I have the Park Tool SPA-1, and it's to big I think, (pretty sure) it doesn't hook solidly, and the Park Tool SPA-2 has bigger pins than 1.
What spanner tool to turn this?
And I tried a screw driver etc.
by l337g0g0
I have the Park Tool SPA-1, and it's to big I think, (pretty sure) it doesn't hook solidly, and the Park Tool SPA-2 has bigger pins than 1.
What spanner tool to turn this?
And I tried a screw driver etc.
by l337g0g0
9 Comments
My question is why bother? These are $15 new. That’s probably the price of the tool you need.
unfortunately, those freewheel bearings are not really considered serviceable. best you can do is drip some Phil Wood Tenacious Oil in the back. Or replace, a new one is less than $20.
I understand the impulse to want to repair this, but it’s almost never worth your time.
That’s a freewheel and not a freehub, and you probably don’t wanna waste your time cracking open a lowend Shimano freewheel.
If it’s not rotating smoothly or not engaging all the time, as others have mentioned, flush and relube without disassembly.
There are about 73,000 tiny bearings behind that plate. Some of them will stick to the plate for a few seconds, then fall out. some will stay in the bearing race inside, and some will evaporate. There’s very little chance you’ll get it working better than it is now.
[RJ the Bike Guy](https://youtu.be/T_vRbBRPr3c?si=gZIhWpwTSuZLbDqF) has a video about it.
I have the appropriate pin spanner (Park SPA-2), and I still end up using a beater flat head screwdriver and a hammer to loosen the lock ring most of the time.
These folks are correct when they say probably don’t bother. Flush with oil or buy a new one is the most reasonable solution. That said I’ve rebuilt these a couple times and it’s not some horrible nightmare.
It’s perfectly serviceable. Set it on a freewheel tool in a vice and use a punch and hammer to unscrew the plate.
Do be careful and disassemble it on a piece of cloth or something because there are a couple dozen small loose ball bearings in two rows inside.
However, it might be not worth your time, because a new 6sp Shimano freewheel with better shifting characteristics will cost you like 20 schmeckles. Also, if you decide to do the service, there’s no guarantee that the internals will be in good enough condition to put back together, if there’s a problem due to which you decided to service it.
There was a deficit of these in Covid times, so I’ve serviced a fair bit of freewheels. It’s doable and easy, with practice. However, it takes just enough time that a new freewheel costs as much or less than my time to do it.
I would not do that. Just flush it out with a degreaser. Than lube with oil.