dvt wrote:

Veggie wrote:

I've been out of biking for a couple of decades. It seems that now
there are two types of gear clusters- the "freewheel" from the 80's,
and a newer cassette design. The mtb I inherited has a Shimano
MF-HG20 cluster/freewheel.

Can I drop a modern wheel into the bike and expect it to work? Will
there be a gear tooth spacing that can cause problems?


How many cogs are on the old freewheel? Older MTBs had narrower back
hubs and the frame was spaced to match. Your frame might have to
stretch a bit to accept a new wheel. If the frame is steel, the
stretching is no problem. See
http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_sp-ss.html#spacing for details on rear
hub width and http://sheldonbrown.com/gloss_cn-z.html#coldset for a
few more words about spreading your frame.

Other than that, I think Bob's your uncle.

The old freewheel has six cogs in it. I'll try to put in a 7 cog
cassette to minimize the stretching, or maybe get a 9 cog and remove a
cog or two.