Lockring removal/Cassette - Identify tool required

[gunja99]

New to cycling last year, and want to learn more about maintenance, etc, etc. I have 3 bikes (a very old hybrid falcon california), BTwin 500Se, and Now a new 2021 Cube Attain SL. The 2 road bikes use standard shimano lock ring, and need to replace the BTwin (chain and cassette ordered), fine. The chain "seems" OK on the falcon, but the lock ring is different. Sorry for the photo quality (I have since cleaned up the drive train), but can you let me know what's required to remove the cassette? Is it something like this?

https://www.parktool.com/product/fixed-gear-lockring-wrench-hcw-17?category=Cassette & Freewheel

 

[midlife]

One of these ?

 

[gunja99]

Looks like a clean version of mine and with quick release... Woo I'd love QR on that bike hah. Was a freebie and happy to "play" and learn on it.

 

[Milkfloat]

You can get the correct tool, but to be honest if you are replacing then you may as well use a punch (or a strong nail) and a hammer.

 

[gunja99]

Cheers. Now I know what I'm looking at (freewheel, not a cassette!) will spend a little bit of time watching relevant videos/park tool youtubes etc and decide.

It's been on a long time, so a proper tool might be in order. Think cleaning it up might be a good starting place, so safe/removal, etc will be a good start. All new to me the maintenance side (and still struggle to index gears!), so love the learning building up my tools!

 

[T4tomo]

Freewheels can be a bugger to get off, best method is attach the tool and fix tool in a vice, then grip tyre to turn wheel to unscrew it.

 

[gunja99]

Freewheels can be a bugger to get off, best method is attach the tool and fix tool in a vice, then grip tyre to turn wheel to unscrew it.

Lol, will dunno how old bike is, and whether it was looked after before, and it probably hasn't. so... Should be fun

 

[T4tomo]

I removed one about 8-10 years ago, by this method, off a bike that was 10-12 years old.. you get excellent leverage provided the wheel / freewheel doesn't slip out of the vice held tool. if you had a QR axle, you can use the skewer to hold the tool in place, but you don't

 

[Big John]

@gunja99 the tool you linked to in your original post isn't the one you need. That tool is for removing the lock ring on a fixed wheel sprocket. You need a tool for removing a freewheel (or block as some folks call them) which is cheap and works best, like T4tomo mentioned, when fixed in a vice. Even then you'll have to fight the wheel to get it off. The appearance of a 'lock ring' suggests that the tool you found was the appropriate one but it isn't. Try this link....maybe not the cheapest but you can see what it looks like. Drop the wheel on the tool and turn it anti clockwise. It won't free up easily so give it some beans 😉

Amazon product ASIN B00UYW0YNCView: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bicycle-Removal-Repair-Tool-Freewheel/dp/B00UYW0YNC

 

[gunja99]

Thanks guys, this great information. That item @Big John is it the same are you remove cassette with or a different size/number of splines? As I have removed the standard shimano cassette from me other road bikes. Not expensive at £4 so will probably get one. Don't have a vice, but do have access to one at work so can always take the wheel in. I thought you put the wheel in, lol make more sense to secure the tool and rotate the wheel on top of it! Must get better at practical/mechanical stuff

 

[Big John]

I've tried every which way possible but I think the preferred way, assuming an available vice, is whack the tool in the vice. I think it's a different fitting to the cassette removal tool - I hope it is anyway because I've got both tools and if I only needed the one then I wasted £4 lol. Just remember it aint going to be a simple twist of the wheel. Sometimes they can be a bugger, as many on here will tell you. I work for a bike charity and we're removing these blocks all the time (the joys of working on older bikes!) and we'd never get the job done without a vice.

 

[Ajax Bay]

That item @Big John is it the same are you remove cassette with or a different size/number of splines?

No, they are not the same, despite the fact that they have the same number of splines (12) - the Shimano lockring tool has deeper splines (and the Campagnolo one is different again). Together with the 'fixed' side of a screw-in bottom bracket, a freewheel is the hardest thing to shift on a bike (ime). So x 2 for using the correct tool secured in a vice and using the horizontal wheel, with a tyre still mounted, as the lever.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Sheldon (edited):
To remove a freewheel requires a special tool [in UK called a "freewheel tool"] to engage the core of the freewheel and unscrew it (anti-clockwise).
This tool is a splined unit that may be mounted in a vice or turned with a spanner. The splines engage matching splines in the core (rotates with the wheel) part of the freewheel body. Different brands of freewheels have used different spline patterns, but there is a C21 tendency to standardize on the Shimano pattern (FR-1 below)

Engage the freewheel centre on the tool, in a vice - left side of the wheel up - then unscrew the wheel anti-clockwise.
Edit: Image deleted. The FR-1's splines are (as @sleuthey says) too deep.
FR=1.3: https://www.parktool.com/product/freewheel-remover-fr-1-3

 

[sleuthey]

I did one yesterday using the vice method. Engage your core muscles when doing it so you don’t hurt your back. The park FR 1 tool above was too big first time I tried removing a freewheel. I bought a campag compatible one which was on paper 1mm smaller diameter. I had to hammer it in but now 3 jobs (all on different bikes) later it has been rubbed down enough to be the perfect fit.

 

[andrew_s]

This is the Shimano freewheel tool
https://www.tweekscycles.com/uk/shimano-tl-fw30-multiple-freewheel-remover-madtlfw30/

(Park Tool seem to have stopped selling theirs)

The freewheel tool has long splines 0.5 mm tall; the lockring tool has shorter splines that are 1 mm tall.
You can use a freewheel tool to get a cassette lockring off, provided it's not too tight, but the cassette lockring tool won't fit a freewheel.