Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Washington County, Vermont, USA
Posts: 3,778
Bikes: 1966 Dawes Double Blue, 1976 Raleigh Gran Sport, 1975 Raleigh Sprite 27, 1980 Univega Viva Sport, 1971 Gitane Tour de France, 1984 Lotus Classique, 1976 Motobecane Grand Record
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I had heard about FFS but never actually seen one until someone brought an old Ross women's bike into my shop earlier this spring. The grease in the bottom bracket had turned to tar, and the front freewheel mechanism was so gummed up that it no longer worked. Someone had replaced the original FFS freewheel with a conventional one to allow the bike to freewheel.
After I overhauled everything, the FFS worked again, but was defeated by the conventional freewheel. The only remaining FFS attribute was that when you rotated the pedals backward, the chain didn't move. I had to explain that I hadn't broken anything--that it was designed to work that way.
Last edited by jonwvara; 05-10-16 at 04:12 AM.