Does my freewheel need replacing?

My chain is worn and I've purchased a new one. My LBS suggested that I replace the freewheel too, but I'm unsure if I can get more life out of it as it still runs fine. The chain wasn't mega worn, just enough for the .75 on my chain wear indicator.

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Any thoughts welcome - rubbish pic of freewheel above :)

I discovered something new a couple of days ago.
Apparently, 0.5 indicates that the chain is worn and 0.75 indicates that the sprockets AND the chain are worn. A mechanic told this to me and it was quite the revelation.

This is more an issue with multiple sprockets and chainrings on a geared bike.

Unless the underlying mechanism of the freewheel is skipping I wouldn't bother.

The .5 and .75 line is best practice but for single speed/fixed bike, not so much.

The tool measures how worn the chain is and nothing else.

Take a worn-out chain, put it on worn-out sprockets and measure it; now put the chain on brand new sprockets and measure: any difference?

If you continue to use a worn-out chain it will trash your sprockets, but just because the chain is worn it doesn't follow that the sprockets are.

It's worth remembering that almost all tools are conservative, as they measure the wear across two sets of pins and rollers.

Can't see any "sharks teeth", so I don't see any need to change it.

Shimano freewheels are more likely to spill their guts before the teeth go.

Ok cool, well I think I'll hold onto it as it's never skipped. Plus I'd rather save £30

£30 in my LBS but I've seen for low 20's online. You can still get ones for about a fiver but assume they're crap

Scilly actually makes an excellent point.
Also, I would suggest that while it still runs, you save up for a White Industries freewheel. Condor have them for about £70.

Echoing the above, the indicator shows chain wear not drivetrain wear.

That said, my recommendation would be to replace the chain sooner (.5) rather than later (.75+) to elongate cog/sprocket/freewheel life.

Singlespeed drivetrains definitely more forgiving of a mismatch in levels of wear between components.

Right... On another note I just removed my SRAM pc1 chain to put the KMC I bought to replace it on. The bad news is that my park tools brute ct 5 seems not to fit the KMC chain, which definitely looks wider than the pc1. Do I need to go back to the lbs with my tail between my legs?

The tool measures chain wear only but you'll tend to find that a badly worn chain will have ruined the cassette too, so they both need replacing, at least the higher gears which will have worn more quickly with less teeth engaging. Generally the fewer gears you have the less you have to worry about a worn chain breaking other bits as there is a fair bit more metal on a single or 5 speed sprocket than on a 10/11 speed one. Your freewheel will almost certainly be fine for a bunch more chains.

Indeed, but they are all made waffer thin and old 5 speed shit lasts forever.

But the wear is spread over more sockets with 10/11 speed.

But it's also accelerated (as compared to a singlespeed drivetrain) because of the angles the chain sits at.

@Bezzin, your CT5 should fit any 1/8" or narrower chain. I have 2x CT5s in my home toolbox and haven't come across an 1/8" chain they won't break. You haven't bought a KMC K910 or a K415 have you? These are both 3/16".

No it's a Z510 HX. It just seems wider than the PC1 it replaced and won't fit snugly in the cradle used to break the chain (see pic below for a poor illustration). The pin on the tool doesn't line up with the chain properly. Odd!

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Have you bent the pin on your chain tool?

On my Bromptons I used to rely on the 0.75 and it was a never ending story in winter, due to the fact the drivetrain is so low.

Once I realised that 0.75 was bollocks (on single chain line transmissions) I ran them into the ground. Upshot being that instead of 1000 miles per chain I now get 10times that per drivetrain. This is only on the single speed and 3 speed though. On the 2 and 6 I still change at 0.75, if I don't I end up having to replace the sprockets due to skipping with new chains.

Doesn't look like and it worked fine on the Sram chain minutes before. I read on the park tools site that it is designed for derailleur chains so maybe as this is a "heavy duty" bigger ss chain it just doesn't fit

Yesterday I used the same tool to split the same chain and it worked fine...

hah - maybe it is bent or something - will have another look at it.

It was a tight fit, but with a bit of wiggling I was able to get the tool to hit the right spot.

Hi @Bezzin, I have almost exactly the same question so I hope you don't mind tagging this on here.

With thanks in advance, I was looking for some advice on judging wear on a fixed sprocket and if I should replace it. I know they develop a "shark's tooth" pattern when worn, but I don't know how worn is too much and if I'm heading towards potential death trap territory.

Pic of sprocket attached - this is an EAI 19t 1/8" steel sprocket and has about 12,000 km on it.

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That looks a little fucked.

That's fucked.

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