Park Tool FR-1 Freewheel Remover

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If you work on older style 10 speed bikes, there are a few tools that are an absolute must. The Park Tool FR-1 is one of them. I picked one up last year and after a handful of uses, here are my impressions:

Construction:

The FR-1 is made out of heat-treated alloy steel which means it has incredible strength. This strength is needed when it’s designed to be slim enough that you can use it without having to remove hub cones and locknuts.

The 12 splines on it does a great job in removing even the tightest of freewheels. One of the biggest issues I’ve had with this tool however is getting the spines deep enough on the freewheel to get a good bite on it. Although it hasn’t happened on this one, I have had a few strip out because it wasn’t able to slide deep enough into the grooves of the freewheel. I feel this may have been a common enough issue that Park Tool has since updated the tool to make it deeper, allowing for a better bite, no matter what kind of freewheel/hub combination you may have.

This tool also works great for 5 through 9 speed freewheels made by Shimano, Sun Race, DNP, and a few others.

Tips for use:

Some freewheels can be incredibly tight. Throwing an adjustable wrench will allow you to get most of them off but not all of them. Simply lock the FR-1 into a table vice and slide the freewheel into the grooves. Getting both hands on opposite sides of the wheel, spin counter clockwise and the freewheel should start to spin off. Having the FR-2.1 helps a lot by giving the most amount of bite.

Bottom Line:

This is a must tool to have for every home mechanic. Super strong, it should last a long time. Only issue I have had with it is not being able to get enough bite as I would want for removing some of the tighter freewheels. This has been updated with the FR-2.1. That being said, This tool works great 99% of the time.