cqlink 

Greetings,

Before and after I replaced wheel bearings in my 1974 Schwinn Continental, I noticed a bit of side play in the rear wheel. I'm not an expert but I don't think I can tweak the axle to remedy the problem. I purchased a Park Tool (FR 1.2) to pull the cassette off and take a look but it was the wrong size.

Does anyone know what the the right size tool is for my bike? If it helps, the Park tool I'm referring to looks like a socket with a nut on one end (for a ratchet or adjustable wrench) and a grooved barrel end that fits into the cassette.

Thanks!

oddjob2

Side play is remedied by adjusting the cones on the axle, not the freewheel. It is not a cassette if it is threaded on.

In any event, take your wheel to the lbs and let them find you the right tool. It may require the old large regina freewheel puller. Best to take your bike to the local LBS or Coop, where they have a large vise and the proper tool. YMMV, but free to $10 for the service.

T-Mar

Schwinn used multiple sources for their freewheels. It's probably the early Shimano remover but you'd be best off posting a picture of the freewheel's tool engagement slots, for positive identification.

cqlink 

Thanks gents. I'll pull the wheel off and take another look at the cones first.

cqlink 

I pulled the wheel and perhaps there was very minor side to side axle movement. I can fix this.

I noticed the same "loose" feel" to the freewheel I felt when I was working on the bike over the winter. When I pull up on the freewheel like you would do to remove it, the play is 1/16" I'm not sure if this is the root cause of the wobble I feel when I'm riding the bike but this is why I was trying to find the right tool to tighten it down a bit.

On another note, I remembered there were different axle spacers than the ones I've seen on other Varsity and/ or Continental models. I included a pic because when I put the wheel back together, I had very little axle left on the right side of the bike to fit into the frame quick disconnect slots. Moving the axle and adjusting the cones accordingly wont work because the axle is too short (but it's the one thats original to the bike). The picture shows the order of removal of the cones and spacers on each side. Do you guys know if I put it back together correctly?

Finally, I don't know if this is a Mailliard or Shimano freewheel. If the slop in the freewheel is the problem then I'd like to buy the correct Park tool to torque it down. Hopefully you can see the engagement threads and hopefully the thing simply isn't worn out.

As for the pics, I found if I right clicked on the icon, I had the option of seeing the pic on a new tab in my browser.

Thanks again.

jefnvk

When you figure it out, let me know. I've got a 78 Le Tour that the 1.2 definitely does not fit on. The freewheel itself is marked Shimano on the flat bits by the axle, it should be evident if you have one.

T-Mar

That would appear to be the Schwinn Type F(1) freewheel, so it should be an Atom/Maillard freewheel with 20 splines and ~21.5 mm diameter across splines, There was also a Schwinn F2 freewheel manufactured by Atom/Maillard which used 24 splines and was required a remover that was ~ 30.5 mm diameter across splines. The proper Park remover should be the FR-4.

cqlink 

Thanks.

Is that amount of slop in the freewheel normal? Would it cause the tire to wobble while riding?

Can anyone tell me about the way the cones and spacers should be installed? I only have about an 1/8" of axle on the right side ti slide into the frame.

T-Mar

Play in the freewheel will not cause play in the wheel. They are independent issues. Tyre wobble is caused by an improperly mounted tyre, a damaged tyre, an untrue rim or excessive play in the hub bearings. Play in the freewheel typically manifests itself as imprecise shifting, excessive chain noise or the inability of the chain to stay seated on a cog.

T-Mar

I think the spacing issue may be due to the axle being installed backwards. If your picture, the non-drive side sequence is correct but it should be placed onto axle end with the shorter of the two threads. On the drive side, the two outer pieces (spacer and locknut) are shown in the wrong sequence.

When assembling, do the drive side first. Locate them so that when the axle nut is snug against the locknut, there is about 10-12 mm of axle protruding. This 10-12 mm will allow for the thickness of the dropout and a few millimetres of protrusion beyond the axle nut after the wheel is installed. Remove the axle nut and tighten the locknut while holding the cone stationary. Now insert the axle into the hub and assemble the non-drive side.

The next time that you take a hub apart, do not disassemble both cone sets. Leave one in place. This will ensure that you preserve the original axle protrusion. The only time that remove both sets is when the axle needs replacing or the cone set you didn't disassemble turns out to be pitted and needs replacing.

cqlink 

[QUOTE=cqlink;18954344]Good to know. Thanks!

cqlink 

Jefnvk, T-Mar is spot-on with observation. I purchased the FR-4 Park tool from Amazon (about $7.00) and it fits perfectly.

I've returned home from business travel and plan to pull the freewheel this weekend. Perhaps "wobble" is the wrong word. I was noticing what feels like a slight lateral shift in the rear wheel while riding. It feels like the damn thing could unseat from the frame. When I rode it last week, that's when I remembered when I pulled the wheel the first time, I noticed the slop in the freewheel. The chain does have trouble staying on the cog/ gear and shifting is imprecise. I'll pull it off, clean it up and torque it down and post a report.

Thanks again for the tips on reassembling the axle, That was why I completely disassembled it this time. I had a feeling I didnt reassemble it correctly.

Oldpeddaller

Cqlink, that's the way we learn! The more you try to work on your bike, the better you become. Now you've got the correct freewheel tool too! One word of advice - never over tighten anything on a bicycle - they generally just need to be tight - nothing like the pressure you use when working on cars!

DiegoFrogs

The thing about a freewheel is that you "torque it down" every time you apply force to the pedals... To repack, adjust or repair it, you need to disassemble it.

I would have also put a cheap five or six speed Sunrace freewheel in your amazon shopping cart with the last purchase. Once you pull the freewheel and get the slop out of the axle/cone/bearing assembly, if the freewheel is still in rough shape, the basic fix is to toss it and replace with a modern, improved part, which won't use the puller that you bought, but rather the FR-1 you already had.

I've never regretted a tool purchase in my life, even in situations where I found I didn't need it, but the cost of the extra shipping would really grill my gourd. And the freewheel is a consumable part, anyhow, so it's always good to have around.

cqlink 

Thanks gents. I'm working on it now. I'm seeing a bit of damage to the end of the hub where the freewheel screws on. I'm not sure if this is contributing to the root cause of the wheel shift but I'll know in an hour or so when I have it back together.

I think there are two options. One, just find another rear wheel (good thing these things are cheap here) or perhaps go with Frog's suggestion to replace the freewheel. LOL. Good thing I have "free" shipping with Amazon Prime.

cqlink 

Update: I put everything back together and unfortunately, the lateral movement in the rear wheel remains. When I tried to get the recommended 10-12mm space for the axle to seat into the frame slot, the MOST I could get was maybe 2-3mm.

As mentioned I completely dissembled the bike over the winter. While I reworked the rear wheel this week, as I recall, the original axle was bent. Now I'm thinking I should try a longer axle but I'm not sure if it will correct this problem. When I cleaned up the freewheel and the wheel hub, I noticed a bit of damage on the end if the hob where the freewheel screws in. When I put everything back together, and spun the freewheel, I didnt hear the normal "ticking" sound. It sounded rough. Almost like a grinding. When riding the bike, however, it pedaled smoothly. No noise. It's only when coasting do I hear the sound.

As we know, these bikes are plentiful and complete rear wheel assemblies are available for around $10-$15 here but if anyone cares to chime in, I'd like to know the root cause of this.

cqlink 

I found a nice woman's Continental for $20 and pulled the rear wheel and repacked the axle bearings. I put the wheel on the problem bike and the "wobble," freewheel noise and constant spinning when shifting problem went away.

The freewheel never did sound right when I spun it. It kept making a whirring sound and seemed off center. As mentioned, I did notice a bit of damage to the hub but I didn't think it was major. I'm guessing it was bumped or laid down hard.

Even with the new wheel, it was difficult to get any axle threads to extend through the frame in order to solidly emplace the quick disconnect assembly. The woman's donor bike was a 22" frame. The problem bike is a 24" frame. Not sure if that makes a difference regarding axle length.

Anyway, Here's the bike ready to roll: