bark_eater 

I'm trying to figure out what currently available freewheel to use on a high mileage vintage bike. If figure there must be some folks here touring with vintage gear. I prefer the gearing that Sunrace offers, but am assuming Shimano freewheels are built to a higher quality. That might not be the case any more with everything being made in China. IRD looks good on paper, but the cost is steep and I think their on the 3rd generation, because the first 2 where "not so good" Any thoughts from folks who have tried or succeeded to ride a new freewheel into the ground on tour? thanks, Woody

Andrew R Stewart 

I, too, suspect Shimano would take the prize. Although it's much like asking which bomb is better. You have to explode both to find out and then you no longer have either bomb. You'd have to ride/wear out two freewheels and then both would be worthless

For those of us who stocked up in the 1990s... Sachs freewheels are pretty solid and the many I have used never did more then suffer the usual cog wear as the miles racked up. I still have a few although most of my riders now use cassettes. Andy

HTupolev

With modern tooth profiling, the cogs usually wear out before the ratchets or bearings do. If you want a freewheel that lasts a really long time, your best bet is probably a vintage one with thick squared-off teeth. But that's not especially ideal for shifting.

Both SunRace freewheels I've tried have been loose on their bearings from the factory and started making horrible noises around mile 400. I generally use Shimano, despite the ugly big cog.

Tourist in MSN

I worked as a bike mechanic in the 1970s. At that time I had Suntour and Regina clusters on my bikes. The Suntour was easy to change sprockets, the Regina a bit more difficult. But if you pick up some used ones, you can mix and match sprockets, etc. The Suntour ones of that era could develop a clunk, I am not sure but I suspect that the bearings were not shimmed quite right, several of us mechanics at that bike shop had Suntours with a slight clunk sound when pedaling hard.

To change sprockets, some really good big chain whips were needed. Anything from that era might also need some penatrating oil if you tried to change sprockets.

I changed some of the sprockets on both of mine to get custom gearing, so that is how I know that the sprockets can be changed.

tcs

Shimano Mega 7.

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/mega7/

Hadn't made 'em in a dozen years or more.

djb

over the last bunch of years Ive replaced freewheels on old bikes of ours and used the commonly found Sunrace 11-28's, 6 and 7 speeds. Seems to me that each time they tend to have a kinda "shimmy" or "hula dancer" thing going on when you have the bike up on the stand and spin the pedals and stop, Not a huge amount but the first time I thought it was defective, and the store replaced it with another, but the replacement and another time years later it seemed to be the same.
In teh end, I just didnt worry about it and they worked. Mind you, used on commuter bikes and so not a ton of use over the years.

anyone else seen this?
I kinda figured for $15 bucks, it is what it is.

Indigo82

I have Shimano 7 speed freewheel 14-34 MegaRange. After 1000km it works just fine.

masi61

I wouid say give IRD 3rd gen a try. Or...spec a SunTour Winner or Winner Pro 7 speed with the 4 prong freehub body. Or go vintage Dura Ace 7400 in the 6 or 7 speed configuration for an even more "Swiss watch" type of action to the freewheel body.

With all this said I second what Andrew R Stewart said about going to cassettes for ease of maintenance and superior axle strenth.

PS: who actually sells IRD freewheels anyway? Do you buy them directly from IRD?

robow

Yes, for the most part, you purchase through Interloc Racing directly. Most of their products I have found to be of high quality.

veganbikes

IRD would be the top solution. I have used them for years. Shimano is on how many generations of freewheels? Sure some of the first freewheels weren't good, companies improve, they are one of those companies. Quality modern freewheels are few and far between there are plenty of low cost ones out there but most people are running cassettes these days. You can find vintage ones but cost can be high and reliability could be unknown depending on the age and usage. pastorbobnlnh runs the Freewheel Spa and could be a good option if you have an old one that needs refreshing. Me I am content with my IRD for the bikes that need them. To order you can get it from IRD direct or many shops can order through Merry Sales Co. and could help you get one.

squarenoise 

I have 3 bikes with modern freewheels: one IRD Classica 5 Speed (I believe the second generation), one 7 speed Sunrace, and one 7 speed Shimano. The IRD is definitely the highest quality. The ramped cogs greatly improve shifting and the body is on par with my vintage Shimano 600. The Sunrace is by far the lowest quality. The cogs and shifting are fine, but the body is rough and has a pulse when freewheeling (as mentioned above by: djb). The modern Shimano bodies seem to be very good quality and they also shift great, but they are indeed the ugliest freewheels.

I have 4 bikes with vintage freewheels: Suntour 5 Speed, Shimano Uniglide 5 Speed, Shimano 600 6 Speed, and Sachs Aris 7 speed. The Suntour shifts are clunky, but the freewheel body feels solid/smooth. Both Shimano Freewheels shift better than the Suntour and their bodies seem a bit nicer too. The Sachs is similar quality to the Shimano 600, but the body might be a little nicer because of the seals.

If you're running friction shifters, my #1 vote would be a tie between a vintage Shimano 600 or Sachs Aris. If you're using indexed shifters, go with modern Shimano (and maybe paint over the logos on the black cog). I personally would not trust the Sunrace for very long rides/touring, but would feel confident with the Shimano.

djb

re freewheel life-- when I encountered a bike where the freewheel started to show "gumminess" behaviour, ie not as good freewheeling, I've taken them off and dribbled some thin oil down into them while they were on a rag or newspaper and I'd turn it often. Let sit, run some more, turn , turn etc and was always suprised by how much grit came out with the oil.
Was always better turning or freewheeling afterwards, so this might be something to do once in a while to help keep the innards more free of stuff

but perhaps other real mechanics have an opinion on this.

twobiscuits

I have an IRD, it fell apart fairly soon but as I discovered, that isn’t a huge issue and while I had it apart I saw its insides and it looks like a decently made part to me. Seems to be doing fine now. The incident doesn’t put me off them. It was more or less the only 7 speed 13-32 I could find with even spacing of the gears. I really want the 24-28-32, hills around here are steep & I use those gears.
https://www.twobiscuits.at/bikes/3743/

abdon 

I wouldn't worry about freewheel longevity, you could say they last longer than you should keep them. Replace them with your 2nd chain replacement (which you do based on the chain wear measuring tool) and you'll be fine. Heck the freewheel probably won't mind if you stretch it into your third chain replacement but cranks are more expensive than freewheels; worn freewheels stretch out chains which in turn wear down cranks.

saddlesores

as you scroll through the backlog of threads, do check the date of any you might want to reply to.
the main page shows the date of the original post under the title, as well as the most recent reply.

Quote:

Most reliable modern freewheel?
bark_eater on 12-21-20

Pratt

Are the reliability differences large enough to notice in real life?

ShannonM

I've never had a 7 speed ARIS freewheel not index perfectly with a Shimano drivetrain. They were designed to do so, and they do. (The 8 speed ones are reputed to work just as well, but good luck finding one.) And they're built like a brick outhouse. Great freewheel.

--Shannon

squarenoise 

I have an Aris paired with Shimano barends and it indeed indexes just fine, but also not AS well as Shimano Hyperglide. I was just recommending the Shimano Freewheel for index setups since they're typically easier to find and cost effective.

RCMoeur 

I replace chains at 1/16" over 12" (0.5%) wear, and I have a Shimano 14-28 7 speed freewheel with nearly 10,000 miles that still shifts and runs great. Never had a problem with a new chain. I hope it will last a long time in the future - not showing any signs otherwise. I also have a SunTour Alpha 13-30 freewheel in storage with exactly 10,000 miles on it which was working fine when pulled and that I would not hesitate to put back in service on an appropriate bicycle.

I'm also using some SunRace, DNP, and other freewheels on some bikes (that don't get as many miles). Haven't seen any obvious problems with any of them, but we'll see how they hold up. I also replace chains at 0.5% on these bikes.