Solarbird 
hey, there’s a bike chain under all that rust!
(continued from: https://mastodon.murkworks.net/@moira/115069944638186131 )
i’ve put it in denatured alcohol for degreasing and actual cleaning. not sure how long tho’? it’s a lot cleaner already, rust aside.
WHAT’VE WE LEARNED TODAY SOLARBIRD?
don’t put your glass full of evaporust and metal into the ultrasonic
technically learned this yesterday BUT it’s important
LIKE THE XENOMORPH HAS A SECOND SET OF TEETH
THIS THING HAS A SECOND SET OF SPLINES
AND THESE ACT LIKE A FREEWHEEL
holy shit
i also figured out how to get the axle out after only incurring minor and inconsequential damage
however, that just kind of leaves you with a bunch of free bearings and some of them want to go on walkabout so i had to put it back
on the good side the bearings actually look okay? and once i disassembled it as much as i did it suddenly felt better so the bad bearings part is at least _partially_ external components i can try to fix
Trouble@moira oh, if you've opened up the hub and bearings, you will need to find someone with come wrenches. You need to tighten the come but against the lock nut so vibration keeps the axle from walking itself loose. Do the drive side first, since it is inside the freewheel assembly. Be extra careful with the thin metal and or rubber dust covers, those are essentially unreplaceable, impossible to source, very fragile. Then clean, add white lithium grease, and reassemble.
@trouble I have wrenches _and_ a bench vise, I mean that’s how I got it apart in the first place
not doin’ that one with my teeth xD
it definitely does not look like white lithium grease in there right now tho - should it be? keep in mind this is a very cheap bicycle lol
Paul Southworth@moira @trouble Cone wrenches will be required to tighten the cone against the locknut and get it really tight so it doesn't come loose later. They are very thin metric open-ended wrenches. 13/14/15/16mm are the most common sizes. Proper adjustment has to be done with the freewheel removed.
Here's an example, though cheaper options are out there: https://www.parktool.com/en-us/product/double-ended-cone-wrench-dcw-2
I'm amazed any bike mechanic in a shop would not instantly recognize that freewheel. It's extremely common.
@pws @trouble As per other replies: the inner (actual) splines were not visible, they were covered by other shit, and they were working from a (high quality but that doesn't let you see through things) photograph. I didn't discover the inner splines until I took more parts off. All you could see in the photo were the 35mm splines which didn't make any sense to anyone.
@moira @trouble That is an extremely common freewheel design, easily identifiable without seeing the splines in the freewheel body. The larger diameter splines are a lockring holding the cogs on, but even if you only see that, it's still quite apparent what it is. There are millions upon millions of those out there, mostly on department store bikes these days. This is not elite-level knowledge, just the experience of day-to-day bike repair in shops that service lower-end bikes.