converting freewheel to freehub - do I need freewheel removal tool?

I have a freewheel setup that I am converting to a cassette freehub. Of
course, this means that I will be doing a hub swap.

Can I leave the freewheel on the freewheel hub? I prefer to do this so
that I don't have to get a freewheel removal tool. The price of the
tool isn't too bad, but with shipping it gets up there. I guess what is
really getting to me is that the freewheel tool will be used exactly
once. After that, it will never get used again. A tool used only one
time makes it infinitely more expensive :O

I'm thinking that I can wiggle the spokes off the freewheel hub with the
freewheel still installed. Is this a bad plan? The freewheel is a 14-28.

Veggie wrote:
I have a freewheel setup that I am converting to a cassette freehub. Of
course, this means that I will be doing a hub swap.

Can I leave the freewheel on the freewheel hub? I prefer to do this so
that I don't have to get a freewheel removal tool. The price of the
tool isn't too bad, but with shipping it gets up there. I guess what is
really getting to me is that the freewheel tool will be used exactly
once. After that, it will never get used again. A tool used only one
time makes it infinitely more expensive :O

I'm thinking that I can wiggle the spokes off the freewheel hub with the
freewheel still installed. Is this a bad plan? The freewheel is a 14-28.

A) Go to your LBS and try to work out a removal.

B) Buy new spokes, cut out the old spokes.

- rick

Veggie wrote:
I have a freewheel setup that I am converting to a cassette freehub. Of
course, this means that I will be doing a hub swap.

Can I leave the freewheel on the freewheel hub? I prefer to do this so
that I don't have to get a freewheel removal tool. The price of the
tool isn't too bad, but with shipping it gets up there. I guess what is
really getting to me is that the freewheel tool will be used exactly
once. After that, it will never get used again. A tool used only one
time makes it infinitely more expensive :O

I'm thinking that I can wiggle the spokes off the freewheel hub with the
freewheel still installed. Is this a bad plan? The freewheel is a 14-28.

Take it to a shop and for a few dollars they will remove it for you. If
you don't plan on reusing the spokes, you can just cut them and take the
whole thing out that way. If you want to reuse the spokes, then the
freewheel has to come off.

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 22:59:19 GMT, Veggie wrote:

I have a freewheel setup that I am converting to a cassette freehub. Of
course, this means that I will be doing a hub swap.

Can I leave the freewheel on the freewheel hub? I prefer to do this so
that I don't have to get a freewheel removal tool. The price of the
tool isn't too bad, but with shipping it gets up there. I guess what is
really getting to me is that the freewheel tool will be used exactly
once. After that, it will never get used again. A tool used only one
time makes it infinitely more expensive :O

I'm thinking that I can wiggle the spokes off the freewheel hub with the
freewheel still installed. Is this a bad plan? The freewheel is a 14-28.

Won't work. Your LBS will remove the freewheel for ya for a few bucks,
much less than the cost of the tool. Are you very sure you want to keep
the spokes? They might not be the correct length for your new hub, and
besides, reusing spokes tends to be a bad idea. If you don't wanna reuse
the spokes, simply cut them. I personally use a cheap boltcutter on a
crossing of 2 spokes at once, makes it very fast.


Jasper

In article ,
Jasper Janssen wrote:

Are you very sure you want to keep the spokes? They might
not be the correct length for your new hub, and besides,
reusing spokes tends to be a bad idea.

oo, what you said. you better hope that didn't wake up grampaw,
cause he'll come and smite you with a copy of "the bicycle wheel".

On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 09:55:05 GMT, Fred Clydesdale
wrote:
In article ,
Jasper Janssen wrote:

Are you very sure you want to keep the spokes? They might
not be the correct length for your new hub, and besides,
reusing spokes tends to be a bad idea.

oo, what you said. you better hope that didn't wake up grampaw,
cause he'll come and smite you with a copy of "the bicycle wheel".

It's one thing to change rims on an existing wheel using existing spokes,
but respoking to a new hub and a new rim is more effort than it's worth.


Jasper

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 22:59:19 +0000, Veggie wrote:

I have a freewheel setup that I am converting to a cassette freehub. Of
course, this means that I will be doing a hub swap.

Can I leave the freewheel on the freewheel hub? I prefer to do this so
that I don't have to get a freewheel removal tool. The price of the
tool isn't too bad, but with shipping it gets up there. I guess what is
really getting to me is that the freewheel tool will be used exactly
once. After that, it will never get used again. A tool used only one
time makes it infinitely more expensive :O

I'm thinking that I can wiggle the spokes off the freewheel hub with the
freewheel still installed. Is this a bad plan? The freewheel is a 14-28.

As has been discussed in another thread, it depends on the freewheel.
Most freewheels will allow you to remove the sprockets by simply
unscrewing them --- but, they are tight, and you need two chainwhips to do
that. The chainwhips will cost more than the freewheel remover tool, but
they have more uses, and you can make your own if you are so inclined.

More-or-less modern freewheels have the bigger sprockets held on with a
splined shaft, similar to freehub cassette sprockets. The smallest one or
two will be threaded. Remove them and the rest slide off.

It will be easier, though, to get the tool and pull the freewheel.
Instructions are widely available on the Web, but are not obvious to the
uninitiated.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "It doesn't get any easier, you just go faster." --Greg LeMond
_`\(,_ |
(_)/ (_) |

On Mon, 19 Sep 2005 23:57:46 +0000, Jasper Janssen wrote:

Won't work. Your LBS will remove the freewheel for ya for a few bucks,
much less than the cost of the tool.

True, though I had that done once, and it was a disaster. The supposed
mechanics in a lot of shops have never seen a freewheel, and have no idea
how to remove it.

Are you very sure you want to keep
the spokes? They might not be the correct length for your new hub, and
besides, reusing spokes tends to be a bad idea.

Actually, it tends to be a good idea to re-use spokes. They are
already stress-relieved. Unless damaged, spokes will outlast several
rims, if you can find replacement rims of the same diameter.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President
_`\(,_ | should on no account be allowed to do the job. -- Douglas Adams
(_)/ (_) |

On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 10:57:15 +0000, Jasper Janssen wrote:

It's one thing to change rims on an existing wheel using existing spokes,
but respoking to a new hub and a new rim is more effort than it's worth.

The only difference is the small amount of time it takes to re-lace the
hub. Compared with tensioning and truing a wheel, it's nothing.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | What is objectionable, and what is dangerous about extremists is
_`\(,_ | not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant.
(_)/ (_) | --Robert F. Kennedy

Veggie wrote:
I have a freewheel setup that I am converting to a cassette freehub. Of
course, this means that I will be doing a hub swap.

Can I leave the freewheel on the freewheel hub? I prefer to do this so
that I don't have to get a freewheel removal tool. The price of the
tool isn't too bad, but with shipping it gets up there. I guess what is
really getting to me is that the freewheel tool will be used exactly
once. After that, it will never get used again. A tool used only one
time makes it infinitely more expensive :O

I'm thinking that I can wiggle the spokes off the freewheel hub with the
freewheel still installed. Is this a bad plan? The freewheel is a 14-28.

I don't think you'll get the spokes off the freewheel side. I've never
been able to do it with a cog as big as a 28, if at all- sometimes with
a smaller large cog I've been able to thread them through a hole in the
cog, but it's not really worth the effort.

Since you say that you would only use the tool once, the implication is
that you don't intend to ever use it again, so buy the tool, remove the
freewheel, sell the freewheel, hub and tool on ebay, and re-use the
spokes if they fit and are worth re-using.

In fact, you might try buying the tool on ebay if you have the time to
look for it and wait out an auction; you could likely resell it for
about what you paid for it. Look for a seller who would ship it for
postage only instead of UPS+"handling".

If the hub and freewheel are little more than junk, it's likely the
spokes are too, so just cut them and throw it all in the trash. If they
were butted stainless spokes, I would try to save them even if they
don't fit because they're not that cheap and you might need them at
some point. Bicycling hardware costs will expand to the size of your
budget no matter how large if you let it, so no sense in wasting usable
equipment.