ironwood

Does anyone know how to remove a notched Regina freewheel without deforming the notches? A couple of months ago I saw a Regina f/w remover that had a fence around it. Has anyone used one?

bulgie 

The best tool I know of for this is a Shimano TL-FW10. it's better for removing Regina FWs than any tool made by Regina. Not made anymore but still available used or NOS on ebay.


The one in the long-ago Campagnolo tool kit is also good (for 5-speeds only!) but ridiculously expensive when you can find one. (There's one on ebay now for ~$250 with shipping). The remover for 5-speed FWs has the outer ring or "fence" that keeps it centered and strengthens it, but to remove a 6-speed, you have to use this add-on insert that doesn't have the outer ring. Clearly an afterthought, tacked onto an existing tool so they didn't need to redesign it. Humbug! Just get the Shimano tool. (I have the Campy too, but never use it.)



Oh yeah one more reason I say "eff Campy" is that when they made their own freewheel, with its unique helical remover, they could have made the new remover slot in to this old handle just like the Regina insert does. But no, they made their remover compaible only with its own, unique, non-compatible handle, which (of course) is astronomically expensive. Eff them! When I needed a Campy FW remover, I got the steel insert only (no handle) and brazed it to a piece of steel.



Mark B

ironwood

Thanks for the information, I'll look for one of the Shimano tools.

repechage

Campagnolo made a special service tool with a handle and an insert for 6-7 speed versions.

repechage

the 6-7 cog insert most often did not need extra stabilization as the ID of the smallest cog did that duty.

agree that the twisted design could have been made to fit the original tool.
but they were Superior. Weren't they?

bulgie 

Yeah I was immediately elated the first time I saw that twist-tooth remover, so cool... Then deflated, when I saw that the giant handle was going to be megabucks and not interchangeable with their existing handle.

Only rich people could afford Campy freewheels anyway of course, so maybe that's moot. But I used to spend a fair amount of my time working on boutique bikes for rich people, and not exactly climbing the socioeconomic ladder while doing it.* I wondered if Campy was making the tools $$$ on purpose to maintain the elite status, but that can bite the bike owner when he finds out his town has zero shops or mechanics that can work on his bike.

*not saying I'm poor — I do have a "complete" Campy toolkit after all. I just couldn't afford a whole 'nother toolkit just to work on the one Campy freewheel per year I was likely to see. I'm sure every bike mechanic in Beverly Hills has one though!

Mark B

DiabloScott

What problem are you having exactly?
I used to clamp my quick release on top of the FW remover to hold it in place while I got it to pop loose with a big wrench, and then take the skewer off for the rest of the de-install. Bike shops would put the remover in a vice and twist the wheel by hand.

JohnDThompson 

The Bicycle Research CT-1 also has the stabilizing ring like the TL-FW10. Also out of production, but can be found on the used market if you're patient.

Bicycle Research made an affordable helical prong remover for Campagnolo freewheels, as did Kingsbridge. While Campagnolo's helical prongs are arguably the best two-prong design out there, I've always wondered why they didn't simply adopt the existing splined design used by Atom, later Regina, Zeus, and Everest. "Not invented here" syndrome, I suspect.

branko_76 

Can you post a photo of the freewheel?

repechage

Makes me recall Ernie's Pro Bikes in the Brentwood Country Mart in the late late 70's and early 80's.
Cool stuff, Money laundering is what we guessed.