Are Half*rds Freewheels Any Good?

[Lovacott]

The last freewheel I bought was a Shimano MF-TZ21 7 Speed 14-28t and that was only a few months back. I got it from Amazon for £23.99.

I decided to buy a few spares the other day like a chain, disc pads, tubes, tyres and so on. I thought I'd grab a spare freewheel and crank set while I was at it.

I popped on to Amazon to do a repeat of my previous freewheel purchase only to find that the same item is now listed at £34.99?

So I did a general google search yesterday for a 7 speed 14-28 freewheel and up popped a Half*rds one at £16.99.

So what's the big difference? Is the Half*rds one any good?

And why the 50% price increase in the Shimano one in just three months?

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Take it back and get a refund. I have a Shimano one you can have for the same money. Not done 50 miles.

 

[Lovacott]

Take it back and get a refund. I have a Shimano one you can have for the same money. Not done 50 miles.

I haven't bought the freewheel yet.

The existing one (3 months old) is still pretty mint so I am simply doing a bit of forward planning by trying to source a spare (rather than spend time in the future off the road waiting for parts).

Maybe the price increase is because it's the time of year when everybody decides to become a cyclist for a sunny afternoon?

 

[Cycleops]

Amazon is nearly always more expensive than a specialist bike shop buy they do seem to be extracting the urine there.

 

[Lovacott]

Amazon is nearly always more expensive than a specialist bike shop buy they do seem to be extracting the urine there.

TBH, because I only started cycling again last March, it's been a very long time since I last bought bike parts outside of a global pandemic/ born again cyclist craze. I have no idea what bike parts would cost in a "normal" market?

I do note however, that a lot of raw materials prices have shot though the roof over the last year.

Iron ore has gone parabolic.

 

[Sharky]

Does the Halfords one use the same tool to take off?

 

[Lovacott]

Does the Halfords one use the same tool to take off?

It does. My freewheel tool is actually a Half*rds branded one which works brilliantly with a Shimano freewheel. The first freewheel tool I bought was from Amazon and I've given it a really shi*ty review because it was basically a bit of soft Dinky toy metal pretending be a hardened bit of quality steel tooling. It stripped bare on first use with hardly any pressure. The Half*rds branded tool has now done four freewheel swaps without a hitch.

Since I started this thread, I've ordered the Half*rds freewheel simply so that I will have the security of a critical spare part in my tool chest.

If and when the Shimano version gets a bit cheaper, I'll buy one of them as well.

 

[midlife]

Is the Halfords one a Sunrace jobby?

 

[Lovacott]

Is the Halfords one a Sunrace jobby?

It doesn't state.

 

[DRM]

Spa cycles in Harrogate are pretty good for spares
SHIMANO 7 Speed TZ21 Freewheel | £21.00 | Drivetrain | Sprockets & Screw on Freewheels | Spa Cycles
SUNRACE 7 Speed Freewheel | £14.00 | Drivetrain | Sprockets & Screw on Freewheels | Spa Cycles
I recently bought a six speed sunrace freewheel for my Olde Ancient, Raleigh, it was a decent product.
Halfords are extracting the urine at that price.

 

[Big John]

I recently bought a 7 speed freewheel from Bankruptbikeparts.co.uk. with carriage I think it was just under a tenner. I'm led to believe they're made by Falcon and are NOS (new old stock). I've been using it for about a month on my winter bike. Works ok.