Bigger granny please?

[Steve Austin]

You'll spend more in trying to get the correct tools than the bike shop will charge you......

and as you are poor you need to watch them pennies (personal remark as it is directly linked to your desire to fix your bike). It will be cheaper, and loads easier to use your lbs. Of course not using your LBS could lower its income, and cuase it to default on its loans and it would go bust. Not your fault i suppose, must be Gordons again.

 

[bigjim]

Obviousley struck a few nerves with Steve's [identity problem?] immature, Gordon loving, sarcastic wit. Who mentioned being poor? I am certainly not poor. You do get hung up on things. You must not know what poverty is. It realy does not exist in this country. If you have nothing constructive to offer go away little person and curl with your Labour manifesto. Gordon needs you. L.O.L.

Jim

 

[byegad]

Shimano used to do a six speed Megarange. Really a five, evenly spaced, speed with a big drop to your bale out crawler!

 

[swee'pea99]

Can we all calm down a bit and talk about bicycles?

Thank you.

Now, your plan is a good one bigjim. I dunnit and it's done the trick. And I applaud your wanting to DIY - not just for financial reasons. And you can do it. Here are the steps/problems you're likely to run into:

The easy bit: get yourself a new Shimano freewheel off ebay - something like this would be fine. That's £8. Also get yourself a Shimano freewheel remover, like this. There goes another fiver, but you'll have it for ever. Coventional wisdom says if you're changing your freewheel, you should also change your chain. I would. I just bought one of these. Haven't fitted it yet, but I'm sure it'll be fine. (If you haven't got one, you'll also need a chain-splitter. Double up with the chain and save on p&p.)

Ok, so that's your bits.

Now, your remover will probably remove your old freewheel (if it's a Shimano...and it probably is. If not, get your LBS to do it - they won't charge, and you can buy a tube while you're there to say thanks.) As others have said, tho', it can be a bugger of a job. I recommend a big spanner and a bigger hammer.

When you've got it off, put it on a flat surface and put your new one next to it. Are they the same height? If so, congratulate yourself on your good fortune. If not, you will have to move your cones slightly along the axle to accommodate the wider block, and redish your wheel (Mickle's 'bit of tweaking (respace the hub a few mm, pull the rim over to compensate'). It's not as bad as it sounds - takes 15 minutes if you keep a clear head and Don't Panic.

Then you'll need to adjust the 'L & H' screws on your gear mech for the new spacing. And that's it.

So, about £20 all in, and a couple of hours. I'd say it's worth doing - not just for the bigger big ring, but for the closer spacing in the mid range. But it's a job, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

 

[swee'pea99]

Oh, PS, if it is wider than your old freewheel, you may have to wrestle a bit to get the wheel back in the frame - the gap won't be quite wide enough. But just apply a bit of brute force...it'll go in the end. (Don't listen to any nonsense about cold-setting the frame....unnecessary.)

 

[mickle]

Shimano used to do a six speed Megarange. Really a five, evenly spaced, speed with a big drop to your bale out crawler!

Except that the rear disraillieur fitted to the bike doesn't have the tooth capacity to cope with such a thing.

 

[byegad]

Except that the rear disraillieur fitted to the bike doesn't have the tooth capacity to cope with such a thing.

So buy another one!

 

[bigjim]

Thankyou Sweet'pee just what I needed. You have restored my faith in the forum. On the subject of changing the chain, the bike is as new and had no use apart from the couple of hundred miles that I have done on it. Do you think therefore that it would need a new chain? I have a splitter but normally find it easier to split the deraillier to change chains. I suppose existing chain-length is fine. I enjoy working on my own bikes and want to be able to do as much as possible myself. never know when you maybe stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Jim

 

[Steve Austin]

Without getting my head bitten off, bigjim(size issue?) how can a 80's raleigh Record be 'as new'
Its very good advice to suggest a new chain with every new cassette. Cassettes and chains form this strange working relationship over time, and don't seem to like new partners.
Splitting dérailleurs is easy to do, but they normally have some sort of threadlock on the jockey wheels, so undoing them repeatedly will make the jockey screws more likely to come undone when in the middle of nowhere. No amount of bike maintenance skill will help you fix a missing jockey wheel. I would go back to splitting chains

 

[peanut]

lots of good advice here but I would just like to add my 2p worth.
It does look like a freewheel which is screwed on.
It unscrews anti-clockwise so that it will always get tighter in use and not undo.
It will be very tight.
I would advise you to get 2x chainwhips for splitting the freewheel.

Use a freewheel remover and turn the whole freewheel off anti-clockwise.

When the freewheel is off you can break it up by putting one chainwhip on the smallest cog pulling clockwise and another chainwhip on the largest cog pulling anti-clockwise.

The sprockets are held on the freehub by the 3x smallest cogs on my Sachs 7x speed which are threaded . It may be only 2x on a 6 x speed .All the rest of the sprockets are loose and simply push on with spacers and have 4 tabs.

I have brand new 6 speed and 7 speed freewheels and a box of brand new sprockets ranging from 12t to 28t let me know if you need anything.
If you swop your 42t inner chainring you could consider getting a 38t from somewhere like SJS cycles but 39t chain rings are much more common second hand and cheaper.


good luck

 

[spandex]

So buy another one!

Sorry but that will not work as at that time they was all made for one size not like now.

 

[bigjim]

Without getting my head bitten off, bigjim(size issue?) how can a 80's raleigh Record be 'as new'

My names Jim and I'm big so.....
Well it was new in the 80s and it is in the same condition as when it was bought so I suppose thats how realy......
I think I'm being picked on. I just want to mend my bike.

 

[Nick G]

he takes the credit when things go well though doesn't he?

They all do, but like I say, let's not hijack the thread.

 

[swee'pea99]

Hi again BigJim ('He's big and he's called Jim'). Fust thing fust, chill dood! No-one's picking on you...this is just a bit of playground argy-bargy. No harm done, none intended.

Ok, Steve Austin's advice notwithstanding (and in truth, probably most people hereabouts would probably tend to agree with him rather than me) I'd say if your chain's only done 200 miles, it would be bonkers to junk it. I used a second-hand chain with my new freewheel, and it runs smooth as silk. Heresy! Heresy! What can I say? It's the simple truth.

Also, I personally wouldn't bother trying to take freewheels apart. Sounds like a lot of hassle to me, and for what? When you can get a nice new one delivered to your door for eight squids....

The only thing I would watch out for is that if your chain is the correct length now, and you change the freewheel to one with a bigger maximum cog, there's a danger it will be too short, and if you combine big-front with big-rear, your back wheel will totally seize up. I bought a second hand Raleigh that came with this as standard, and it was a bit disconcerting to say the least.

Easy enough to check, mind: just put your new bits on, then combine big-front with big-rear and make sure it still works without jamming up. (Not of course that you'd ever ride this combination...)

Oh, one last thing: I'm definitely with big Steve on chain splitting rather than removing jocket wheels. Once you get used to it it's a one-minute job.

 

[GilesM]

Bigjim, just a few points on this, some people have suggested putting on a smaller inside chainring, however this may not be possible, the standard on many chainsets in the 80s was 42 smallest ring, however I could be wrong, it will depend on the type of chainset, best to check before you go down this route.

Putting on a freewheel with bigger sprockets is the obvious solution, however somebody (mickle I think) has already mentioned concerns about whether the rear mech can actual handle a bigger sprocket, it looks like it may have a maximum of around 24 teeth, and to really make a difference to your lowest gear I think you would need a 28 tooth largest sprocket, however you could try it, it could work.

Again with the chain, you could try it, but if it's done more than a few hundred miles I expect it would slip with a new freewheel, at best run a bit rough, and as already mentioned, the old chain may be too short.

The freewheel will need a lot of force to remove it, the bench vice method is the best way, but a long spanner is okay.

I wouldn't bother with splitting the freewheel, lots of work and you could end up with a mixture of new and worn sprockets on the same freewheel, then no chain will work with it.

Finally, when you remove the chain, you'll have to split it, if you just remove a freewheel jockey wheel you can't remove the chain from the rear triangle.

IHTH

Giles