I'm converting an old bike into a single speed, I took it to my LBS and the mechanic gave me this freewheel – can't remember if he said it will definitely fit or if it was a guess.
I've taken the old cassette off and not sure what I'm looking at to be honest or if there's any way I can get the new single freewheel / sprocket onto the wheel I've got?
Thanks!
by fixmypiano
8 Comments
Looks like part of the old freewheel. You would need to remove that and then the new single speed freewheel can thread on. It might be hard to remove as you don’t have the notches for the freewheel remover tool
That looks to be the inside of a freewheel, which needs to be removed still
That hub has the remains of a freewheel on it. It will be a bitch to get off but once you have, yes you will be able to mount a single speed freewheel with the right dimensions.
So what you’ve done here is disassembled the freewheel, instead of taking it off. This freewheel should require a tool that goes around the axle to remove it. There’s a very high chance it’s the park tools FR 1.3 you will need to remove it, but it might be easier going back to the shop with the wheel and get them to remove your old freewheel and install the new one, rather than buying the tools. There’s a million freewheel tools that exist out there.
That single speed freewheel should thread on the same, but there’s a good likelihood your chain line will be wildly off without respacing the axle and fishing the wheel and a whole bunch of other work. A poor chainline can cause the chain to jump off, wear the chain out more quickly etc. If you’re not overly concerned about it being proper and aren’t looking for top performance, it’ll probably be fine.
You’ve left half a freewheel on the hub (multiple gears), the other freewheel you’re holding (single speed) will require a completely different hub.
You had a freewheel cluster, not a freehub, that you managed to take the cog body off of (thus destroying it), but you didn’t manage to get it unscrewed from the wheel hub. Take a big set of Locktite pliers and grab that remaining body, and heave until it unscrews. Then you’ll see the threads on the hub, which hopefully are the correct thread to mount your new single-speed freewheel. Your LBS should have done this for you, only takes a minute, they would charged a couple dollars. Maybe they didn’t have the correct old freewheel tool.
You should be able to get the remnants the freewheel off with either big channel locks big plumbing wrench or a vise. Few people would be putting it back together so it probably doesn’t matter if you f*** it up a bit
>I’ve taken the old cassette off…
No, you have partially taken the old *freewheel* off.
>and not sure what I’m looking at to be honest…
What is left on the hub is the old freewheel body, which you still need to take off in order to install the single-speed freewheel.
>or if there’s any way I can get the new single freewheel / sprocket onto the wheel I’ve got?
At this point, you can either buy the appropriate freewheel remover tool, which you can then use with a large wrench (or a bench-mounted vise) in order to remove the freewheel body. Or you can continue with the destructive removal process:
[How To Remove Freewheel Without Remover Tool ](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WsVL1XqZve8)