Have this Sunrace freewheel with just the right spread of gears that I like. It's been sitting 4 years since my accident, but decided to risk riding again to lose weight.
The freewheel was a bit draggy. Old grease needed removed and replaced. Only there's a lockring holding the gear cluster on the freewheel body. As you can see in the second pic, the lockring lip covers the outer race - no disassembly without first getting the ring off. Manged to get it off with a stubby screwdriver and hammer - not my preferred method. And trying to find a lockring tool for this was going no where. So, I decided to fabricate one.
This is becoming more and more common, as manufacturers don't figure on customers taking things apart and cleaning/lubing. Most riders probably just toss the freewheel and get a new one. Besides, freewheels are "old school" and not the standard cassette as is common now. The one bike shop didn't believe me when I told him it was a freewheel lockring. They don't even carry the tools to do it.
Went to the local Ace Hardware and started looking through bins in all sorts of departments, hoping to find something I could modify for my needs. Finally found something that would just squeeze inside the lock ring but had enough thickness to form teeth out of. A 3/4" threaded conduit connector. Took about 35 minutes to get the profile just right. Think I'll thread a square black iron plug in the other end and pin it in for a wrenching point. Should work fine. And if the teeth wear or mush out - I've got plenty of length left in the fitting to reform them.
