I've got an ACS claws 18t SS freewheel. I've had it for about 4 months, and for the last 3 it's been making a sort of clunking noise when I pedal.

Does this actually matter? Should I just ignore the noise and ride, or does it mean it's about to break?

If I replace it, should I get another one, or do I just need to bite the bullet and stump up for a WI freewheel from that nice Bike Monger? And buy a load of flowers for my long suffering wife?

Thanks
Luke

Just in case anyone else ever is wondering about these ACS claws freewheels – don't get one.

It was fine until last Sunday. Did Thetford Winter Series – 4 hours in rain and mud. Took it off to clean it on Tuesday: totally frozen solid. Left in white spirit overnight: clean and shiny as new, but still totally frozen solid.

WI on order.

you won't regret it. just be glad your acs didn't fail and give you a knackers/stem interface 😆

I'm sure you won't regret the WI freewheel, but I just wanted to offer a different opinion on the ACS – I've had one on the singlespeed commuter for about 3k miles and it's been no problem at all (just noisy!).

Go WI and you will not regret anything but the price.

The old British freewheels seemed to last forever with no seals. We used to ride offroad on them on our skinny tyres and drop bars long before SS and mountainbikes were invented. We just used to dribble oil into them once a week or any time they got wet. I don't remember one failing in use.

You'd get bikes with dodgy freewheels but that was lack of maintenance.

ACS claws are noisy but reliable as far as i'm concerned. It was a Shimano DX freewheel that let me down and meant a long scoot/walk home.

TheGrifterSound™ isn't necessarily a sign of impending failure. Have had them develop that almost immediately, then last for ages.

There was a freewheel reviewed in ST about this time last year, whose name escapes me. Believe that's still going strong.

Freehubs for the win (except when they fail too).

My tensile 18t freewheel clunks when I pedal and the whole drivetrain is almost new. I sound like I'm back riding an old Raleigh Strika when I was a kid. Still haven't worked out what's causing it…

Both ACS and the 'Big S' have clunked basically from new on me. Its very annoying but not terminal. I too wish I know what it was though!

I'd actually gotten used to the clunking. It was the seizing-up-solid after a ride in the mud that troubled me (although as some have suggested this may have been due to my own lackadaisical attitude to maintenance).

Right now I'm trying to disassemble the freewheel just to see what it looks like inside. I'm about to try a power drill though, as gentle persuasion with a hammer has so far failed.

Well, those things are *tough*. Electric drill just doesn't touch it at all.

It shouldn't be that difficult to get into! 😯

Unless the thing's completely welded together, all it normally takes is a punch and a hammer – put the point of the punch in one of the holes in the outer cover, give it a wee tap, and the cover should start to unscrew (remember it's reverse-threaded, so make sure you're tapping it in the right direction!).

My ACS claw did that for two years – it was a bit like a metronome when pedaling along. I only got rid of mine when I sheared a tooth off it and snapped the chain all in the same incident.

If it's been doing it from new have you checked for stiff/deformed chain links or chain line at either end of the drive train?