Need help with Krate Cassettes + Shock Sissybar

[Unchained]

I was hoping somebody here could help me with the issues I've been having with my '68 Orange Krate. When I bought the bicycle, it was rather rough...

And so I have begun a full dis-assembly and "restoration" (not doing paint or plating; I really like the aged, natural look of the bike as it is now after some heavy cleaning- doing all the mechanical work necessary for a really nice ride). I have all the mechanical parts done for the time being now except the shock sissybar and the five speed rear wheel (uses a derailleur and cassettes). I'm now wondering how it is that I take the five speed cassette hub apart, and how it is that I remove the shocks form the sissy bar. Can anyone help? It appears I need some sort of special tool for the hub (is this true...?). The springs inside the sissybar shocks are rather flattened by age and use so that the bar does not always spring back up after going down, and the general feeling is not so good. Any help that could be offered would be appreciated... thank you.

 

[ish]

You need a special tool to remove the cassette. Take the wheel to a bike shop, and they can hook you up with the right tool (or if they are nice, they may even remove it for you).

I'm not sure if you want to get into disassembling the cassette. The easy way out is to drip penetrating oil into it, which after a day or two may free up anything which is stuck. Then drip lighter weight motor oil into it. If it does not work properly after doing that, just get another used, working 5 speed cassette.

 

[BankerRAt]

LBS Chris and they will likely do it for you for free. takes like 5 seconds. i would start soaking it though for a couple days at least. You will be surprised by how much it will free up the casette without dis-assembling it!

 

[Unchained]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Well, I'm not sure what I'm getting into but I want to fully dis-assemble it so I can do an appropriate detailing and re-lubrication- I expect some parts inside the hub (not sure what- never worked on a cassette hub ) need replacement too, and I want to get the bike restored mechanically... so I really want to get it apart. Besides that, I already cut the spokes out of both wheels to re-lace them (the wheels were pretty well shot), and I need the five speed casette hub apart to relace it to a good S2 rim. Thanks for the heads up about a bike shop having the correct tool, that would be excellent; I need to visit the local bike shop anyway soon...

Thanks for the tip about thoroughly soaking it in penetrating oil Glenn, that is a really good idea considering the bike's condition. :lol: It spins fine as is, so it should free up pretty easily- and nothing else on the bike gave me too much of a problem, except the pogo seat post, which is now on eBay with bids and soon to be someone else's problem. :lol:

 

[stretch]

stretch it since its rusty! :mrgreen:

 

[Unchained]

stretch it since its rusty! :mrgreen:

Not happening, sorry. I've got one stretch to finish as it stands... and it will be summer vacation before I get back to that. I've got to get this one up and running, and have some things to care of even before that...

I could never cut a Krate up to stretch it, I'm just not strong enough. :lol: Especially my first real Krate, and the original picture is deceiving- it actually is turning out to be a really presentable original bike.

 

[CCR]

from now on, leave the wheel laced to the hub before you remove the cassette .... the leverage of turnig the laced wheel helps ALOT when youve got a stuborn cassette. not saying it cant be done, but theres been a few times i wish i would have waited to cut the spokes.

 

[CCR]

and to take the suspension sissy apart, push the sissy bar downso the bar is about an inch or two out the bottom of the spring tube, slide up the black cap, pull the pin. then it all comes apart

 

[Unchained]

Hey Jeremy,

Thanks for that advice, I completely overlooked the leverage advantage when I de-laced the wheel. It turns really freely and nothing else on the bike was stuck too bad so I'm not too worried... Still, it wouldn't have hurt to have the wheel complete... and I thought that's how the sissy bar came part, thanks for the clarification/verification. I didn't see any other way and didn't want to screw anything up... When I tried, my pin didn't go anywhere and I thought I was doing something wrong.... must just be some stubborn rust.

 

[stretch]

well if you ever get any cheap basket case krates, send them my way!

 

[Unchained]

well if you ever get any cheap basket case krates, send them my way!

If I come across and REALLY rusted out ones, I'll let you know. :mrgreen: I couldn't sleep at night being the accomplice in the murder of a nice krate. :lol:

Hey guys, thanks for all the help, I got my sissy bar all part this morning and the problem with it was very obvious. :wink: I have never seen uglier springs anywhere and one spring tube had about an inch of thick, crusty orange powder ion the bottom... as you probably guessed, that was the side that had a real sagging problem.

 

[new_dharma]

you might have to search for a shop that has the tool for the older schwinn cassette...not everyone has one

 

[deorman]

from now on, leave the wheel laced to the hub before you remove the cassette .... the leverage of turnig the laced wheel helps ALOT when youve got a stuborn cassette. not saying it cant be done, but theres been a few times i wish i would have waited to cut the spokes.

Kinda tough lacing a cassette wheel with a cluster in place, and near impossible to remove without chewing up your hub with no rim. Live and learn...

 

[SkidMark]

schwinn cassette

Freewheel cluster. A cassette goes on a freehub.

It's not just a matter of semantics, the cassette tool is different than the freewheel tool, even though they nearly look the same.

http://sheldonbrown.com/free-k7.html

 

[mybike1]

Yup, your working on a frewheel, not a cassette... I'm a little picky about that too. :roll:
I sure would like to see some pics of the bike "in progress"
I bet it's gonna turn out real sweet. I wish I had one. Great find!

 

[deorman]

So is a cassette one of those deals where you pull the center and the sprockets slide off? My 21 spd. has this deal, I've been servicing the wheel with magnetized awl for years, not sure how it comes off. Local shop sold me chain wrench, claiming it's neccessary, seems useless to me.

 

[mybike1]

A freewheel simply screws on and is one cluster of gears.
A cassette has individual gears and they slide on, then the very end piece screws on to lock everything down.
You can remove a freewheel by useing the correct tool and basicly unscrewing it.
A chain whip is used to hold the gears on a cassette while you unscrew the endpiece.
Sometimes I can be a nerd.

 

[deorman]

My only question is, how to remove the central ratcheting splined part?

 

[Bendix]

schwinn cassette

Freewheel cluster. A cassette goes on a freehub.

It's not just a matter of semantics...

i'm happy to see i'm not the only member of the 'freewheel police'! it's a dirty, thankless job, but it's got to be done