This 6 speed Shimano freewheel has about 5000 miles on it and somehow managed to get 4000 miles out of a KMC Z6 chain before it hit 0.75% wear. I replaced the chain but recently noticed an intermittent "clunk" when slamming pedals or pedaling through a turn. I noticed the middle cogs have pointy little step-offs which I imagine is wear. Am I safe to assume this freewheel is toast and I should replace?
by shower_thots
1 Comment
It’s not a freewheel, it’s a cassette. When you replace a chain, you generally want to replace the cassette as well. The chain and cassette wear together. The chain ‘stretches’ (not really, but the distance between links elongates as the bearings wear), and the cogs deform to match it. If you put a new chain on the old cassette, you may get the kind of result you’re describing. The cassette fits over the freewheel hub, and you will need a special splined nut and a chain whip to remove and replace it (or two chain whips if it’s a very old Shimano “Uniglide”). The 6 speed cassettes are getting pretty rare, so you may end up just getting a new wheel.