Using a back wheel as a front ?

[BADGER.BRAD]

Hello All,

What would be the problems if any with using a front wheel as a back on a touring/expo bike ? Might sound like a strange idea but I'll explain my logic in the idea, A few years ago I went of on a bit of a tour and the free wheel broke about 25 mile from home, after walking about two miles I noticed a farmer doing a bit of welding in one of his barns and managed to get a bit of stiff wire from him and wire the freewheel to the spokes of the bike, It got me home in a low gear with lots of pedalling, how I didn't kill the rear changer amazed me as many a time I forgot to keep pedalling and nearly ripped the thing off. As a result of this and one other time when the same thing happened on my commute I am now left paranoid about going any distance from home.

Brad

 

[Smut Pedaller]

well the first thing that would come to my mind is the dropout spacing, front is typically 100mm and rear is anywhere between 126mm to 135mm depending on type and age. Either way a front axle would be too narrow to fit on the back and you would need to figure out how to transmit drive to it (not something you would typically on the side of the road!) Rear wheel on the front would mean needing to spread the forks to fit the spacing... None of this sounds like it makes any sense to me.

Freewheel/hub failure is pretty rare and if you are really that paranoid bring a spare freehub body.

 

[BADGER.BRAD]

Thanks smut pedaller , You have taught me something new I've had a few of these fail over the years but mainly on cheap Hack bikes I have had and have been told by the local bike shop they were unfixable and never really looked into it ( presuming here that they were unfixable because of the cheap wheels) That said I'm now convinced I chucked a wheel away which could have been fixed !. Carrying one around with me on an long tours I do would cure the paranoia and as would be normal for my luck the one on the bike would never break just because I have a spare ! Now I'm going to find out how I would change one.

Interesting blog you are doing by the way, some very nice old bikes.

Many thanks

Brad

 

[Smut Pedaller]

Thanks mate. The shimano freehubs are quite easy to change, although to change the freehub you have to remove the cassette which you'll need a cassette lockring tool and chainwhip for. The freehub then comes off with a 10mm allen key. Honestly, it's really very rare for a freehub ratchet to fail, particularly if it's Shimano or one of the major brands.

More reading on freehubs/freewheels http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

 

[mattsccm]

Try looking around forums such as STW where the Fatbike riders lurk. There are all sorts of wierd things there which use mega wide front hubs to fit 4" wide tyres. It's all out there some where.

 

[youngoldbloke]

Thanks mate. The shimano freehubs are quite easy to change, although to change the freehub you have to remove the cassette which you'll need a cassette lockring tool and chainwhip for. The freehub then comes off with a 10mm allen key. Honestly, it's really very rare for a freehub ratchet to fail, particularly if it's Shimano or one of the major brands.

More reading on freehubs/freewheels http://sheldonbrown.com/k7.html

If you are going to remove a cassette at the roadside you are also going to need a fairly heavy spanner as well - 25mm or 1" usually - different lockring tools are different sizes - to operate the lockring tool. Unless you are touring in the back of beyond miles away from a bike shop I would be tempted to risk it. Worth getting the tools anyway, so as to be able to service your own kit. As SP says its an easy job (at home, anyway!)

 

[mcshroom]

Thanks mate. The shimano freehubs are quite easy to change, although to change the freehub you have to remove the cassette which you'll need a cassette lockring tool and chainwhip for.

Unless you use something like a 'Next Best Thing'