After doing some research (and searching these forums) I have not read any other reason for "suicide hubs" being dangerous other than if they come loose you can't stop if you don't have any brakes.

So is there any other reason for "suicide hubs" to be named such if a person has front and rear brakes?

I'd like to put a fixed cog on the freewheel side of my flip flop hub. I have brakes and generally prefer to use them for stopping my bike.

Should the cog come off entirely while skidding/backpedaling, it is possible for the chain and cog to catch against the dropout/chainstay and lock your back wheel. Probably, in the process, really screwing up your frame. I'm not saying this is likely, just throwing the possibility out there.

That'll work fine...you'd even be able to throw on a bottom bracket lockring for an added protection...I have a Fixed/Fixed Hub and a wheelset with a hub like yours and ran it like that for the track on the freewheel side using a smaller cog (14t) with a bottom bracket locking.

If you use an kind of backpedal pressure and the cog fails you're going to have a surge forward before you can clamp on the anchors. Even if this is 12 inches (or 30 cms) it may be the difference between getting hit by a car and not.

Suicide hubs are not worth it merely to save a few bucks.

Look its just my opinion but DON'T DO IT.

Rotafix the cog. Add a BB lockring just because. Check the cog every once and a while, and you'll be golden.

i just think it's important to make sure that people know the dangers and how to offset them before riding around on suicide hubs. i have a suicide hub as a back-up wheel, but wouldn't just up and tell somebody to suicide themselves a hub so they can ride fixed. especially if they're not familiar with working on bikes.

that's what i think the big deal about suicide hubs is. not riding on them. telling people about them - that's what you gotta do carefully.

I have a suicide hub [Red loctite, rotafix, BB lockring] on a beater bike I am slowly building up. Two brakes with platforms. Cant skid it, so no problemo.

i'm about to do this to a bike. i don't see a problem. red loctite, proper installation, both brakes on, taking care with backwards pressure.

i think red loctite is somewhat important. that can make the cog impossible to remove, according to some admittedly anecdotal evidence. even trying to remove it on purpose.

What exactly do you mean by a "surge forward?"


Has this actually happened to anyone? Any actual bad experiences with a suicide hub coming loose on a bike with good working brakes?

I have broken mine loose skidding with a 24x16 ratio, but after I retighten everything it has not broken loose again. The cog dosent just fly off with loctite. It just moves a little.

i have the same hub, 1 side fixed the other for a free wheel. i put a bb lockring on the freewheel side however as with my other canversion i have never flipped the wheel. i just struggle along with the harder gear i do have a front break

If you use your brakes it shouldn't be a problem. I've ran a suicide hub on my beater for a year now with no issues. When I first set it up I didn't put the cog on tight enough and it slipped once after skidding. Nothing happened, but if I had been unlucky I could've lost some teeth. Rotafix the cog on, then power around on some hills for a couple days, then cinch down a BB lockring as tight as it will go. After that it shouldn't move again, even with backpressure, but I recommend using your brakes for stopping and use backpedaling just to manage speed.

I was coming down my driveway to head out on a ride when I used backpressure to slow myself. The cog suddenly loosened, but luckily tightened against the lockring. I was trying to slow down when that slowing stopped, not much, maybe a metre past the stopping point I had envisaged. I have a BMX brake next to the stem and while I was able to hit it, I wasn't quick enough to prevent the 'surge'. And this wasn't even a suicide hub. A suicide might have been 2, maybe 3 metres before I could hit the brake.

The surge is like applying the brake, then taking it off for a second. Its a fraction of a second of your bike is 'out of control'. Personally I like control at all times, thats why I ride fix.

if it's a cheap hub and you don't plan on using it for anything in the future, JB Weld the cog and lockring on and ride with a front brake. you'll be fine.

i rode a suicide hub for freaking ever with a huge amount of red locktite and a bottom bracket lockring, and granted i had no brakes on my bike and it never broke. so just rock that for a while, until you can afford to get a fixed/fixed hub.

I've ridden suicide hubs and not died. Always had a brake.

At first the cog was just tightened on with a BB lockring. I bought it used, and was a super-noob, so I didn't realize the danger. Anyway, I tried to skid for the first time down the hill to my work building. The cog broke loose, and I braked to a stop. I pedaled forward again once I was at the bottom, and rode home without incident, didn't try skidding again.

After that, I rotafixed the cog back on with some blue loctite and hammered on the BB lockring with loctite too. I learned to skid on it like that and rode it for a few months without incident (Except the QR breaking, but that's another story..)

This is also possible with track wheel if you don't have enough chain tension and/or a bad chainline. I have dropped my chain plenty of times due to me being stupid, and often times the chain does get caught near the dropout. It just locked up the wheel and skidded me to a stop. That's it. I'd have no idea how you would twist up your frame from the wheel locking up, since that's exactly what happens when you skid or skip.

I glad this thread was made. I think the term suicide hub is misleading because it honors those who use them. From now on I will refer to them only as "homicide hubs".

Why must this topic be constantly loaded with FUD?

If you set it up properly, the "suicide" hub will be more solid than a track hub. Kind of ghetto? Yeah, but it will work. Rotafixed cog + BB lockring is very solid. With loctite, there's no question that it's not coming off. JB Weld is total overkill. The bottom line is if you set it up properly, it will work. If you don't know what you're doing, then you ought not to be messing with it at all anyway.

Remember that real track hubs also get stripped and cheap track hubs will probably have crappier threads than an old freehweel hub. You should have a brake regardless of what setup you use if you're riding the bike on the street and you care about crashing into things.

Haha, half the board acts like it's gonna kill you... And 80% of the same board rides brakeless for crying out loud!!! Wake up, people. Just because you spent $300 on a Phil hubset, suicide is still a viable option for others. If the rider knows what to expect from it, it's not a problem. You gotta tighten it properly and have a brake. If the cog spins off, keep pedaling forward so that the cog doesn't fall off and let the chain flop around, and use your brake. I'm willing to bet a very significant amount that you'll still stop shorter/be more in control than you would be brakeless. Realistically, the cog will only come off if you skid on it BTW.
If you plan to use your brakes for abrupt stopping, I'd even go so far as saying that there's no point in shelling out for a track hub if you already have donor wheel for suicide. (And you're a cheapskate like me.)Note: I ride an ISO disc hub now, not suicide.

I immediately discard the input of anyone who refers to a 'suicide hub' or 'bumbike'.

generally cycling 'experts' who just 6 months ago didnt know what gearing or handlebars are 'best for fixies'

I rotofixed and used some kind of metal epoxy on a cheap hub and can't budge the cog. I'd love to get it off but no amount of stomping, skidding, heat, vise and hammering will get it off. I still run a brake though.

Hah... I wish this was true. You can put quite a bit of force on a cog/lockring while descending hills, I had a hub I could skid on quite easily on descents, but busted it loose while applying backpressure on a steep descent.

Nothing beats the feeling of having your hub go free while riding brakeless (was eager to ride my new winter beater and hadn't put a brake on it yet) on a major urban descent (think San Fran. steep).

Bailing isn't fun. Brakes on all bikes since then.

I am still awaiting the jury response on this...I heard they were leaning towards apehangers and 91 gear inches for the street, used together.

and just to appease everyone, I will call them "suicide bumhubs" - all bases covered!

I once tried to remove the DA 15t cog i had on my suicide hub to put on my new bike, I tried bombing the biggest hill in savannah(which isn't that big) and skidding with as much pressure on the back wheel as possible, torquing on it and just skidding the ***** out of that hub with as much torque as possible and all i got was a huge skid spot in my tire.

Bottom line is, if you do it correctly, it will work safely, brakes or no brakes.

Aren't you the guy who rode one without brakes and continued to do so even after it had spun off and caused wreck in traffic?