Bike Clutch

[Jezston]

A non cycling colleague of mine suggested something when I was talking about my plans for my next bike. No, it was not "I suggest you stop boring me with your cycling bollocks before I hit you now get out of my office I have work to do", it was something a little more interesting.

We were discussing the more unusual braking options you can get for bicycles, namely pedal-activated braking such as coaster brakes or riding fixed. Discussing the advantages and disadvantages (main disadvantage - not being able to spin pedals back to a comfortable starting position after stopping) he suggested something I've never considered, and so I put it to the more knowledgeable here - would this be possible:

A hand activated 'clutch' for a freewheel or coaster brake. Positioned where you'd normally have a rear brake handle, this lever switches off a coaster brake or activates a freewheel on a fixed wheel bike so that the pedals can be moved about freely when desired. Useful for moving feet about as mentioned above, or useful when riding fixed, say downhill where the spinning gets a bit much and you want to freewheel a bit.

 

[battered]

Yes, it would be possible. Pointless IMO , but possible.

If you want to ride fixed, ride fixed. If you want a freewheel, fit one. You only need a clutch on a motor vehicle because you want to be able to leave the motor running if you stop briefly. Since a bike uses your legs and it's easy to stop and restart them, there's no point in a clutch.

 

[ASC1951]

He is, as you say, a non-cyclist.

It's a non-starter. Coaster brakes are rightly unusual for a number of reasons - heavy, complex, work on the wrong wheel and are altogether worse than rim or disk brakes.
As to disengaging a fixed hub, why would you want to? If it's that sort of ride, go on your freewheel bike. If you find you are spinning out on a downhill, how about doing something radical and controlling your speed with the brakes? You have to have a front brake even on a fixed wheel, and only an eejit tries to do all their braking with their legs.

Tell your colleague to stick to his day job.

 

[Rob3rt]

A non cycling colleague of mine suggested something when I was talking about my plans for my next bike. No, it was not "I suggest you stop boring me with your cycling bollocks before I hit you now get out of my office I have work to do", it was something a little more interesting.

We were discussing the more unusual braking options you can get for bicycles, namely pedal-activated braking such as coaster brakes or riding fixed. Discussing the advantages and disadvantages (main disadvantage - not being able to spin pedals back to a comfortable starting position after stopping) he suggested something I've never considered, and so I put it to the more knowledgeable here - would this be possible:

A hand activated 'clutch' for a freewheel or coaster brake. Positioned where you'd normally have a rear brake handle, this lever switches off a coaster brake or activates a freewheel on a fixed wheel bike so that the pedals can be moved about freely when desired. Useful for moving feet about as mentioned above, or useful when riding fixed, say downhill where the spinning gets a bit much and you want to freewheel a bit.

I dont see why people make such a big deal about possitioning the pedals on a fixed wheel bike, I ride fixed, I certainly dont have problems with this :s The main disadvantage? Certainly not possitioning the pedals at the lights! Maybe for coaster brakes this is an issue? (Dont know anyhting about them) But not for fixed riders. We just get on with it and ride the thing instead of thinking about ways to introduce unrequired and complicated mechanisms into our attractivelly simple bikes

 

[Dan B]

When riding fixed with a relatively tall gear and panniers on the back (making it harder to lift the wheel off the ground and spin the cranks round), I do sometimes find that positioning the pedals at the lights is a problem.

But the basic premise of riding fixed anyway is that suffering breeds character, and you surely won't go to heaven if you start fannying around with clutches or anything else that might be perceived as non-essential.

 

[TheDoctor]

Bindun, for fixies at least. The fix-free drive had a way of unfixie-ing the drive so you could freewheel, or spin the pedals round a bit. You can't get them anymore.
Anyone who reckons they've had a new idea probably hasn't done the research...

 

[Will1985]

SRAM Torpedo is a fix-free hub switched with several turns of a screwdriver I believe. Not something for an on-the-go application.....that would be suicidal. Just imagine switching from free to fixed and forgetting to start pedalling

 

[TheDoctor]

Like Will says, that may be why fix-free drives aren't around any more.

 

[Berlinbybike]

I thought the fix-free idea was good. Certainly using a fixed going down hills can be an exercise in wasting gravity, and being able to go free would help. They were around when I had (1) a cheap bike with poor derailleurs and (2) insufficient money to consider one of those contraptions (I remember they were expensive). The purist approach -fixed-is-fixed- is missing some potential advantages in this. Can it be done simply and cheaply? I think that's entirely possible.

 

[Stingy]

He is, as you say, a non-cyclist.

It's a non-starter. Coaster brakes are rightly unusual for a number of reasons - heavy, complex, work on the wrong wheel and are altogether worse than rim or disk brakes.

Unusual in this country maybe. In the right context a coaster isnt heavy, it's not complex (its maintenance free), works on the correct wheel and its altogether better than rim or disc brakes!.

ed: spelling

 

[Jezston]

Unusual in this country maybe. In the right context a coaster isnt heavy, it's not complex (its maintenance free), works on the correct wheel and its altogether better than rim or disc brakes!.

ed: spelling

Quite, and thank you. That's why I'm going coaster brake on my new build!

I won't be fitting a clutch though

 

[Ian H]

It does rather look like a solution in search of a problem. I ride fixed because I want to. I have another bike or six with gears for those times when fixed doesn't appeal. Admittedly none of them has a coaster hub.