Here’s a little something we spotted a few months back at Interbike 2015 from the Eclat crew. They have been busy over in Germany working on a new freecoaster they’re calling the Cortex freecoaster. This hub was designed when the team began asking for a simple, durable freecoaster that had adjustable slack, but wouldn’t have all the issues commonly found on traditional freecoaster hubs.
The Cortex is based around the traditional KHE internals, with a few modifications to address common issues that those style hubs have. The main difference that this hub has is that it utilizes Eclat’s new IOS mechanism (Internal O-Ring System). The IOS mechanism replaces the ball and spring with a rubber o-ring and a steel spring to leave constant friction on the axle.
Eclat also utilize 2 Japanese cartridge bearings and a polymer bushing that goes behind the bearings to give it added support for the lateral impacts that commonly blow bearings out on freecoaster hubs.
The third change that the Cortex hub features is an integrated stop ring that prevents the drive threads in the clutch from clamping down on the driver side bearing and wearing it down to cause the side to side play that is common on worn in KHE style freecoasters.
The Cortex freecoaster features a CNC machined 6060-T6 alloy shell with a heat-treated male 14mm axle, a 1/4 crank of slack stock with internal washers that are supplied with the hub for those of you who prefer less slack.
The Cortex freecoaster will be available in December in right or left side drive, the option of just the hub or a complete wheel that’s laced to the Eclat Tripping’ XL or Bondi V2 rims. You can also use the new Eclat Gong nylon drive guard on this hub.
No word on price, but we would imagine it will be comparable to most other freecoaster hubs available. The real question is… Will this be the sought after solution to the many issues that traditional freecoaster hubs run into from the abuse BMX puts them through? We will have to wait and see, but it sounds like Eclat have Bruno Hoffmann and Dillon Lloyd putting the hub through the paces and getting good results.