Wonder if anyone can tell me why this doesn't work: I threaded a 16t freewheel onto both sides of a Surly flip-flop hub. On the right side, I had a 42t chainring. On the left, a 32t chainring. The idea was to effectively make a fixed-gear with a decent gain ratio that was really easy to skid/slow down on, i.e.- pedal forward, the 42/16 works and the 32/16 freewheels. Pedal backward and the 32/16 works, giving less resistence, and the 42/16 freewheels.

The problem is, whichever gear is harder binds up (no matter which side of the bike it is on.) The original set up only worked in reverse. So I switched to 52/16 on the left side and it pedaled forward, but bound up in reverse.

Any ideas why this brilliant scheme didn't work?