From: jbrandt@hpl.hp.com (Jobst Brandt)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Remove freeweel without a puller?
Date: 25 Apr 2001 20:42:57 GMT

Joel Kidd writes:

> Is it possible to remove my freewheel (Shimano 21-spd) without using a
> freewheel puller(the splined thingy)?

> For example: heat it up, lube it, pray, grip it real good with pump
> pliers, and push?

I'm not sure whether you really mean "freewheel" or the gear cluster
of a cassette hub.  If it is a freewheel and you are interested only
in getting it off, yes, you can do that but it isn't good for the
freewheel.  You unscrew the left hand thread bearing cap, using a
hammer and round nosed punch in the holes provided.  Dump all the
balls, pawls and spacers into a container, leaving the bare freewheel
body that can be grasped by either a large crescent wrench or a pipe
wrench to be easily removed.  Wrenching on it, occasionally causes
damaging dents that may or may not be functional depending how elegant
you are in this operation.

I've done this successfully on several occasions for reuse, back in
the day of freewheels somewhere 'on-the-road'.

> My bearings are 'rumbling' a little... and my axle is bent. :(  (Anyone
> know how to straighten an axle perfectly?)

Axles don't bend, they break.  If your axle is "bent" it has a crack
at least half way through at the nose of the right cone.  This is
probably what makes your bearings grotch, the jam nut is running off
axis and dragging in the FW.

Jobst Brandt      <jbrandt@hpl.hp.com>

From: jbrandt@hpl.hp.com (Jobst Brandt)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: Remove freeweel without a puller?
Date: 25 Apr 2001 23:26:35 GMT

Suzy Jackson writes:

>> Axles don't bend, they break.  If your axle is "bent" it has a
>> crack at least half way through at the nose of the right cone.
>> This is probably what makes your bearings grotch, the jam nut is
>> running off axis and dragging in the FW.

> This hasn't been my experience.  I bent two axles in my old Campy
> Athena screw on hub; the original Campy one, and a wheels
> replacement.  Both had a bend at the base of the right hand cone.
> Neither had any cracks.  Mind you, the bend was never particularly
> severe - only maybe a millimeter out at the end of the axle.

And how do you know it wasn't cracked?  Did you do the under water
bubble test of blowing in the degreased axle while plugging the other
end.  I have plenty of separated and bent axles that attest to this
condition.  I have not found a "bent" axle that wasn't cracked.

> The cure was the same as for a broken axle though.  Drop it in the
> bin and get a new one.

I think you missed an opportunity to research this phenomenon.  I came
upon it when trying to straighten an axle, upon which it separated and
exposed a fresh break and an old one that went more than half way
through.  Subsequently, the bubble test verified the contention that
there are no bent axles.  Besides, you would have a hard time
describing the scenario that bends axles since they don't bend during
the first hard and bumpy descents or climbs of steep streets.  These
are fatigue failures caused mainly by chain forces.

Jobst Brandt      <jbrandt@hpl.hp.com>