Talk about Freewheel Threading
#1
What??? Only 2 wheels?
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,434
Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10
Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times
in
232 Posts
Talk about Freewheel Threading
Specifically French vs. everybody else. I have a reason for asking.
Whenever I've replaced a French freewheel it was with one from another French bike of similar vintage. Consequently I've never had to worry about the threading. Now I have reason to worry that someone else (not me, honest!) may have forced a non-French-threaded Suntour freewheel on a French hub. It's a long story, not worth going into juts now...
What I'm curious about is whether they might seem to fit when they really don't. Loose, tight, start-easy-but-get-tighter? That sort of thing. PM me if you wish for further details of why I'm asking.
Thanks.
Whenever I've replaced a French freewheel it was with one from another French bike of similar vintage. Consequently I've never had to worry about the threading. Now I have reason to worry that someone else (not me, honest!) may have forced a non-French-threaded Suntour freewheel on a French hub. It's a long story, not worth going into juts now...
What I'm curious about is whether they might seem to fit when they really don't. Loose, tight, start-easy-but-get-tighter? That sort of thing. PM me if you wish for further details of why I'm asking.
Thanks.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
#2
Stop reading my posts!
Join Date: Sep 2004
Posts: 12,584
Mentioned: 90 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1443 Post(s)
Liked 1,062 Times
in
787 Posts
the diameter of FR versus BSC is that the metric FR will be ever-so-slightly smaller than the BSC (34.7mm compared to 1.37" or 34.8mm). However, the real differences are the threads themselves: metric threads are 1 per mm (close to 25.4tpi), the BSC is 24tpi so that's where the jamming and damage will occur. Since the hubs are softer alloy and the FWs are harder steel, some monkey could ram a FR FW onto a BSC hub, once, and it might stay there, but if you remove it you'll probably get a bunch of metal shavings and see a ruined hub shell. The other way 'round (BSC FW onto a FR hub) in my experience is usually too loose feeling to inspire anybody to keep trying to force it...it not only doesn't give a good thread-feel, but also seems sloppy and so likely to cross-thread. Again: an idiot might persist.
#3
On a Mission from God
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Thibodaux, LA
Posts: 2,010
Bikes: '10 Surly LHT, Rat-rod Klunker, '82 Peugeot PH12 Centennial
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 5 Times
in
3 Posts
Everything you could ever want to know about freewheels, from the late Sheldon Brown.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html
#4
Friendship is Magic
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 22,984
Bikes: old ones
Mentioned: 304 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 26419 Post(s)
Liked 10,380 Times
in
7,208 Posts
So Far, You Have Excellent Advice
Specifically French vs. everybody else. I have a reason for asking.
Whenever I've replaced a French freewheel it was with one from another French bike of similar vintage. Consequently I've never had to worry about the threading. Now I have reason to worry that someone else (not me, honest!) may have forced a non-French-threaded Suntour freewheel on a French hub. It's a long story, not worth going into juts now...
What I'm curious about is whether they might seem to fit when they really don't. Loose, tight, start-easy-but-get-tighter? That sort of thing. PM me if you wish for further details of why I'm asking.
Thanks.
Whenever I've replaced a French freewheel it was with one from another French bike of similar vintage. Consequently I've never had to worry about the threading. Now I have reason to worry that someone else (not me, honest!) may have forced a non-French-threaded Suntour freewheel on a French hub. It's a long story, not worth going into juts now...
What I'm curious about is whether they might seem to fit when they really don't. Loose, tight, start-easy-but-get-tighter? That sort of thing. PM me if you wish for further details of why I'm asking.
Thanks.
the perspective of a guy who weekly
gets a fly's eye view from the wall looking
onto the various degrees of mechanical
ineptitude that wander through a do it
yourself bike coop.
Can a standard threaded freewheel be
forced onto a french threaded hub by
the clueless? Absolutely, happens with
alarming frequency. Is the hub ruined
in this case? Pretty much, although if
you just leave the wrongly threaded
freewheel in place, the wheel can give
quite a bit of service still in most cases.
I guess it has to do with all those loose
metal shavings that used to be threads
now acting as filler.
I'm afraid that in the rough and tumble
world of do it yourself bike maintenance,
the sad fact is that bozos rule. When
somebody doesn't know enough to even
know what they ought to be asking about/
careful of, you're just gonna have a fair
amount of collateral damage. I try to
view it as "learning experience", but I'm
not always sure how much "learning" results.
There's one poor orderly soul who does yeoman
service as a mechanic manager at our shop who
I fear will someday have a stroke if he witnesses
yet another particularly egregious abuse of tool
(and I am not using this as a euphemism for
self abuse in this instance).
Mike Larmer
p.s. as an interesting side note, did you know
that m*sturb*tion is one of the forbidden
words that the forum server is programmed
to block?
__________________
#6
What??? Only 2 wheels?
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Boston-ish, MA
Posts: 13,434
Bikes: 72 Peugeot UO-8, 82 Peugeot TH8, 87 Bianchi Brava, 76? Masi Grand Criterium, 74 Motobecane Champion Team, 86 & 77 Gazelle champion mondial, 81? Grandis, 82? Tommasini, 83 Peugeot PF10
Mentioned: 189 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1222 Post(s)
Liked 645 Times
in
232 Posts
If I can add anything...
Thank you unworthy1 for a nice answer. Reading thread specs is one thing but feeling the effect in your own hands is another. I gather that a mismatch would at least be noticeable and probably enough to indicate an error to a non-idiot. A phone call a moment ago also gave me reason to believe that whoever worked on this hub was most probably not an idiot.
The world is a fascinating and mysterious place, especially when a bike of unknown history is involved.
Thank you all.
__________________
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
Real cyclists use toe clips.
With great bikes comes great responsibility.
jimmuller
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 13,954
Mentioned: 40 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 413 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 109 Times
in
78 Posts
Sometimes BSA freewheels can be threaded onto French hubs. Sometimes they skip on the skip on the threads, sometimes they dont. sometimes they thread on all the way, sometimes they dont. If you have a French hub thats slightly oversized and a BSA freewheel thats slightly undersized it'll be less likely to skip the threads. Conversly, if you have a lsightly undersized hub and a slightly oversized freewheel it'll be more likely to skip threads..
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 11,128
Bikes: 1986 Alan Record Carbonio, 1985 Vitus Plus Carbone 7, 1984 Peugeot PSV, 1972 Line Seeker, 1986(est.) Medici Aerodynamic (Project), 1985(est.) Peugeot PY10FC
Mentioned: 22 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 150 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 34 Times
in
27 Posts
On a related topic, I've heard that and Italian and English threaded compnents can be interchanged........with a little careful "persuasion" I'm skeptical, but more like scared to even try, but is this true?? If they are so close, why did they even bother to have two different standards??
at least the French stuff is different enough to maybe justify their existence....maybe....
Chombi
at least the French stuff is different enough to maybe justify their existence....maybe....
Chombi
#9
feros ferio
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: www.ci.encinitas.ca.us
Posts: 21,798
Bikes: 1959 Capo Modell Campagnolo; 1960 Capo Sieger (2); 1962 Carlton Franco Suisse; 1970 Peugeot UO-8; 1982 Bianchi Campione d'Italia; 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10;
Mentioned: 44 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1393 Post(s)
Liked 1,325 Times
in
837 Posts
On a related topic, I've heard that and Italian and English threaded compnents can be interchanged........with a little careful "persuasion" I'm skeptical, but more like scared to even try, but is this true?? If they are so close, why did they even bother to have two different standards??
at least the French stuff is different enough to maybe justify their existence....maybe....
Chombi
at least the French stuff is different enough to maybe justify their existence....maybe....
Chombi
__________________
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069
"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." --Theodore Roosevelt
Capo: 1959 Modell Campagnolo, S/N 40324; 1960 Sieger (2), S/N 42624, 42597
Carlton: 1962 Franco Suisse, S/N K7911
Peugeot: 1970 UO-8, S/N 0010468
Bianchi: 1982 Campione d'Italia, S/N 1.M9914
Schwinn: 1988 Project KOM-10, S/N F804069