[hans2]

I've been seeing trials/urban riders landing and riding backwards....without backspinning the pedals. Uh....is there some magic freewheel out there that I don't know about? First we have on-the-fly suspension lockout levers, now handlebar mounted freewheel releases? Whats the trick?

 

[Toshi]

Originally posted by hans2
I've been seeing trials/urban riders landing and riding backwards....without backspinning the pedals. Uh....is there some magic freewheel out there that I don't know about? First we have on-the-fly suspension lockout levers, now handlebar mounted freewheel releases? Whats the trick?

without backpedaling? they're probably using a cheater gear: a piece of pvc pipe in place of one or three of the cogs as the case may be

 

[HippieKai]

it's a coaster brake wheel...like the pedal brake thing....with the brake pads in the hub removed.
it's called a freecoaster
and some companies make them for sale like that

 

[oxygen_77]

Most of the ones I've seen are the cheater gear like Toshi described, but instead of PVC they use cassette spacers so the chain just slides over them. It's a bit weird though because you have to shift into that gear before you do the trick...

 

[bwagner]

Yep, it's a cheater, I have a friend who has one. It's just as you've suspected, a few cog spacers placed directly next to each other so that the chain can just slide(or stay still as the hub turns), the freecoaster thing is a BMX thing. It can only be used on the rear of frames with single speed BMX style spacing, and a regular coaster brake hub has the same function, there's no need to remove any of the parts, except that if you backpedal with a coaster brake while rolling backwards, you'll flip over backwards and bust your arse. It's just like catching an edge on a snowboard, you just slam really hard and don't even see it coming The pvc or spacerthing is kinda cool, but shifting into it is definitely wierd , and just don't try to pedal that thing like that, or that could be a sudden disaster also

 

[Chutney]

Originally posted by hans2
I've been seeing trials/urban riders landing and riding backwards....without backspinning the pedals. Uh....is there some magic freewheel out there that I don't know about? First we have on-the-fly suspension lockout levers, now handlebar mounted freewheel releases? Whats the trick?

Having used the PVC cheater method i would highly highly suggest against EVER using it. I can balance so much better while pedalling, and its just dangerous.

Originally posted by bwagner
The pvc or spacerthing is kinda cool, but shifting into it is definitely wierd , and just don't try to pedal that thing like that, or that could be a sudden disaster also

brings back soo many painful memories

 

[iridebikes]

i have my ultegra cassette spaced out from 9 speeds to 6 speeds, i took out the useless ones(11,13,15? i can't remember) I had an 11-21 cassett, took out 3 of the cogs, and replaced them with the metal spacers, i put the spacers away from the spokes, so the spacers were next to the locknut. and you just adjust your limit screws so it doesn't go too far off, shift all the way down, roll backwards without pedaling backwards, and then when you're done, just shift back up.
that's how all the cool people do it anyways... haha

 

[Surfboard921]

Dont be lazy, there's no point. Learn to ride backwards while pedaling, it's actually pretty easy. I can ride down stairsets backwards while pedaling, and thats with my fully rigid PX zebdi

 

[w00dy]

For higher speed stuff the neutral gear comes in pretty handy, definitely takes some getting used to though, an accidental shift there is a nasty surprise.

 

[hardtailer88]

yea its probably a freecoaster hub...like bmxers use. My friend runs one on his banshee scratch. They work well.