Regina Extra 5 Speed Freewheel Advice

[Nigel Jenkins]

I have recently purchased a Legnano bike with original parts. The freewheel is a Regina Extra 15-23 and the rear changer is Campagnola Nuovo Valentino. The large sprocket appears to has come loose after some very steep hills around here. I don't know how it is attached. Is it threaded? If so I may have stripped the threads. Anyhow some advice on whether it is repairable would be useful. Also I could really do with a 28 large sprocket, but there seem to be very few Regina 5 speeds around with this wide a ratio. Would the changer cope with a 28 sprocket? The hubs are Legnano and so any other make of freewheel would need the correct thread. Any thoughts?

[thirdcrank]

AFAIK, Five speed freewheels all had screw-on sprockets - splines only arrived later with 6 speed.

Without taking it off, there's no way of knowing whether it's the sprocket or the body that's stripped (or both.) Also AFAIK, the standard arrangement was for the larger two to be screwed on from the back - left-hand thread. There may be spares somewhere - but if there are nobody knows where they are.

Five speed freewheels are still available although those I've seen in the last several years have all been sixes with the smallest sprocket left off. I don't know the sprocket capacity of that gear mechanism but once upon a time, 28T was the largest sprocket normally available so it's unlikely to be bigger than that and it may even be smaller.

[Brucey]

IIRC some regina freewheels had the largest two sprockets threaded on with a LH thread so that the freewheel has to come off the hub before the sprockets can be removed.

The Valentino was a bit pants TBH. 26 or 28 was the maximum IIRC.

cheers

[gaz]

The hubs are Legnano and so any other make of freewheel would need the correct thread. Any thoughts?

Welcome to the forum.

Sheldon Brown has some information on freewheel threads. Discounting BMX it will be one of the other four. Fortunately Sheldon also gives a useful tip to help you check if it is the most common and current ISO threading.

AFAIK, Five speed freewheels all had screw-on sprockets - splines only arrived later with 6 speed.

In the shed I have a Sachs-Maillard splined five and I suspect a couple of Shimano's sitting next to it are also splined. There's a 5 speed Regina BX Extra (late 80's/early 90's) in there too which is definitely 14-28T and ISO threading. A look around ebay confirms only the smallest sprocket is threaded*.

My experience of the Regina is that it's no good at indexing, which it was never designed for, but is otherwise a reasonable bit of kit.

*Silly money but useful pictures of the back of the box.

[thirdcrank]

I'm more than happy to be corrected about splined 5 speed freewheels but I suppose if the big sprocket has come loose, the OP's diagnosis of a stripped thread is probably right. All my Regina freewheels are 6 speed America (splines with screwed-on second to smallest sprocket acting as lockring with smallest sprocket screwed into that (IIRC) I suppose it would be OK to remove the smallest sprocket from something like that and run it as a five. None of mine would be any good to the OP because they date from an earlier time in my life and the biggest is 23T.

I googled Regina Extra without finding out much.

[Brucey]

this is what the back of a Regina Extra freewheel looks like with its (I believe) LH threaded low gear cogs.



Some more pics here;

http://derbyking.com/Detail/?n=23

'Everest' freewheels were similarly constructed.

'Ruota Libera' is Eye-tie for 'freewheel' and opens up a few more google possibilities BTW.

This is what the threaded low gear sprockets ('pignoni') look like



cheers

[thirdcrank]

Yes. Not so very long ago in BOF years I removed all the screw-on sprockets from a Regina 5 speed freewheel, although I've no idea what model it was.

As I wrote above, the larger two sprockets were LH thread, screwing on from the back. I think the second and third screwed on nomally and the smallest screwed into the the second (but that might be my imagination.) Even Mr Rebus clone little me couldn't see any point in keeping the bits.

An important point for the OP is that freewheels with screw-on sprockets were an exercise in ingenuity and even in those days, getting a sprocket of the desired size for a specific position on the freewheel body wasn't always easy. With the wonderful benefit of hindsight, it's amazing that it took so long for anybody to come up with the idea of putting the freewheeling bit in the hub and fastening the sprockets onto that.

[Brucey]

Mr Rebus....

BTW I don't know if anyone noticed the comments in the Derbyking link about the merits of used freewheels vs new ones...

-but this is the first time I have seen this observation written about elsewhere; I have long believed it to be true of shimano (and other) freehubs, the reason being that the pawls cannot be made accurately enough to share the load from new, they have to wear slightly before this occurs.

The trials lads won't use some freehubs, presumably because they always break them before they are run in and working properly.

cheers

[Nigel Jenkins]

It sounds like the thread has stripped on either the sprocket or body or both. It certainly felt like that when it went. Options - take freewheel off (with some difficulty I gather) and in the absence of any other option spot weld the sprocket to the body. Find another Regina with a 28 sprocket ( v. expensive on e-bay!) Find an alternative make with the same thread. By the way I have now had rude comments about both derailleurs, the front is also a Valentino, they both seem to work perfectly adequately and the bike only cost £250 in working order. It was bought in a fit of nostalgia, as I owned a Legnano (probably better spec'd) in the early 70's. However this is giving me a lot of pleasure even on steep Northumbrian hills!

[Brucey]

I don't fancy welding the sprockets to the body because the body is hardened for the ball race very close to where the threading is.

Some mad thoughts; could you weld the stripped cog to its neighbour?
could you bolt the stripped cog to its neighbour?

If the sprocket threading alone is stripped could you build it up with weld and then have it remachined? (need a friendly chap with a decent lathe)

BTW I have a Valentino rear mech but my fits of nostalgia are not yet strong enough to persuade me to use it again.

Of course replacing the freewheel with a different one would be an easy solution; I'm sure someone will have a 14-28 five speed if that is what you need.

cheers

[Nigel Jenkins]

Thanks for your helpful advice Brucey. If I don't want to be entirely retro at great expense, any thoughts on other makes of freewheel that would fit an Italian threaded hub?

[Brucey]

although it carries a risk of slight 'damage' -or at least 'modification' to the hub threads, if you can't get an Italian threaded freewheel, you can fit a British threaded one.

The diameter and pitch are identical, it is only the thread flank angle that is different by 5 degrees IIRC. Once you have fitted a British threaded freewheel fully tight, I would say it is a bad idea to go back to an Italian threaded one on the same hub.

You might even find that your old freewheel was actually British threaded already; IIRC such threads were marked by Regina as 'Fi.I' (?) which stands for 'Filetti Inglese' or something. I think there may be a good explanation of this in the derbyking link.

cheers

[Kaysbloke]

Guess what I have in my 'stash' of vintage fodder in the shed?

That's right, a NOS unused 14-28 Regina Extra 5-speed freewheel.

PM me if you're interested in acquiring it.

To remove an old Regina freewheel, especially if it's not wanted for re-use, strip it down, grip the body in a large vice and screw it off.

I also have a 14-24 slightly more modern version.

[pete75]

An important point for the OP is that freewheels with screw-on sprockets were an exercise in ingenuity and even in those days, getting a sprocket of the desired size for a specific position on the freewheel body wasn't always easy. With the wonderful benefit of hindsight, it's amazing that it took so long for anybody to come up with the idea of putting the freewheeling bit in the hub and fastening the sprockets onto that.

It didn't take as long as most people think - Bayliss Wiley invented the freehub in the thirties.
http://pardo.net/bike/pic/fail-024/000. ... liss-wiley