RiderRace

+1 on the Avid BB7. Check pricepoint.com, they're selling them for about $50 right now.

Yep, going with the 18-15 ratio. 1.2 seemed to be the magic number from what I've picked up. Your idea of the chain picking up the slack from the cranks sounds pretty reasonable to me. Shouldn't you have more engagement points with a FFW, as the axle of your BB would spin at a faster rate than the axle of the rear wheel with a gear ratio of 18-15? Or do I have that backwards?

Seems to me that there would be such little weight distribution by moving the free wheel mechanism from the rear axle, to the cranks. Can you really feel a difference? Also, the difference in radius between an 18t freewheel up front and the 22t cog up front seems minimal (standard stock gear ratios?), but again these are just speculations from a newb. Thanks, Ty I'm definitely going with the FFW setup, though. Much cheaper than the CK rear hub!

Hey guys, The names Ty. Currently in Fort Collins, Colorado building up my first dedicated trials bike, an echo pure. Scroungin parts from the web, and all I've got left to get is the forks so she should be trials worthy here in a week or so. Just got the first snow here in CO, so it should be an interesting winter... -Ty

Why is it more common for trials bikes to run a front free wheel setup? Just seems more commonplace to run a freewheel rear hub, so some parts could be interchangeable with MTB stuff... I just got to wondering after running around to a few LBS's around here, in Colorado and getting some really funny looks when I asked if they had any front free wheel cranks.... Thanks, Ty

Nick, First off, I'd give the 'ole search button a try. Most definitely you're not the only one to have asked this question before. Coming from a very similar background as you, I just bought my first trials bike a few weeks ago, an echo pure (stock, 26") and love it. From what I read, any trials bike is going to be a funky ride (as my Pure has), so nothing will have you progressing any faster than just biting the bullet, buying one, and getting out and riding it! Ty