Well, I'm afraid I beg to differ with The Gren on this point.
It's certainly true that the freewheel body can be removed in this way, but re-assembly is tricky and needs nimble fingers.
As I implied in my post, using a remover which isn't a good fit, or using the correct remover carelessly will end in disaster. However even if you do break the slots you can then resort to The Gren's solution by removing the face plate and dismantling the freewheel. Then you can unscrew the body as he describes, but I'm afraid I would put the whole lot in the bin at that point!
I'd say it's not often that you can improve the freewheel by 'servicing'; two things you can do by just removing the plate (and keeping the whole thing on its back so it doesn't come to pieces) 1. Give it a good oiling, without getting grit into the bearing, and 2. if the freewheel bearing is a bit loose you may be able to improve it by removing a shim from under the face plate.
It's important to understand that these blocks (whatever make) take a lot of punishment in use and should be regarded as disposable items, because if they're not in good condition the bike just won't work as it should. The most common fault is that one sprocket is slightly worn and will not run with a new chain, which jumps over it. In the old days a decent bike shop would have spare sprockets and could change them, but not any more.
Well, I'm afraid I beg to differ with The Gren on this point.
It's certainly true that the freewheel body can be removed in this way, but re-assembly is tricky and needs nimble fingers.
As I implied in my post, using a remover which isn't a good fit, or using the correct remover carelessly will end in disaster. However even if you do break the slots you can then resort to The Gren's solution by removing the face plate and dismantling the freewheel. Then you can unscrew the body as he describes, but I'm afraid I would put the whole lot in the bin at that point!
I'd say it's not often that you can improve the freewheel by 'servicing'; two things you can do by just removing the plate (and keeping the whole thing on its back so it doesn't come to pieces) 1. Give it a good oiling, without getting grit into the bearing, and 2. if the freewheel bearing is a bit loose you may be able to improve it by removing a shim from under the face plate.
It's important to understand that these blocks (whatever make) take a lot of punishment in use and should be regarded as disposable items, because if they're not in good condition the bike just won't work as it should. The most common fault is that one sprocket is slightly worn and will not run with a new chain, which jumps over it. In the old days a decent bike shop would have spare sprockets and could change them, but not any more.