vsanzbajo

I am trying to figure out what was the quality ranking for the Regina freewheels. Oro was their best, cx, etc.... I can not really find any info on Regina.
Thanks in advance.

Jeff Wills

A good start is looking through the Velobase listings:
VeloBase.com - Component Listing
Oro and CX were different eras, so you can't consider them together.

Sir_Name 

I've enjoyed CX-S so far. Suppose it depends what you're looking for. Oro sure is pretty.

JohnDThompson 

"Oro" was their cosmetically prettier freewheel, with gold-colored cogs. AFAIK, the body was the same as the lesser "Extra" freewheel. And in the 70s you could get the same body with titanium cogs and a titanium chain to match if you could afford it.

repechage

Before the titanio free wheels.
The G.S. Corsa was best, it began before the brass plated Oro cogs, when they arrived that was the top freewheel. The Regina Extra was below, both of these were the two notch bodies. There was a difference in price and the quality of the bearings on the G.S. Corsa body was superior as well as having less or no wobble.
The two notch design was of course problematic, and Regina finally came out with the splined freewheel body Extra and Oro marked, but the mechanical difference was much less and the quality was reduced.
Regina for a long time was the standard with all cogs threading on and it was a bit diabolical, at one time i could cite what position could go where and what body type, (standard or close ratio body) was needed, but as the cogs are a challenge to locate that information only interesting. Atom cogs were interchangeable even, I suspect there was a license agreement.
Then came the Japanese, with freewheels that allowed a number of cogs to slide on, Maillard also had this concept but much less acceptance. Fine for five cogs, it took follow on efforts by Suntour and Shimano to end the reign along with Regina's reduction of tolerances. Some of the Cx and BX and America free wheels work well, I have a few but the party was over for them by the 80's and soon freehubs would kill off Regina's freewheel business. They still make chains but mostly for motorcycles and industrial applications.

parken

Very interesting report, thanks!
I believe they stopped making the G.S. Corsa at same point in the 70s and I must agree that the wobble in the Oro is terrible, though the CX and the America are a bit better. These were produced till the muddle of the 90s. BX was a cheaper alternative to the CX and some consider the America superior to the CX. The S letter indicate narrow FWs to be used with narrow chains (that you are better off to use on wide FWs as well).

JohnDThompson 

And somehow Zeus got lost in the shuffle (well, except for the splined remover interface it shared with Atom and later model Regina). Zeus actually tried to cover all the bases, as it could be removed with either the superior splined remover or the traditional, or inferior two-prong remover. All the cogs except the final cog shared the same spline pattern, much like a modern freehub, with the final cog threaded in place to hold things together. And no spacers were needed as the cogs were machined to provide the necessary clearance.

repechage

I think Zeus's problem was the importer/distributor selection, at least in the USA. Not strong enough to finance it themselves and the companies they worked with were weak.
I would like to find a set of their 2000 series center pull brakes...

pastorbobnlnh 

Great synopsis everyone!

IMO, the 5 speed Regina freewheels should only be used for show bikes and short fun rides. Between the springs and the single pivot peg on the pawls, it's amazing they don't self destruct on their own more often, especially with the slop and wobble.



I have successfully transplanted some splinned Atom inner bodies into Regina outer bodies when the two notches have become buggered. Sometimes this works, sometimes not.

I should also mention that the threaded inner three cogs on Malliard freewheels will also work on the 5 speed Reginas.

repechage

Pastor Bob, I am going to have to send you a G.S. Corse oro freewheel. I thought I had a bottom bracket clunk, turns out the freewheel has slop in the body, the clunk was the body moving under load. Noticed upon initial start up and under steeper ascents.
Your image of the parts does show the secret of the Regina freewheel sound...

John E

My 1962 Bianchi came with a low-end 5-speed Regina freewheel, which lost its ability to coast in only about 8 years. The 6-speed 1980 America that came with my Bianchi (and which now graces my 1959 Capo) indeed seems to be a much nicer, less sloppy, and more reliable unit. The only problem I ever have with it is chain skate on a 19-to-21 downshift, which I can avoid with a bit of care or judicious overshifting of the Campag. 980 derailleur.

Bandera

Agree, they were truly miserable in design, fragility, lack of quality control, lack of spare cogs and awful maintenance/removal.

Once the Suntour Perfect & Winner w/ their full cog boards were available we switched over completely to Japanese FWs and the excellent Shimano DA & 600 were even better.

Sedisport chains replaced Regina at the same time. I do have a NOS Regina "hollow" chain in the parts box that will never see use except on a static display.

-Bandera

parken

pastorbobnlnh: I thought that the body of 5S Regina were the same as 6S and 7S: does your comment apply to all "modern" Regina FWs?

Italuminium

So it's not just me with a weebly wobbly regina Oro. I think I might have to swap it out for the gold Maeda (Suntour) corncob I've got holed up in the parts bin. Thanks Pastor for the warning!

repechage

There were two bodies. The "regular" one and the close ratio. The difference is that on the close ratio body the largest cog threaded onto its own land and the other the last two cogs shared the same threaded region.

parken

The close ratio was called "scalare"; still, I would like to know whether Pastorbob comment was specific for the 5S bodies or if his concern applies to all Regina body's design.

pastorbobnlnh 

I was speaking about the Regina bodies which use exclusively threaded cogs, i.e. the older version from the '60s & '70s. I've only handled these in 5 speed configurations (although they were originally 4 speed). This:







As compared to a more modern CX model, which has internals which are nearly the same as Shiimano, Sunrace, Sachs, etc., freewheels. Also some of the cogs have splines and are held in place by a few threaded cogs.

repechage

Thanks for the image of the later unit PastorBob. Interesting that Regina referenced others by this point. Of all the Regina failings, the pawls did seem to be down on the list compared to rough machining of the Extra bodies and the "wobble" which we attributed to poor processing when they had to machine the two surfaces of two primary parts, the body segments we felt mush have had to be flipped and that is where the tolerances could go south. Maybe that post lunch effort? Pressure to crank them out? Disgruntled Italian labor?

When they are good though, they just have that great Regina Sound.

Bandera

To put it mildly, Yes.



-Bandera

majmt 

My apologies for digging up and then jacking a zombie thread but, although I’ve been lurking for quite some time, this is my first post and I will not have PM or photo posting privileges until I have 10 posts. I would greatly appreciate any input from the knowledgeable contributors to this thread (or anyone else) regarding a wheel build that I’d like to do for a ‘74 Masi GC that I just picked up on eBay. If FedEx doesn’t destroy it, I should be seeing it tomorrow or the next day. It looks completely stock original, including the Martano wheels. I’ll be putting new rubber on those for occasional fun but I don’t want to bung them up so I’d also like to build up a suitable set of clinchers for more frequent use. So, if you would be so kind, please suggest my best options for a nice set of shiny silver Campy-compatible 5-speed (hopefully 14-28T) wheels to compliment this bike. I’m old and don’t mind skinny tires at all and believe the rear spacing will be 120mm. Thanks.

repechage

Masi preferred Everest freewheels
hard to find at a reasonable price, especially a 14-28
i have used Regina most often.
Everest chain or Regina Oro Record ( drilled outer plates) it is not as tall and therefore shifts a bit quicker. Price? In the $160 range last I looked. But so High Style!
Everest also made Oro chains and chains with perforated plates. Mo’ money.

I recently added another GC to the bike room.
from The halcyon Carlsbad days-
Support Your Flag
BUY American
Buy a MASI !

repechage

As to Campagnolo compatibility-
If original hubs, the area between the threads and the flange will be blank
one groove, English threading
two, French threading ( most often )
if later the hub will have the thread type marked

Regina freewheels- blank back side Italian, one groove, English or small F.1 French - two grooves OR a small rectangular punch press mark. Atom did the same for a time.

all part of the secret Vintage code.

majmt 

Thanks! There are some nice Everest chains and freewheels on eBay along with Campy hubs but it looks like it could be tricky to get everything right. If it gets here in good shape, I have high hopes for this bike. I am impressed with the knowledge base here and hope to post up some photos and seek more insight when I get my 10 posts logged in. This is number two, eight more to go.

Salamandrine 

Everest would have been OEM, but freewheels were swapped all the time. Look for Everest, sure, but I wouldn't sweat putting on an Oro. My Masi almost always had an Oro on it. Pretty much the bog standard racing freewheel.

I recall Regina being much more commonly available than Everest. Perhaps in the early or mid 70s it was different. At any rate, a Regina Oro is perfectly appropriate for a 70s Masi. FWIW Oro was the top Regina freewheel until the CX came out in the 80s. Oros are actually more reliable. They were relatively inexpensive and lasted a long time. Because they were so commonly used, it should be fairly easy to find one today. Try to not buy one with 20,000 miles on it.

ascherer 

Ditto this. Regina was available everywhere and we rode the crap out of em. I serviced them often and never had a problem with the pawls. OTOH they were consumables for most of us.