Tech Help: Freecoasters
Freecoasters very well may be just as common as a cassette hub these days. They used to be a clear indication of a "street" rider while "park" riders would stick to cassettes. These days coasters are found everywhere! While they make a lot of tricks much easier, they can be very confusing to understand and work on. Here, we break down the different types of freecoasters as well as how to perform maintenance on them to keep the working properly.
What is a freecoaster?
Freecoasters allow a rider to ride backwards without having to back pedal while doing so. This allows a rider to keep their feet stationary to be set up for tricks while moving backwards. This also helps with big landings to fakie (going backwards). On a cassette you have to land and immediately be ready to back pedal while trying to find your balance and position. The freecoaster makes landing backwards a bit easier and some would say makes it look better and cleaner as well.
What is slack?
Slack refers to the amount pedal travel needed before the hub engages. More slack provides a "safe zone" to work with while going backwards to prevent the hub from accidentally engaging. While this helps during a fakie, this also means you have that much slack to deal with when simply pedaling forward.
Types of freecoasters
There are 3 main types of freecoasters on the market today; cassette based, clutch based, and planetary.
Cassette based freecoasters work very similarly to a cassette and many of them can even be ran as a cassette with a few minor internal changes. These are usually lighter than clutch based hubs and provide more solid engagement.
Clutch based freecoasters have been around for a long time with many different revisions. These use a clutch and ball spring mechanism which has fewer moving parts and allow for more slack adjustment.
Planetary freecaosters are, in theory, the best of both worlds. These hubs are much lighter than a clutch based hub and provide cassette-like engagement, all without the worries of unwanted hub engagement while going backwards.
To learn more about these hubs, how they work, their pros and cons, and how to perform maintenance, please check out our videos below.