We're not really in disagreement. I agree that there are bargains to be had with used freewheels, and what I said about limited gearing choices is supported by the examples you cite. Whether those limitations are significant or not is up to you. As you say, less-than-optimum is often perfectly fine for certain kinds of riding, perhaps less so for other kinds.
Quoting [EMAIL PROTECTED]: > > > > On Dec 1, 2:53 pm, Steve Palincsar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Piling on here, for a moment: >> >> Even if you discount concerns regarding future availability of >> freewheels, the current range of available gearing in 7 spd freewheels >> is limited compared to the range available with cassettes. My personal >> favorites, the 13-30, 13-34 and the 14-32 have no freewheel >> counterparts. > > That partly depends on what numbers you like in between. Some > freewheels won't give you certain combinations, it's true, but other > less-than-optimum combinations are perfectly fine for city riding. > > My two "regular" bikes both use freewheel hubs. Okay, Phil Wood > freewheel hubs. With hubs that durable, why not stick with freewheels? > And if they still have life left in them, why not go with slightly > used ones, especially if you run your bikes in friction? > > Here's a helpful tip: Used-but-decent freewheels are popping up all > over ebay and craigslist and many can be had for less than ten bucks. > Combined with a new KMC Z-50 chain and run in pure friction I've > never, ever had a problem with them. No skipping, no chain-dropping, > nothing'. > > Admittedly, I can usually find seemingly "dead' freewheels in the > metal recycling that a co-worker put there because they were "rusty" > or "too filthy to spend time cleaning" or whatever. In far too many > cases, those 5- and 6-speed freewheels -- mostly older Suntour > friction -- came back beautifully with some elbow grease and solvent > on my part. They had lots of life left in them, and shouldn't have > been tossed into the recycling bin just yet. > > The 5-speed 14-32 on my All-Rounder and the 6-speed 14-30 on my > LongLow/city bike were both resurrected from our shop's metal > recycling bin. I have a box of perhaps seven or eight more of these, > all scavenged from various shops' recycling bins (I get around), > scrubbed clean and re-lubed with my trusty freewheel lubing tool (I > had fun explaining to a 24-year-old dealer rep the other day what the > tool was and what it was for. He grew up riding full-suspension ATB's > with cassettes. Last week it was a lesson on Helicomatic hubs; whoo- > whee!). After cleaning and lubing, each freewheel is wrapped carefully > and stored away. I expect I have enough to get me through the next > seven to ten years at the rate I ride. Call me a cheapskate. It's > okay. I probably am. > > (Meanwhile, I have asked my co-workers to please show me their "dead" > freewheels before chucking them into the recycling. The last one I > fished out was -- get this! -- a Shimano 600, 6-speed 14-32 with some > rust on it. I scrubbed off most of the rust, cleaned out the gunk from > the bearings, and re-lubed it. Clearly labelled "used: cleaned & re- > lubed", it sold last week for 25 bucks to a collector. So there's > still lots of love out there for freewheels. IMHO, IRD and SunRace are > very smart to keep on making them.) > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
