Sewing Varsity Freewheel
#1
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Sewing Varsity Freewheel
I have a 14 Year Old Schwinn Varsity Road Bike. I want to install a new Shimano Freewheel. How do I know which Shimano Free Wheels will fit...Thanks, mjac
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First be certain that you have a freewheel and not a freehub and cassette. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html
If you do have a freewheel then any modern freewheel will fit as the threading is standardized.
If you do have a freewheel then any modern freewheel will fit as the threading is standardized.
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Just to add to the good advice above. It is preferable to buy the same number of gears as the original. Second, most times when you change a cassette or freewheel you should replace your chain at the same time.
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Just wanted to note that the typo in the title is classic.
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Keeping Seattle’s bike shops in business since 1978
Keeping Seattle’s bike shops in business since 1978
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Pretty much any English threaded freewheel. Same # of cogs and reasonably close cog tooth counts. If it's 5 speed mostly they would be 14-24 or 14-28. Anything much higher the RD will not have the capacity to handle it.
#7
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#8
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Expect you wont want to buy 2 freewheel removers , one used once, to remove what's on there
So drop by a bike shop, if you buy the chain and freewheel there
they might pull off the old one for free, (you need no tools to screw the new one on)
a 'just do it' service + parts won't be much..
So drop by a bike shop, if you buy the chain and freewheel there
they might pull off the old one for free, (you need no tools to screw the new one on)
a 'just do it' service + parts won't be much..
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Guys a 14 year old Varsity is the aluminum framed bike Walmart sold in the 2004 and up era. It used a 7 speed Shimano index compatable drive train. Any bike shop should be albe to provide one unless they refuse to work on Walmart bikes. I bought one when they were being closed out and they are not really a bad bike.
#10
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This is how it worked out as I told " rhenning" on the CABE Forum. First of all I typed the Heading Shimano Varsity Freewheel and autocorrect or auto wrong saw fit to change it to Sewing. Wanted to buy a Shimano Freewheel fro Walmart.com because I thought Bike Shops would be too expensive so I wanted to identify what model would work until I found out all the Hubs are standardized. But I remembered and old Scwinn Bike Shop that has been pretty stand up and they sold me a 7 speed, 14 - 28 Shimano Original Equipment Replacement for $14.99, cheaper then Walmart. They pulled the Old Freewheel off for nothing and sold me some hub bearings and some bearings to rebuild the headset and a Spanner Wrench to adjust the bearing cones.So it worked out pretty convenient going to the Bike Shop. PuT it all together so now I have Shimano BioMass Front Sprocket and a new Chain picked up from a Bike COOP for $9 and a new Shimano Freewheel. Very Smooth. One thing about the BioMass Sprocket. It was out of round. Spent 2 Hours trying to True it by pulling the tabs down, prying tabs up and even putting a screw driver in the Sprocket Valley and Beating it with a Hammer. The Mechanics at the Bike Shop told me THEY WERE MADE ELLIPTICAL BACK IN THE 80's AND 90's AS A MARKETING SELLING POINT THAT THEY WOULD HELP PEDALING INERTIA. And you thought the Typo was bad.
#11
Really Old Senior Member
This is how it worked out as I told " rhenning" on the CABE Forum. First of all I typed the Heading Shimano Varsity Freewheel and autocorrect or auto wrong saw fit to change it to Sewing. Wanted to buy a Shimano Freewheel fro Walmart.com because I thought Bike Shops would be too expensive so I wanted to identify what model would work until I found out all the Hubs are standardized. But I remembered and old Scwinn Bike Shop that has been pretty stand up and they sold me a 7 speed, 14 - 28 Shimano Original Equipment Replacement for $14.99, cheaper then Walmart. They pulled the Old Freewheel off for nothing and sold me some hub bearings and some bearings to rebuild the headset and a Spanner Wrench to adjust the bearing cones.So it worked out pretty convenient going to the Bike Shop. PuT it all together so now I have Shimano BioMass Front Sprocket and a new Chain picked up from a Bike COOP for $9 and a new Shimano Freewheel. Very Smooth. One thing about the BioMass Sprocket. It was out of round. Spent 2 Hours trying to True it by pulling the tabs down, prying tabs up and even putting a screw driver in the Sprocket Valley and Beating it with a Hammer. The Mechanics at the Bike Shop told me THEY WERE MADE ELLIPTICAL BACK IN THE 80's AND 90's AS A MARKETING SELLING POINT THAT THEY WOULD HELP PEDALING INERTIA. And you thought the Typo was bad.
#12
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Thread Starter
"Bill Kapaun," right you are. Was working from Memory and BioMass sounded good. But Bio Pace makes more sense. The two Bike Mechanics said it never caught on though other Manufacturers copied it. They said it is only available now in a few High End Bikes. But they said really Elite Riders found that it threw off their Cadence. But I got one on my $100 Schwinn Varsity.
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