wroomwroomoops

The main reason I didn't get into fixed gear cycling after trying it, was hills. We have some serious hills 'round here, and if I chose a gear ratio that it makes it possible if not really comfortable, to climb up on most, that same gear ratio will make the descent a hellish experience.

But if there was a freewheel of some sorts, that would be blocked and act as a cog fixed to the hub of the rear wheel, until activated with a cable - well that would solve this problem perfectly. I'd be riding fixed gear most the time, except when going downhill, when I'd activate the freewheel/release the pawls, and coast.


But did anyone make such a device**********

barturtle

Abou the closest is the SRAM Torpedo Hub, which lets you change form fixed to free with a screwdriver.

cnnrmccloskey

not cable actuated but yes it does exsist, I don't remember the name, i've seen two hubs, one has a screw that you thread in and I don't remember how the other worked.
Why not just get a S3X?

Edit* yeah Sram Torpedo

Jeff Wills

Yep: https://urbanvelo.org/sram-torpedo-fi...e-hub-on-test/

kamtsa

Just wonder, seriously.

1. Why would you like to have a fixed gear?

2. Can't you just lift your legs when you go fast down hill?

Thanks,

Kam

FBinNY 

Fixed gears are kind of trendy now, but once the freewheel was invented they were used mainly for track. Besides the cool factor they do offer a certain degree of control and help develop good pedaling habits.

No, you can't take your feet out of the pedals because you lose too much handling control by doing so, and besides it's very to pick up a set of spinning pedals if you need to. Ask children who can tell you how the backs of their ankles got beat up when they lost the pedals on their speeding trikes.

wroomwroomoops

1. I am not necessarily a great fan of FG riding, but I will grant that it does offer a slightly greater level of control - which I can appreciate.

2. No, because my son is still a baby and I need to teach him a lot of stuff before I die.

wroomwroomoops

That won't do - I am not about to dismount before every hill (or on the top of it), and then after I finished coasting.

Whoever solves this problem, can make a nice patent.

Well, apparently FG riding is not part of my immediate future.

tatfiend 

I suspect that it has not been done due to worry about lawyers. Going from fixed to freewheel should not be a problem but if the nut behind the bars does so the other way while not pedalling things could get "interesting". In today's legal climate it would have to be idiot proofed, thus the SRAM hubs requirement to stop to change modes.

dabac

Have you looked at the Sturmey-Archer fixed 3-speed? https://www.sturmey-archer.com/produc.../id/47/specs/1

3 gears, but no freewheel. Take the edge of both climbs and descents while retaining that degree of control you're after.

wroomwroomoops

Yeah, I have, actually. I looked at it long time ago and dismissed, as I was after the simplicity of single gears. Later I looked at again, and realized that the gearing spread is way too little. I don't mind the number (3), heck, even 2 would suffice, but they should be further apart.

davidad

No market for it.
On a cross-country ride a young man from NY rode a fixed gear. We figured on a steep downhill he hit 44 mph spinning at 205rpm.
The flip flop hubs allow for two cogs or a freewheel on one side.

LWaB

Such a thing used to exist, the FixFree Drive from Britain locked up standard freewheels. Made in the 1980s, it wasn't very popular. https://www.flickr.com/photos/78587521@N00/2909441848

wroomwroomoops

Thanks LWaB, this is exactly what this thread is about - though I'll probably never own a FixFree setup.

AnjooLo

https://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/...-with-a-twist/

You still have to dismount, but it's a push and a twist. No screwdrivers or special tools involved. Except it's selling for like 200+ on Ben's Cycles.