ACS freecoaster? How does it lock?

[Unchained]

Do any of you guys have an ACS freecoaster unit, either on a bike or alone? I would love to see some pictures of the screw-down locking mechanisms. Even an explanation of how exactly it is that they work would be great. I know they are mounted to the same piece of the freewheel which has the teeth... all I can guess is that when screwed down the screws act as set screws and bind the freewheel to a stationary surface of the driver itself, thus locking by brute force in a sense. It just doesn't seem like that would hold up against the force of someone pedaling, though. Any help / input would be a huge help.

 

[user 135]

This site has good info. http://www.free-coaster.com/index.html

 

[Unchained]

This site has good info. http://www.free-coaster.com/index.html

Thanks. I've actually been there a lot already.

The ACS freecoaster I am thinking of isn't really a freecoaster, at least it's not by today's standards. I am interested in ACS freewheel unit which, when added to a coaster brake hub using the special driver, provided a freewheel mode which you could turn on and off by screwing or unscrewing two set screws on the freewheel unit. Basically, it gave your coaster brake hub an independent freewheel mode. It looked like a single speed freewheel, and the locking mechanism (the two set screws) seems simple enough, but I just can't figure it out.

 

[2Fresh]

As a freestyle BMX rider since '89 i used to ride the ACS "Freecoaster" kit for a while in the early 90's. It worked fine, but i didn't like it because of it's weight. It must be the heaviest freewheel ever made, lol!

The idea was very simple just like you described; you could have a freewheel option on your regular coaster brake hub and then switch between the two modes, depending what style of riding/tricks you did or simply if you preferred one over the other. For assembly you would need the special driver with threads on top for the special locking nut that kept the unit in place. It will not work on a regular driver as the unit is very thick.

There are two tiny screws and a tiny counter force spring on each. When the screw is turned clockwise, the hardened tiny metal bits will rise and the thing is turned into freewheel mode.
When the screws are turned counter-clockwise, the metal bits lock the freewheel and turn back into coaster braking mode.

The locking mechanism and those small hardened metal bits took a lot of abuse and i would say this unit will last a lifetime.

Pictures will speak more than thousand words they say:

Locked (coaster brake mode)

Un-locked (freewheel mode)

Hope this helps!

 

[Unchained]

Thanks a ton. That was quite a help. Are the locking mechanisms mounted on the chainring piece? It's hard to tell from the pictures whether they are on the chainring piece or a separate collar. Do the locking mechanisms rotate around as you pedal, at all times? If that was the case, did you have to rotate the pedals to get the unit in the right position for locking it? Or just unscrew it and wait for the springs to lock it when you got to the right position?

 

[2Fresh]

Glad if it helped.
Yes, the locking mechanisms are mounted on to the chainring piece and they do rotate at all times round 'n' round as you pedal.
Exactly what you said, to get them in position from freewheel-mode to coaster brake-mode, you simply released the lock bits and waited until they would go *click* and you were set.

 

[IkeA1969]

Late to this conversation. I have one of these ACS Freecoaster with Suntour Hub. Does anyone have a diagram of how each piece should all fit together?