Removing individual the cogs on a freewheel or cassette

Occasionally, you may decide to replace an individual cog because of wear or because you want to change its size. After you’ve removed your freewheel or cassette, you can follow these steps to remove individuals cogs:

1. Secure the freewheel or cassette in a vise (as shown in Figure 11-7).

2. Wrap the chain of a chain whip around the smallest cog.

3. Turn the chain whip in a counterclockwise direction to remove the cog (as shown in Figure 11-8).

Figure 11-7: Preparing to remove individual freewheels.

If you don’t have a vise, you can use two chain whips together:

Figure 11-8: Removing a cog from a freewheel.

1. Wrap the chains of the chain whip around two adjacent cogs such that the handles of the tools cross.

You’ll have more leverage if you keep the handles close together.

2. Squeeze together the two chain whips until you loosen the cogs.

This procedure is shown in Figure 11-9.

Whichever method you choose, as you remove the cogs keep track of any spacers (see Figure 11-10) between them. You’ll want to put these back in place in the proper order when your reinstall the freewheel.

Removing the free-hub body

If the free-hub body’s ratcheting mechanism gives out or if it’s making noise, you may have to replace it or remove it for lubrication if you have a model that allows for this.

To remove the freehub body, follow these steps:

1. Remove the rear wheel from the bike (see Chapter 7).

2. Remove the cassette from the free hub (see “Removing a cassette,” earlier in this chapter).

3. Remove the lock nut and cone from the other side of wheel and pull the axle through.

4. Remove the hub bearings.

Replace them if necessary.

5. Use the proper size Allen wrench to unscrew the bolt in the center of the free-hub body and remove the free-hub body.

6. Clean the body with a degreaser, apply oil, wipe off any excess lubri­cation, and reassemble using the reverse of this procedure.