Decent SS freehubs?

[Ilovehills]

Are there any decent weather resistant freehubs out there? I`ve got through dozens over the last few years, they are fine until the first downpour arrives, and that seems to wash out the grease out and the whole thing goes to crap. I mean creaks, rattles, LOUD bearing noise etc

I don`t know whether my LBS are just selling me sub standard junk, or if everything singlespeed is vulnerable to this problem?

I thought SS, and fixed, were mean`t to be bomb proof??

 

[midlife]

I'm confused, not difficult at my age lol, but why not use a freewheel?

 

[Ilovehills]

I'm confused, not difficult at my age lol, but why not use a freewheel?

I`m using one

 

[midlife]

On a freehub? I assumed you were running a conversion to put a sprocket in the middle of your freehub....

 

[Ilovehills]

Now I`m confused

It`s a flip flop wheel, SS one side, fixed the other. I`m not suicidal enough to ride fixed, so I ride singlespeed, which I love, just kepp getting sold crap singlepeed freehubs

 

[Sharky]

What price are you paying for your freewheels and what makes have you tried?

I've been using cheap dicta freewheels for the last 10 yrs without any problems. Always have a fixed sprocket on the otherside, so never worried that it might fail on me.

 

[fossyant]

You know the answer.... go fixed. Commuted for 7 years on fixed - you might even ride in bad weather knowing your singlespeed freewheel won't die (because you ride fixed), so that pesky boss won't ask for a lift.

 

[Cycleops]

If you really want to go for bust what about this premium product?
https://www.evanscycles.com/token-1-2-x-1-8-chromo-single-speed-freewheel-EV222320
Not cheap but looks like it should solve your problem. A Shimano one will be lees than half the price.

 

[jayonabike]

https://www.condorcycles.com/products/white-industries-eno-freewheel

Not cheap but will give years of trouble free cycling. I have this on both my single speed bikes

 

[Milkfloat]

https://www.condorcycles.com/products/white-industries-eno-freewheel

Not cheap but will give years of trouble free cycling. I have this on both my single speed bikes

I was just about to post the Eno, it is the King of freewheels - one cheaper option is the Halo Clickster. https://www.halowheels.com/shop/components/clickster-freewheel/

To be honest, give fixed a chance, it is not that scary, I ride it a lot.

On my flipflop hub I have a cheap Dicta on the other side, that I have used a couple of times, but is on the bike continuously, it has been fine, I just dribble in some oil every so often.

 

[midlife]

Now I`m confused

It`s a flip flop wheel, SS one side, fixed the other. I`m not suicidal enough to ride fixed, so I ride singlespeed, which I love, just kepp getting sold crap singlepeed freehubs

Freehub

Flip flop hub

I guess as above you need a better quality single speed freewheel

 

[Ilovehills]

I was just about to post the Eno, it is the King of freewheels - one cheaper option is the Halo Clickster. https://www.halowheels.com/shop/components/clickster-freewheel/

To be honest, give fixed a chance, it is not that scary, I ride it a lot.

On my flipflop hub I have a cheap Dicta on the other side, that I have used a couple of times, but is on the bike continuously, it has been fine, I just dribble in some oil every so often.

I did try it when I bought the Langster, out in the car park of the shop, I got on, clipped in, tried to bring my right leg up to pull away, went backwards 6ft, fell off in a heap...............................

 

[Ilovehills]

https://www.condorcycles.com/products/white-industries-eno-freewheel

Not cheap but will give years of trouble free cycling. I have this on both my single speed bikes

I`ve bitten the bullet and ordered one

 

[Basil.B]

My Shimano freewheel is still going strong after 6 years.
Started to get a bit noisy after a couple of years but was cured by using some 3 in 1 oil I found in my garage.
Those white industries freewheels are a bit noisy, buzzing sound.

 

[rogerzilla]

Cheap Shimano BMX freewheels aren't especially hard to service - leave it on the wheel, unscrew the cone CLOCKWISE with a pin spanner and get ready to catch all the bearings, pawls and and shims. They have 96 bearing balls, 48 in each race. Rebuild with Sturmey-Archer internal hub grease, which is calcium-based (good for water resistance) and just about sticky enough to hold the balls in place. This grease doesn't stick the hairspring pawls in an AW so it certainly won't stick the much more robust circlip spring pawls in a Shimano freewheel.

If you want, you can rebuild these with the sprocket carrier flipped over for LH drive fun, as the ratchet and pawls will then work the other way. Getting the freewheel to stay screwed onto the hub threads, when your pedalling is trying to unscrew it, is an exercise for the reader, but fixed cogs don't need lockrings if you put them on with a monster chainwhip (the one I made is 18" and will put many times more torque on it than a 60" gear will), and I guess a bit of threadlock would help.