"Silver" is a color description... Nickel-plate is just that, plating of nickel (which happens to be of silver color)
In the music business I get in trouble with hair-splitters when I use terms like "german silver" or (heavens!) "nickel-silver plate." Both are commonly understood as referring to nickel, but the terms are ready targets for (apparently "less-common") armchair snipers.
In the case of freewheels, I should think calling one "silver" means its not "blackened" or black-oxided, nickel plate would (I should think) look hinkey on ANY bicycle freewheel, but then thats just me. And I don't think Bob's got a nickel-plated freewheel on his old Masi.
Dale Phelps Los Gatos CA
Donald Gillies <gillies@cs.ubc.ca> wrote: I'll go out on a limb here and post a question / assertion on the list. Did Suntour pioneer the silver (nickel-plated) freewheel, sometime after the winner series was introduced in 1975 ?? I frankly don't remember seeing silvered stuff in the 1970's at all. I took a quick look at the catalogue archive on bulgier.net and couldn't find anything on production bikes.
I think the first suntour winner freewheels were actually oro models - i have one - but they quickly changed into silver models, maybe at the end of the decade of the 1970's.
If this is true, then unfortunately, a silver Regina Extra freewheel would not be good for a period-correct 1968 masi ...
- Don Gillies San Diego, Ca
P.S. all my bikes use silver suntour winner drivetrains, these are great parts. However, i recently got a regina freewheel and the sound is just so "Breaking Away" i tend to coast a little just to hear the classic clicking (not a subtle tick, like a suntur, a load click, like change jingling on one's pocket) that this freewheel makes ... _______________________________________________
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