Narhay

Being one to collect project bikes and eventually sell them on I sometimes pernanently borrow some choice bits to keep for myself for use on my keepers. At the moment I've got a conundrum in regards to freewheels. I have a later 70s Peugeot Super Sport that requires a 5 speed freewheel and I have a box of freewheels.

Assuming similar condition, cog range and threading, which would you put on a bike going to a new home, and which to keep for yourself.

Suntour Perfect, generally 14-28 but a few with 24 large cogs.
Suntour Pro Compe with not as ideal gearing range. I understand these are a step up from the Perfect. Some 14-28, some 14-24.
Regina Extra with the two prong freewheel body. 14-28 and 14-24.

Classtime 

I'm starting to keep my Suntours so I can swap bodies and cogs.

trailangel

The one that fits on a French hub that goes with the bike.

steelbikeguy

regarding Perfect and Pro-Compe... I always thought the main difference was that the Pro-Compe was gold. I'm not aware of any differences in quality.

Steve in Peoria (and a big SunTour fan)

Narhay

This is a Made in Japan Peugeot with British threading and French/Japanese components. It also has a 22.2 stem and 25.4 bar clamp. Very convenient.

I am erring on the side that the Regina would go on the Peugeot mostly because I dont like the extractor prongs.

JohnDThompson 

I concur with @steelbikeguy; I'm not aware of much difference between the Perfect and Pro-Compe models beyond the color of the sprockets. The sprockets do interchange between those models, but not with the Winner freewheels.

I'm not a fan of the old Regina freewheels. The remover slots are easily damaged and the sprockets are all threaded with three different diameters depending on sprocket position on the body, even the largest sprockets are threaded, requiring a special vise to remove them.
@trailangel has a good point; make sure whatever freewheel you select matches the thread on the hub. Do you know what the hub thread is? An English thread bottom bracket lockring will thread onto an English thread hub, making it fairly easy to check. SunTour metric thread freewheels will either be marked with an "M" or "Metric" on the outside of the inner body. A 70s Peugeot may have an Atom/Maillard freewheel; metric units are unmarked; English thread ones should have a rectangular punch mark on the back of the body.

John E

Is your Regina English or Italian threaded? (Difference in the angle at which the threads are cut.)

pastorbobnlnh 

Keep both the Perfect and ProCompe freewheels. All internal parts are interchangeable, and the sprockets and spacers can be swapped. Plus, the sprockets and spacers will fit on the Winner family of freewheels with only a few limitations.

As far as the difference between Perfect and ProCompe bodies, internally the bearing races on the ProCompe are better machined and polished (visually this can be seen) and I believe higher grade bearings were used. ProCompe bearings rarely are corroded.

IMO, unload the Regina 5 speed freewheels, which internally, are far inferior to the machining and engineering in a Perfect or ProCompe. The only advantage a Regina has over Suntour is that the sprockets can be polished and can look so much better than the Suntour sprockets. But that is it.

SJX426 

Bob's your uncle!
I like the performance of the Regina on my Colnago. But it is a 13-22 so the performance with a Super Record might be the right combination!

John E

My big frustration is that my favorite sizes, 13-26 and 14-26, are so rare. It seems like everything is either 24 (or smaller) or 28 (or larger). Many older short-cage derailleurs work well up to 26T.

I currently run a SunTour ultra-6 13-26 on the Peugeot, a SunTour standard-6 14-26 on the Bianchi, and a Regina standard-6 13-25 on the Capo MC. These 2-2-3-3-3, 2-2-2-3-3, and 2-2-2-3-3, respectively, progressions mesh nicely with either a 3-tooth (half-step) or 8-tooth (1.5-step) drop in front.