An old freewheel removal tool??
03-20-20, 12:15 PM
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An old freewheel removal tool??
OK. I've been wrenching for awhile and I came across a freewheel on a '76, '77 Japanese bike. I wanted to keep the chain and freewheel together for possible future use. I have about 6 removal tools but not this one. I know the cost of purchase probably outweighs the value of the freewheel but I hate not having the right tools. Any help identifing the tool I need to order will be appreciated.
this is the tool I thought would work.
this is the tool I thought would work.
03-20-20, 12:21 PM
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It looks like the first version of a Shimano Freewheel tool. I do not have the number but shouldn't be hard to find one. May not be stocked in shops but I am sure they can get one. The hole on the tool is just a bit bigger than the axle size. Your tool is the next generation. Roger
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03-20-20, 12:23 PM
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Goodness, haven't seen one of those for a while. Is that not the same fitting as the current Shimano cassette lock-ring? It seems to have the same number of slots.
03-20-20, 12:43 PM
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03-20-20, 01:22 PM
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Sorry, my first post is wrong. Let me try again.
https://www.thebikesmiths.com/produc...SABEgI6AfD_BwE
https://www.thebikesmiths.com/produc...SABEgI6AfD_BwE
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03-20-20, 05:02 PM
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The freewheel is sometimes referred to as the 333 model. The removal tool was made by a few companies. The splines in the FW are small enough a diameter and the tool needs thick enough walls so the axle lock nut and spacer need removal to fit the tool in the splines. No current production that I know of, hasn't been for a long time (decades?). Most LBS won't have one unless they are pretty old or has a privet owned one to use (mine is at my work right now). I know of others who have sourced from eBay. Andy
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03-20-20, 08:08 PM
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Maybe this one? $1.50 shipped to your door! Order today!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Bike-re...wAAOSw0Pdd1tEo
https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Bike-re...wAAOSw0Pdd1tEo
03-20-20, 08:40 PM
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03-20-20, 10:03 PM
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As a youngster I didn't possess any special bike tools (or even knew they existed) so I had to get resourceful. To remove a freewheel I would dismantle them. Remove the lock ring by tapping with a center punch to spin it around then tip upside down and let a thousand tiny balls drop out and the freewheel will detach from its body. This is then easy to grip the part that remains in a vice and to spin it off. Re-assemble if you want to keep it and the bonus is the freewheel gets an overhaul so it is nice and quiet when coasting.
03-22-20, 06:47 PM
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As a youngster I didn't possess any special bike tools (or even knew they existed) so I had to get resourceful. To remove a freewheel I would dismantle them. Remove the lock ring by tapping with a center punch to spin it around then tip upside down and let a thousand tiny balls drop out and the freewheel will detach from its body. This is then easy to grip the part that remains in a vice and to spin it off. Re-assemble if you want to keep it and the bonus is the freewheel gets an overhaul so it is nice and quiet when coasting.
03-22-20, 08:06 PM
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Boy does that sound familiar. I did the same thing which is why I want this tool. I found one at Bikesmith for about $9. They called it a "old" thick walled removal tool. I've been pulling bikes apart for over 60 years and never needed this tool as far as I know.🧑🔧
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03-22-20, 08:36 PM
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I disassembled and reassembled bikes from the age of ten using an adjustable wrench, a hammer, a screwdriver and a pair of rusty pliers sitting on a concrete floor in the basement. It did make tracking down all those tiny ball bearings a little easier.🤓
03-22-20, 09:09 PM
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I didn't assume you worked in a LBS, Maybe my quotation marks on either side of "shop" wasn't indicative enough that you had your work shop for many years and likely knew about tools and the common components back then, and thus was a "shop" of sorts My mistake if I wasn't direct enough.
However nearly every LBS back then would have had a Shimano 333 remover. Even the JC Penneys toy and bike dept had one in 1975 (in Pittsford, NY) . So i'm still surprised that a person who serviced many bikes in the later parts of the 1970s didn't know of this tool, or have had a need for one. Andy
However nearly every LBS back then would have had a Shimano 333 remover. Even the JC Penneys toy and bike dept had one in 1975 (in Pittsford, NY) . So i'm still surprised that a person who serviced many bikes in the later parts of the 1970s didn't know of this tool, or have had a need for one. Andy
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03-23-20, 06:58 AM
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While in principle splined freewheels are superior to notched ones, the original thick-walled Shimano TL-FW-20 required you to remove the drive side locknut and spacer from the hub axle in order to be able to insert the tool. The thin-wall Phil Wood/Zeus tool (for Atom, Regina, Zeus, etc. freewheels) addressed that issue for European built freewheels, and eventually the Shimano Uniglide tool did the same for Shimano's new production freewheels. I still have to wonder why Shimano didn't simply copy the Atom/Regina/Zeus/etc. spline pattern that had been on the market for years already instead of creating a new proprietary "standard" that was incompatible even with Shimano's own earlier freewheels.
03-23-20, 06:15 PM
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John,
You are brandishing "logic"on this subject. The incompatibility of parts is what drives the need to buy new tools every couple if weeks. Proprietary parts require special tools to do any repairs. I wound up with a $25 torx bit that only is used to remove dash plates on Peterbuilt trucks. Kinda like the ATD spanner I posted today in the ISO forum. It only fits that 16 mm bolt for the Zeus crank. Smiles, MH
You are brandishing "logic"on this subject. The incompatibility of parts is what drives the need to buy new tools every couple if weeks. Proprietary parts require special tools to do any repairs. I wound up with a $25 torx bit that only is used to remove dash plates on Peterbuilt trucks. Kinda like the ATD spanner I posted today in the ISO forum. It only fits that 16 mm bolt for the Zeus crank. Smiles, MH
03-23-20, 06:30 PM
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Funny I just borrowed to a guy at work today a MAC clutch drive screwdriver I bought back in 1977 and used exactly once to remove the horn retaining ring on my '62 Chevy pickup to pull the steering wheel for reasons I can't even remember. I may have used it a second time on some old "ham can" camper that used those screws too.
