# Anyone tried to fix a cassette with cable ties to make use of the crank freewheel?



## OneTrustMan (Nov 11, 2017)

As the title says.
Has anyone of you fixed the cassette on your e-bikes?
Since the motor crank has a freewheel, with a fixed cassette I could change gears without the need to pedal.

I'm a bit worried if the stress on the spokes is too much for this, at least on an e bike.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

Schwinn used to make a front freewheel system like that that had a fixed rear gear cluster (Positron). It's kind of cool in it's own quirky way, you can even shift while pedaling backwards!

Not sure why you'd want that on your ebike but if you did I would either weld the freehub body or pour jb weld into the pawls or ratchets instead of the zip tie thing. Good luck!


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## sgltrak (Feb 19, 2005)

J.B. Weld said:


> Schwinn used to make a front freewheel system like that that had a fixed rear gear cluster (Positron). It's kind of cool in it's own quirky way, you can even shift while pedaling backward!


The worst thing about that Positron system was that the rear derailleur didn't have a spring so it used a solid wire to push and pull the derailleur to shift up and down. Those shift wires were expensive and kinked easily, which made them unusable. It was kind of cool that it was an indexed shifting system many years before indexed shifting became the norm for bikes.


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## J.B. Weld (Aug 13, 2012)

sgltrak said:


> The worst thing about that Positron system was that the rear derailleur didn't have a spring so it used a solid wire to push and pull the derailleur to shift up and down. Those shift wires were expensive and kinked easily, which made them unusable. It was kind of cool that it was an indexed shifting system many years before indexed shifting became the norm for bikes.



Yeah, even though it was never very popular and caught a lot of flack from most bike shop wrenches it really was innovative and ahead of it's time. It made it so it was impossible for a novice who knew nothing about shifting to screw up a shift.


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## OneTrustMan (Nov 11, 2017)

J.B. Weld said:


> Not sure why you'd want that on your ebike but if you did I would either weld the freehub body or pour jb weld into the pawls or ratchets instead of the zip tie thing. Good luck!


I was just curious if someone already tried to fix a cassette on an ebike.


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## Monty219 (Oct 26, 2020)

J.B. Weld said:


> pour jb weld into the pawls or ratchets instead of the zip tie thing.


Name checks out!


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## RBoardman (Dec 27, 2014)

OneTrustMan said:


> I was just curious if someone already tried to fix a cassette on an ebike.


Why don’t you try it out and report back. Zip-ties are cheap and temporary, unlike the jb-weld suggestion.


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## mcsd (Apr 24, 2021)

FWIW, I saw this freewheel crank on pinkbike a few months ago and they fix a standard cassette with zip ties.

https://m.pinkbike.com/news/day-3-randoms-eurobike-2021.html


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## OneTrustMan (Nov 11, 2017)

mcsd said:


> FWIW, I saw this freewheel crank on pinkbike a few months ago and they fix a standard cassette with zip ties.
> 
> https://m.pinkbike.com/news/day-3-randoms-eurobike-2021.html


Yeah, that's why I have been thinking about.


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## mtbbiker (Apr 8, 2004)

I had a problem recently with my cassette at times locking up. When it did, it was derailing the chain. Had to replace the free hub to resolve the derailing chain issue.

Before I did that, what I noticed was the chain sagging because, even though there is a one-way clutch, it takes some pressure to move it, unlike the free hub on the wheel. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## matt4x4 (Dec 21, 2013)

You can buy a hub motor with a cassette, its not that uncommon not at all, you want to know what else is commonly known? You can get a geared hub motor that locks to obtain regen where as direct drive hub motors were only known for that. And by the way, Zip Ties are like Duct Tape, can be used anywhere and everywhere. Watch Motortrend Roadkill, they have an episode just on what your craving, Zip Tie Uses and Tips.


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