alex-trials-boy Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 Hey guys after christmas i'm thinking of dumping the FFW set-up for a Chris King rear free hub, or keeping FFW and getting a echo Sl or try-all 108. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both these set-up's? Only thing i hate bout FFW if they enjoy munching you nice new jeans Comments appreciated Thanks, Alex. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Dark Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 If you have a FFW, then keep it and get an Echo SL unless you can find a king absurdly cheap. I have ran FFw for about 2 years, and a king for 1..can't fault either of them, but FFw is by far better value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 for actual trials, front freewheel is better I think. It keeps the weight central which means you can make your rear wheel lighter and easier to move about (so endos, up to fronts, pivots etc are easier). Echo freewheels are also very reliable and have a lot of engagements. Rear freehub I think is better for street, you can fine tune the gears a bit more and the chain doesn't spin round all the time (which also means the cranks stay in place when your feet come off the pedals for some no-footed tricks). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krisboats Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 FFW in favour of freehub for trialsy trials.. More even weight distribution. Cheaper for a similar weight set up. Better chain life. More hassle to swap sprockets/freewheel/crank arms. Nobody really mentions the chain life part but with a rear freehub every time you pedal kick you're using the same few teeth on your chain ring. This causes the teeth to wear and with worn sprockets a chains life is decreased as the chain becomes mishaped to fit the worn teeth. The freewheel set up continually spins, meaning a more even wear rate for the teeth around the entire freewheel compared to a fixed sprocket up front. This should be nicer on your chains too. I'll be ditching the rear freehub set up as soon as i can, as unless you're thinking of running gears at any point then the freewheel up front is the much better way of doing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogre Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 on 18-12 a king will have an effective 108 engagements, so theres no performance benefit if you were wanting a faster engagement a 108click freewheel will feel just the same in theory. A front freewheel brings the weight away from the back of the bike and to the centre, this makes it feel lighter. Actual weights: 175g Echo SL freewheel (£60) 187g Echo SL rear hub (£80) 136g Topgun carbon fiber (£60) 362g (echo hub) 311g (speed race hub) Chris King (£370) 292g plus the weight of the front sprocket.(no weights on tarty) so the weight saving really isn't that great, versus the cost of just the bare parts 120/140 vs 370. buy some nice riding shorts with the money you'l save and no more munched jeans.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 Chris King (£370) 292g plus the weight of the front sprocket.(no weights on tarty) plus the weight of a rear cog, plus the weight of cassette spacers, plus the weight of a lockring, plus the weight of a heavy duty axle and funbolts (cos lets be serious, they are pretty much vital). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex-trials-boy Posted December 6, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 To be honest you're all rite I think I'll get rid of my current tensile 60 and get and echo sl or ti or tryall 108 out of interest the ti and the sl what's the difference other than what it's made from? More/less reliable ect??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali C Posted December 6, 2010 Report Share Posted December 6, 2010 I've had both and they have been very reliable and havn't caused me any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty-james Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Ive rode bikes without freewheels and i dont really like it. FFW is much better in my opinion ive got an Echo TR which is really good and reliable for its price range. Ive heard the SL's are really good too but obviously they are about £30-£40 more. As for getting your jeans caught, wear skinny jeans, or tuck your jeans into your socks or just be careful? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 The ONLY negative thing I have to say about my FFW setup is the whole 'getting jeans caught' thing. After running freehub setups the rest of the time I've been riding then switching to this more recently, it's great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greetings Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 (edited) I have always been and will be a freehub guy. I've had a king for almost 5 years now and it hasn't skipped yet. Pretty sure no freewheel would have such a clean record, let alone last that long in one piece. But the fact of the matter is that new King hubs are absolute rubbish. With their current quality you'd be better off with a mass purchase of a few Echo SL freewheels of equal value. Edited December 7, 2010 by Greetings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monty-james Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 I have always been and will be a freehub guy. I've had a king for almost 5 years now and it hasn't skipped yet. Pretty sure no freewheel would have such a clean record, let alone last that long in one piece. But the fact of the matter is that new King hubs are absolute rubbish. With their current quality you'd be better off with a mass purchase of a few Echo SL freewheels of equal value. Most people seem to be unlucky with freehubs, skipping and braking 24/7 doesnt sound appealing to me. One of my friends had a new King and it skipped all the time, as cool as it looked and clicked (more of a hum) it isnt worth the hassle. I agree with you completely on your second statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibbon on an Orange 2 Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 I have always been and will be a freehub guy. I've had a king for almost 5 years now and it hasn't skipped yet. 7 year old King on the back of mine (Though it's only been used lightly the last 2 or 3 years as i've been mostly DHing). Still sounds as sweet as the day I fitted it and still completely skip free. I'd love to give FFW a go to see what the difference is but I can't justify replacing a hub that's still as-new. In fact, Just worked it out, at the price I baught the King for, it woks out at just over £25 a year. Coming from someone who used to pedal-torque the chain ring bolts clean out of crank arms, I'd say that's pretty good value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran Morrison Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 To be honest you're all rite I think I'll get rid of my current tensile 60 and get and echo sl or ti or tryall 108 out of interest the ti and the sl what's the difference other than what it's made from? More/less reliable ect??? The SL is your best choice. I have never actualy used a try-all, but the amount of people on here selling them because of skipping is unreal. Plus with the SL, you can 100% garunteee its a good freewheel. Plus its cheaper... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Vandart Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 I have currently gone back to freehub mostly for the long trouser wearing thing, cos it's cold, and I'm old. I have to say that I have found no difference at all (on stock, I would use ffw everytime on mod). This could be: A: I am shite at trials. B: I just boon everything and as a result (A) applies. C: FFW has no massive advantage it's just another marketing thing. Or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forteh Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Only bonus I can see of a FFW (cost aside) is moving 100g off the rear hub towards the centre of the bike. To me this is neglible because, like matt, Im shite at trials I did however notice a massive difference in how the bike rode by having a lighter rear rim and tyre because the rotational weight is alot less My king is best part of 6-7 years old now, I take it apart perhaps once a year and clean the splines out, its never skipped and despite the bearings being a little notchy when I got it (I blame the basher ben travis who I got it off!) theyre all still in one piece and running well. I got an HD axle for it a few months back because one came at the right price but my original QR axle is still intact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan6061 Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 The ONLY negative thing I have to say about my FFW setup is the whole 'getting jeans caught' thing. After running freehub setups the rest of the time I've been riding then switching to this more recently, it's great! Oh man. I went from a rear Profile, to a FFW setup. The freewheel majorly munched on my jeans, and I was actually stuck! This was in a busy part of Coventry, next to a bus stop, with people everywhere! In the end we had to loosen my wheel, pedal forward (munching my jeans more!) so I could get my leg inbetween the crank/frame, and then pedal backwards so I was free! Sucked. Still like my FFW though, made my bike lighter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greetings Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 7 year old King on the back of mine (Though it's only been used lightly the last 2 or 3 years as i've been mostly DHing). Still sounds as sweet as the day I fitted it and still completely skip free. I'd love to give FFW a go to see what the difference is but I can't justify replacing a hub that's still as-new. In fact, Just worked it out, at the price I baught the King for, it woks out at just over £25 a year. Coming from someone who used to pedal-torque the chain ring bolts clean out of crank arms, I'd say that's pretty good value. As you say. The old ones are pretty bombproof and don't seem to deteriorate with time. Surely King must notice that their new hubs don't stack up to the old ones at all. Nowadays it's not uncommon for manufacturers to reduce the life span of their products in order to boost sales but surely that doesn't apply to companies that manufacture quality components. If somebody offered to buy my King for 500 quid, I'd probably turn it down. Absolute reliability is priceless especially as you don't get it anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke Rainbird Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Oh man. I went from a rear Profile, to a FFW setup. The freewheel majorly munched on my jeans, and I was actually stuck! This was in a busy part of Coventry, next to a bus stop, with people everywhere! In the end we had to loosen my wheel, pedal forward (munching my jeans more!) so I could get my leg inbetween the crank/frame, and then pedal backwards so I was free! Sucked. Still like my FFW though, made my bike lighter. Yeah - I just stripped off the other day as it made it easier Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirt jumper jake Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Stick with ffw, having had the echo freewheel and a king on my stock, i prefer the freewheel. plus they dont skip like a bitch like kings do when your pedalling down the road Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamKidney Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 id run freewheel all the time. I used to run a profile hub on my neon and then on my zoo. I moved to freewheel a year ago and love it. Best change id made to my bike. Worked out cheaper too. Im defo running one when i go to stock too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikeperson45 Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 I prefer freehubs, simpler to me (I'm pretty simple) and I don't really care about weight at all. When I lift my bike I can easily feel that the majority of weight is at the back but when I ride it I never notice. And I have a prejudice to anything that isn't a Pro 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Little review (A) 1.Trackies - they're pretty cheep and easily replaceable so it does't matter and if they get caught you can just pull them out without any hassel and without them ripping too badly. This is what i use and prefer the most. Reasonably cheep and easy to get out if they do get caught. 2. Skinnies - still had these get caught in the past, and when they do get caught its the worst thing ever. Not too cheep and can still get caught badly. 3. Elastic Bands - put them round your ankle(s) so your trousers cant move and are tight/ out of the way. This is probally the cheepest and most effective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kieran Morrison Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 Little review (A) 1.Trackies - they're pretty cheep and easily replaceable so it does't matter and if they get caught you can just pull them out without any hassel and without them ripping too badly. This is what i use and prefer the most. Reasonably cheep and easy to get out if they do get caught. 2. Skinnies - still had these get caught in the past, and when they do get caught its the worst thing ever. Not too cheep and can still get caught badly. 3. Elastic Bands - put them round your ankle(s) so your trousers cant move and are tight/ out of the way. This is probally the cheepest and most effective. What about the 'tuck trousers into socks' thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurence--Trials Posted December 7, 2010 Report Share Posted December 7, 2010 What about the 'tuck trousers into socks' thing... Im straight. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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