As an update, my son has been loving the bike (even more) since the freewheel swap. No more accidental skidding from back-pedaling and so much easier for him to get the pedals set to start moving from a stop. As a testament to the well designed mini-V front brake from Islabikes, he doesn't really use the rear handbrake I added as he says it's too hard to squeeze. I may try tweaking the return spring to ease some of that tension.