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Recent Purchase - Freewheel Question 
PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 9:55 am Reply with quote
steveojo69
Joined: 18 Aug 2015
Posts: 2
Greetings Everyone

I recently purchased the bike below on eBay.



I have stripped it down, cleaned everything, straightened the wheels, tapped out the cranks to take standard thread pedals, ordered a Velo Orange BB and bought new cables and tape ready to rebuild it.

My only problem is dismantling the freewheel. It looks like the one below and I cannot see how to do it. Any help will be appreciated.


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Steve J

Rushden, UK
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freewheel 
PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 1:50 pm Reply with quote
gman309905
Joined: 23 Dec 2012
Posts: 63
Location: Pittsburgh PA.
My advice is don't do it, freewheels were not made to be rebuilt, you would be better off purchasing a new old stock freewheel or checking out IRD, interlock racing designs , a company that still manufactures modern freewheels.
http://store.interlocracing.com/

If you venture into dismantling your current freewheel be prepared to encounter many small ball bearings, springs and pawl levers and take detailed notes of exactly how they came apart . Good luck !!
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1974 Gitane Interclub 
PostPosted: Tue Aug 18, 2015 6:41 pm Reply with quote
verktyg
Joined: 14 Jan 2007
Posts: 2814
Location: SF Bay Area
Greetings and welcome to the Forum.

You have a 1974, maybe 1975 Interclub model. They were Gitane's entry level racing bikes.

Those are second generation Suigino Maxy cranks that used very long BB spindles.

Your bike may take a 3T Maxy spindle which were common on those cranks. They were listed as 126mm not counting the threaded ends.

They were also "asymmetrical" - the chainring side is longer than the other side.

VeloORANGE doesn't mention whether their bottom brackets are symmetrical or asymmetrical.

Also, 122mm is the longest BB spindle listed by VeloORANGE

Here's a Flicker album that I put together a few years ago that has some information on BB spindles that might help.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/28267220@N05/6204982508/in/album-72157627678462359/

Read the descriptions below the pictures.


It's a Maillard Normandy freewheel - probably 14 to 26 teeth. It has metric threads.

Some of the sprockets may be worn which will cause the chain to skip. If so, it's toast!



Normandy FWs were second tier. Maillard also made Atom brand freewheels which were better quality.



The IRD freewheels gman309905 recommended have British/ISO threads which are a little larger than French metric threads, They can be forced on but you could trash the hub and British threaded freewheels have been know to slip on the threads of a metric hub.

Metric threaded freewheels are listed all of the time on eBay.

If you replace the freewheel, replace the chain too.


WHY do you want to dismantle the freewheel? It's a thankless task plus freewheels weren't meant to be disassembled!

If it's sticky (which can be expected form a 40 year old freewheel) you can try some light oil to loosen it.

Before doing anything make sure to clean away all of the gunk around the front and rear so that grit doesn't wash into the bearings.

To clean it you can soak it in some solvent for a day or two,
After soaking thoroughly flush out the the old grease and oil from the bearings. When clean let it set small sprocket up on some paper towels so all of the solvent drains out.

If you use a water based solvent, clean it out with running water and then spray a bunch of WD-40 into the bearings to displace any remaining water.

Lubricate with something like 30 weight motor oil then let set so all of the excess oil drains out.

Good luck...


Last edited by verktyg on Tue Aug 18, 2015 7:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 19, 2015 8:15 am Reply with quote
steveojo69
Joined: 18 Aug 2015
Posts: 2
Thanks for quick the advice, I will just clean and oil the freewheel.

I will post pictures once the bike is rebuilt.

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Steve J

Rushden, UK
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Recent Purchase - Freewheel Question 
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