holding it in place, loose.... OR recenter the new wheel with aluminum rim and 6 speeds to fit the frame that will most likely need coldset to 126mm or greater anyway.

BikePower

I do, but Im looking for the driver that fits in the freewheel so it can be unscrewed from the hub.

BikePower

are you making it work or does it fit properly into the spline?

BikePower

surely a die grinder is not the correct tool though? It fits about as snug as the original, maybe slightly tighter. Certainly not a hammer time. . What is this coldset that you speak of and how will I know if I need to do that?

BikePower

what do you think of this?
VeloBase.com - Component: Atom (5 speed, silver cogs)

JohnDThompson 

It fits properly.

That's the same freewheel, sans the Schwinn branding.

maddog34

i wasn't replying to, or asking a question of you, bikepower.

and FWIW.. John is advising you to use square splines in Triangle holes... and those triangle holes are in a rusted-in-place freewheel on a 50 year old hub, so that you can try to do what won't work.
Good luck.

BikePower

Thats good to know. Can you take a picture of it please? To show Maddog that it has the same shape as the freewheel?

smd4

If you are so insistent on removing it yourself, please use the right tool.

dedhed

https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-m...l-removal.html

BikePower

yes Im trying to determine what the right tool is. I have two high ranking members telling me the FR-4 is the right tool and another member telling me it is the $40 tool. and one member telling me they both are right. Then I have another member telling me the right tool is a die grinder. So, im getting there.

smd4

Look at the shape of the splines. Are they square or triangular? What do you think is the proper tool?

BikePower

Based only on shape and no personal testimony I would say the triangular tool is the correct tool. If the cost was the same, I would pick the triangular tool.

I did not get a good photo of the tool from above but yes I noticed that the FR-4 is not sharply triangular from what I can see in the stock photo. In the stock photo from the side it does look somewhat square. Thats why I asked John to send me a photo of the tool he used and had success with and said it fits properly. If John is saying that the FR4 with square teeth fits the sharply triangular splines properly and has just yesterday used said tool to remove said freewheel, I must pause to contemplate this seeming discrepancy.

I also watched a park tool video where they use the FR-4 tool on the triangular shaped splines on an old freewheel. I also saw a youtube video of a guy using the FR-4 on an old schwinn 20 spline freewheel and it came right off. So maybe park made the FR-4 to be somewhat universal for the 20 spline variety. I dont know.

So yes I see your point empirically and you are demonstrably correct geometrically however anecdotally men are reporting success with the FR-4 on ancient schwinn 20 spline sharply triangular shaped freewheel splines. Considering the cost difference and reports of success, i am inclined to try the $8 park tool despite the obvious visual incompatibility in geometry.

BikePower

Thank you for the link. I have seen the link before but the freewheel he has is the 30mm wide one. It says France Model F2 but mine does not say that. Mine says France Model F and is only 22mm wide. Thats why he said the FR-4 is too small for his freewheel.

smd4

I think you need to pause to figure out exactly why you want to spend money to remove a crappy freewheel from a wheel you’re gonna trash anyway.

Jeff Neese

He says it's to put it on a different wheel - one that he already said doesn't fit the bike. He mistakenly believes this old freewheel will magically re-dish the new wheel to fit the Collegiate. It's kind of funny to see the debate over which tool to use, for a project that isn't going to work anyway. People should be advising him to start with a properly fitting wheel, and then worry about whether to use a rusty old freewheel or just buy a new one.

BikePower

i explained that in post 16.

BikePower

i am experimenting and learning about bikes and modifications there of. Its a bike forum.

Jeff Neese

OK, well then learn this. A freewheel has no bearing on a wheel's OLD or how it's dished. If the wheel you're trying to put on the Collegiate is off-center, there is no freewheel in the world that is going to fix that. You need to start with a wheel that fits, and then worry about the freewheel.

Observe that most people here are telling you that freewheel is toast and should be thrown away, so you should have learned that also.

smd4

Yep. It is a bike forum. And you've been given two pages of advice and suggestions, including links to the correct, specific tool you need. You claim in post 16 that money isn't important ("If I spend $100 so what?"), yet you are unwilling to purchase the tool you need for $40 and are instead looking for an $8 kludge tool that may or may not work. If you had the proper tool, this job could have been accomplished in 30 seconds. Removing a freewheel isn't any more difficult that unscrewing a wheel nut. There's really nothing to learn. That's why most people, if they don't already own the tool, just pay a couple bucks to have a bike shop do it. There's literally no mechanical aptitude necessary.

There was no need for this thread to get to two pages. Removing freewheels isn't rocket science, and yet you are making it into one of the most difficult bike repairs imaginable. Why?

What more information do you need to remove the freewheel?

JohnDThompson 

The Park FR-4 is at the shop, and I'm at home today, so I'll show you the fit with the Bicycle Research and Phil Wood tools, which also have square profile teeth:

JohnDThompson 

FWIW, here's Sutherland's freewheel tool compatibility chart: