To FreeHub, Or FreeWheel

[bowie]

Having just missed out on some Suntour Cyclone wheels out of Melbourne *sadface* I'm continuing my journey for some wheels.

Currently I have 2 bikes, and 3.5 wheels.

Parts I have;
-Older Shimano 600 Front (loooow flange)
-Older Compag Rear (Looooooots of flange)

kinda looks like this.. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/JJ ... directlink

So I'm going to settle on either Velocity Deep V's or Fusion rims. Actually.. I don't have a question any more. I completely forgot about the compag rear.. Ill just buy the rims and, lace them up, and ride the bloody thing.

Wait yes I do. Is the flange height going to make a monster difference in the spokes I buy? AND if anyone wants to swap either or so I can have a matching set of flange (don't care if its high or low) let me know


Oh right, that was the question. Can you get Freehubs with narrow old school clearances? I don't have a problem with getting screw on sockets, but I suppose it would be easier if I was going to update to get a bloody newer rear style hub.

[xavdav]

Oh right, that was the question. Can you get Freehubs with narrow old school clearances? I don't have a problem with getting screw on sockets, but I suppose it would be easier if I was going to update to get a bloody newer rear style hub.

I have a set of tubular GP$ Mavic with Mavic hubs -circa 1986- in the configuratin you are looking for. viewtopic.php?f=25&t=14480

pm me if interested

[il padrone]

Oh right, that was the question. Can you get Freehubs with narrow old school clearances? I don't have a problem with getting screw on sockets, but I suppose it would be easier if I was going to update to get a bloody newer rear style hub.

Not exactly sure what you're after, is it a freehub to suit a 120mm rear fork spacing? I have a 5 speed freehub on my Cecil Walker, but I doubt you'd find one of these about, even 2nd hand, and getting cassettes for these is very hard. 6 or 7 speed freehubs would be more common, but I don't know whether they went into 120mm frames. Cassettes will still be harder to come by for 6 speed.

I tend to think you'd be better off getting your frame spread (by a good LBS) to 130mm so it could take a more modern freehub. This is something that was commonly done in the past to modify older frames. With steel a reset is quite OK - will not cause any damage. I had my tandem frame reset from 135mm to 145 mm when I bought a new rear hub for it. Worked out very well.

[bowie]

no and yes.

My frame spacing is 120mm. Do they make modern freehubs at the smaller 120mm spacing?

I have a freewheel and a collection of screw on cogs, and for that matter harris cycles still stock and sell plenty of 5sp suntour winner pro's

[drubie]

For what it's worth, I have a set of Velocity rims laced up to old style Campag hubs with a screw on eight speed cluster (might be low flange) and they work fine.

The only real problem I have is that the cog spacing on the eight speeds seems to vary a bit from make to make although I think that's a problem with 8 speed stuff generally, not the earlier 6 speed stuff.

I like the velocity rims though - tough as nails and quite attractive when laced up.

Can't say the same for the axles in the campag hub as they seem a little fragile. I don't think my broken axle was original and I don't think the screw on hub was originally meant for 8 speed either, but while it's hanging together it's a lovely set of wheels to ride on. The other set (a mismatched Mavic and Wolber) are nowhere near as smooth.

[il padrone]

You'd be better to go with a freehub, because broken axles are the 'stock in trade' of freewheels, the more sprockets the greater the risk . Bearings well inboard of the RHS fork make for greater bending moment on the axle.

I don't believe any hubs are made now for 120mm hubs, except for single speeds. The standard road bike rear spacing is, I believe, 130mm. My tandem rear hub, with a 9spd cassette and a threaded LHS for drum brake, is 145mm. The more gears, the wider the cassette has grown, and so rear forks have widened also.

As I said, respacing your rear forks is not too difficult. Just be sure that the LBS triangulates to check symetry and uses their special tools to reset the drop-outs parallel.

[xavdav]

[quote="il padrone is it a freehub to suit a 120mm rear fork spacing? I have a 5 speed freehub on my Cecil Walker, but I doubt you'd find one of these about, even 2nd hand, and getting cassettes for these is very hard. 6 or 7 speed freehubs would be more common, but I don't know whether they went into 120mm frames. Cassettes will still be harder to come by for 6 speed.

[/quote]

I also have a screw on Maillard free wheel 6 speed for sale with an assortment of cogs is anybody is interested viewtopic.php?f=25&t=14480

[drubie]

You'd be better to go with a freehub, because broken axles are the 'stock in trade' of freewheels, the more sprockets the greater the risk . Bearings well inboard of the RHS fork make for greater bending moment on the axle.

A bit off topic il padrone, but is there anything that can be done to mitigate this? Better quality axles?

[bowie]

broken axles? really?

[il padrone]

broken axles? really?

Yes, it will eventually happen if you ride enough rough roads.

A bit off topic il padrone, but is there anything that can be done to mitigate this? Better quality axles?

QR axles are generally better quality steel, and if they do break they'll hold together so you can keep riding for a little while. Solid axles break, and you stop

If you have an old freewheel, best to avoid using it for heavily loaded touring and/or riding over lots of rough, rocky roads. Not much else that can be done with the bike to reduce the chances. It will take a fair few years to happen, usually.

[ValleyForge]

I went with advice via Greg (AT) Bicycle Classics & Sheldon. I put a Regina 6 cog (standard width chain) on my 120mm Campy hubs and then discovered I can't get the clearance for the final cog. Respacing is a lot easier than loosing ten kilos from the pilot to save the axles!

[drubie]

I went with advice via Greg (AT) Bicycle Classics & Sheldon. I put a Regina 6 cog (standard width chain) on my 120mm Campy hubs and then discovered I can't get the clearance for the final cog. Respacing is a lot easier than loosing ten kilos from the pilot to save the axles!

From what Il Padrone says, the axles will last a while. I rode for quite a while on a broken QR axle and frankly didn't notice it until I popped a spoke on that wheel and took it to the bike shop (was on the drive side and I couldn't get the freehub off). There was a little play in the wheel when mounted but I didn't think it was too bad at the time. It's not a total tragedy when it happens but I imagine it puts a fair bit of stress on the quick release!

For what it's worth, that axle broke inside the hub between the bearings, not outside where you'd expect the extra bending force to be concentrated. If it broke outside the hub I suppose the bike would have stopped. The bike shop mentioned that it wasn't unusual in the old days before cassettes which didn't really ring a bell until Il Padrone mentioned it.