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Has anybody done this? I've bought the appropriate freewheel removal tool and successfully got it off the hub, but it now looks like I need to dismantle the freewheel further to find a way to remove 4 of the 5 sprockets. Is this possible? I'm hoping to not have to buy a new wheel if possible.
Why not just buy a screw-on single-speed freewheel - hardly expensive.
You probably won't be able to remove all but one cog, as only the smallest 1 or 2 are threaded.
Why not just buy a screw-on single-speed freewheel – hardly expensive.
I thought about this, but the width of the single speed freewheel looks considerably less than the width of the 5 speed freewheel, so I am worried about what that would do to the chain line etc
It shouldn't be any issue - the SS freewheeel will be in line with one of the 5sp sprockets and you can get some chainline adjustment using the front chainring with mounting it either side of the arms and using spacers.
You probably won’t be able to remove all but one cog, as only the smallest 1 or 2 are threaded.
Thanks for this! I have a different type of freewheel though- like on of these that have a cover plate on them to hold the bearings in
Can I unscrew the sprockets and leave the cover plate on?
From the zsheldon brown article it sounds like it will work - just replace the cogs with spacers. In my experience a bmx style SS freewheel won't work for the reasons you stated.
Great, thanks!
I'm having a go at unscrewing the smallest sprocket now with two chain whips and a mallet, unscrewing anti-clockwise, and it is on insanely tight- it will not budge at all!! Any ideas?
Update: After leaving it to soak in WD40 for an hour the sprocket is now off. The freewheel has been single speeded and looks great!
My concern now is without the other sprockets there is no way to use a second chain whip to stop the freewheel rotating if I ever want to remove the sprocket in the future. Any ideas? Molegrips?
Just stick one of the other sprockets back on too?