If it looks stupid, but it works...

The rear hub on the Peugeot needed a service this weekend. It's not hugely surprising, it's a 40-year-old hub, that I use to commute, and I've not serviced it since I bought it (and have no idea if the charity I bought it from did either).

Unfortunately, it's a freewheel, not a freehub - I have the fitting to remove it, but freewheels get tighter the more you ride them. And I ride this bike a lot (around 150km a week). So naturally, the freewheel was jammed on tighter than a gnats arse. I went at it with my big adjustable wrench, but I just couldn't put enough force behind it to get the thing off. Normally I'd go to my LBS, who would use their table vice, but they were closed for the weekend and I really needed this for Monday.

What I needed was a lever, or a cheater bar. I don't have any metal piping lying around, but I did have a few planks of wood, some bolts, and cable ties. Enter, the redneck cheater bar:

The cable ties were mostly there as a guide. The bolt at the bottom stops the wrench from slipping down, and the bolt on the side stopped it from slipping to the side. The "bar" itself is about 150cm long, so plenty of space to get enough leverage to loosen the freewheel.

It looked janky as hell, but it worked! I got the freewheel off, and was able to service the hub. Not a moment too soon either, the grease in there looked like mud. Hopefully these hubs will last a while longer; ideally I want to replace the frame, it's got narrow rear dropouts and I've been struggling to find a decent rear wheel for it.