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A quick glance at the state of the mountain bike in 2024 will reveal a lot of high-pivot designs. One of the motivations for the latest crop of high-pivot bikes is their ability to mitigate chain growth and pedal kickback – but what if you didn’t need an entirely new frame design to do it? What if it was as simple as changing your hub?
That’s what the new e*thirteen Sidekick hub promises, well, that and more. By decoupling the drivetrain from the rear wheel when coasting, the Sidekick system claims to reduce drag, noise, and vibration while improving suspension performance by “eliminating pedal kickback in nearly all situations”.
Sounds good? Let’s dig in. How Does Sidekick Work?
e*thirteen Sidekick Hub pusher Sidekick starts with a proprietary freehub mechanism that contains an extra pawl. The pawl is on a ‘timed pusher’ which allows the drive pawls to retract from the ratchet ring when coasting. Essentially, the drive pawls can slide up and down ramps on the pusher a certain amount before sliding all the way up to engage the drive ring. But until the drive pawls engage the drive ring, the wheel is free to rotate, separated from the drivetrain.
For the system to work, there has to be a deadband that allows the wheel to rotate before the pawls engage. Since not all riders and frames will need or want the […]
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