BMX - freecoasters

i know the basic operating principles of a freecoaster hub...i have a few stupid questions:

1: say i'm going backwards....what happens if i start pedalling forwards? will the cranks start moving backwards?

2: say i'm going forwards, and i want to coast without pedalling...will the hub let me do this?

stupid questions, see? i warned you...

1) Yes, but it depends on just how quick you have the engagement set; if you set it to a quarter crank and crank forward an eighth of a crank, you won't need to backpedal.
2) Yes, you can still coast while going forwards.

3: can i coast forwards and backpedal the cranks, as with regular freewheels?

Yes, you can.

sweet...thanks!

if your in the market for a new freecoaster, i hear the Poverty one that Dans Comp makes is pretty good, and Odyssey also makes one.

This just in: nothing made by Poverty is good.

If you want a good F/C, get either a Nankai (the best) or the Odyssey Reloader or the new KHE one.

Doesnt Nankai's Freecoaster have a 3/8" axle, and i didnt know KHE made hubs becuase i dont ride flat, and from what i hear that Poverty isnt that bad, and its a little cheaper than the Odyssey and i think the Nankai as well...
Once again, just going by what i hear...

Yes, the Nankai has a 3/8" axle. That doesn't change the fact that it's been the choice of pro flat riders for a long, long time.

i already bought a nankai...but thanks anyway

Yes, the Nankai has a 3/8" axle. That doesn't change the fact that it's been the choice of pro flat riders for a long, long time.
Nankai's also come in 14mm now.

I thought that 14mm ones weren't available yet? Or maybe that was the LHD 14mm one... it's been a while since I've really looked in F/C hubs.

there is a 14mm nankai, but it only comes in 11t....my brand new 3/8 nankai has a 9t driver.

dumb question #4: before i install a brand new nankai onto my bike, do i need to open it up and clean/grease anything before i ride it?

You shouldn't have to. Just as a forewarning, though, you'll probably be adjusting it a couple of times to get it dialed in as far as how much of a pedal you want to do before it the clutch engages, so you'll probably want to remove your brake pads temporarily, so that you don't have to deflate your tire everytime you adjust it.

it's all good, i ride brakeless anyway!

so am i correct in assuming that more spacers = less slack?

Honestly, I have no idea how you adjust the slack.

flatland fuel has a page about freecoaster maintenance

I honestly think that EVERYONE that has every started to ride BMX and try ANY sort of fakie tricks has wanted a freecoaster at one point. I think that people have it in there head that it will make them get fakies in like one day, which it probably wont.
Basically, the way i see it is that with the freecoaser you (correct me if im wrong) pedal like once or twice to disengage or whatever and then you can coast backwards "till the cows come home" but you still have only won half the battle. Now you have to turn around AND re-engage the hub(once again correct me if im wrong).
Now when i started doing 180's and abubacas and other fakie tricks i wanted one for like a week just like everyone else, but when i got home from the skatepark to look into them i heard about how the are hard to maintence and how they can break down, not to mention there a little bit more expensive than your average hub, and some of them only come in 3/8"...
Basically what i have babble on about is, if your not a flatlander or someone that is ready to do fakies to tailwhips on banks like some of the people that have freecoasters out there, just be patient and stick with your regular Cassette or Freewheel hubs...
Its work for me...

I was to lazy to read most of that post, al I saw was "soem peopel think it will help them with rollbacks". Like you said, it probably won't help. For me, when I do rollbacks(without a freecoaster), I never pedal forward when turing around, I just stop pedaling backwards, and that stops me wheel enough to turn around. So when I went to try it on a freecoaster it took me a few minutes to get use to pedaling forwards a bit to turn around. I didn't like it.