Sidekick FAQ
We expect that the most common application for Sidekick will be on bikes with 130mm+ or more of travel.
While most of our development and testing was focused on longer travel Enduro and DH bikes, we did also test on shorter travel trail and all-mountain bikes. Both the improved suspension performance and increased rolling speed are notable on all platforms. However, as you move to shorter travel XC and trail bikes, the increased weight of Sidekick and slightly slower engagement do become more of a consideration.
We'd strongly recommend Sidekick for any rider who is focused on improving their speed and comfort while reducing their fatigue on the downhills, regardless of bike travel.
If you are on the fence about adding Sidekick to your short travel bike, consider the following:
Initial feedback from riders who have used Sidekick on shorter travel bikes is really positive; with most riders saying they feel like they are getting better use of the limited amount of travel they do have. In this application, the shortest 12 degree setting for the pusher would probably be the most appropriate. The potential drawbacks for some riders with shorter travel bikes are that (1) Sidekick is a bit heavier than a traditional hub and (2) potentially slower engagement may be less ideal for technical climbing sections where a lot pauses in pedal strokes are occurring. In short, if you setup your short travel bike leaning more towards the current "downcountry" trend, we would expect you would really like and benefit from sidekick. Whereas if you setup your short travel bike leaning more towards "XC Race", the engagment speed and weight penalty may be more of a consideration.
Sidekick Has Benefits for All
Yes, even if you're not a professional downhill racer, you can still benefit from Sidekick hubs. Sidekick hubs improve suspension performance for riders of all skill levels by eliminating pedal kickback and reducing chain vibration. This results in:
- Increased comfort and control: Whether you're riding rough terrain or just looking for a smoother ride, Sidekick can help. You'll feel less fatigued, especially on longer rides.
- Improved traction: With the drivetrain disengaged from the suspension, your bike can react more effectively to bumps, giving you more grip on the trail.
- Faster free speed: Reduced drag in the freehub means you'll carry more speed through smooth and rough sections.
- Quieter ride: Sidekick hubs are nearly silent, allowing you to enjoy the sounds of the trail.
Sidekick hubs are designed for a wide range of bikes, including:
- Long-travel Enduro and DH bikes
- Shorter-travel Trail or All-Mountain bikes
- Class 1 e-bikes
Ultimately, if you want to enhance your ride experience with a more comfortable, controlled, and efficient ride, Sidekick hubs are worth a look!
Sidekick hubs require routine maintenance similar to any other high-performance hub, including periodic cleaning and greasing. e*thirteen provides clear service intervals and detailed instructions to ensure your Sidekick Hub performs at its best. Maintenance is straightforward, and adjustments like deadband tuning can be done without tools, making upkeep quick and hassle-free.
“The Sidekick has been super reliable and easy to work on. Aside from changing bearings, maintenance and adjustments are all tool-free. That includes adjusting the deadband engagement setting to accommodate different tracks or suspension kinematics.” – Ryan Thom (UR Team Head Mechanic)
We recommend that everyone tests their Sidekick hub in all deadband settings, to find the perfect set up for their bike, personal riding style, and terrain.
Shorter travel bikes in less extreme terrain may suffer less from pedal kickback and prioritize the improved pedaling efficiency in technical climbs of a shorter deadband. Longer travel bikes,
especially in steep, rough terrain often exhibit higher levels of pedal kickback, therefore benefiting most from the longer deadband.
Inversely, in most suspension systems, bikes with kinematics prioritizing a high level of anti-squat (resistance to compression during pedaling), will also have higher levels of pedal kickback. This makes sense as anti-squat works by using chain force to extend the suspension, countering the squatting motion. Anti-squat in bicycles is about enhancing pedaling efficiency and maintaining traction. So, many bikes that are designed to pedal exceptionally efficiently, will often experience more pedal kickback when traveling at low to moderate speeds, over rough terrain.
The Sidekick hub seamlessly switches between reducing or eliminating pedal kickback and providing the designed amount of anti-squat, without the rider even knowing.
“In terms of deadband, I use the middle setting which is 15°. To me it’s a good compromise between less kickback, lots of comfort and traction, but also good reactivity if I have to throw a pedal-kick before a drop or anything like this.”
– Remy Metailler (Freeride Legend)
The reason is consistency. With the Sidekick, the pusher will provide a guaranteed amount of engagement deadband. Low engagement hubs vary in the degrees to engage each time, depending on where the pawls were to the teeth of the ratchet ring the engagement speed could be anywhere from close to zero degrees up to the maximum number of degrees the system offers. This increases the unpredictability of pedal kickback’s effect on suspension. The other advantage is that the degrees of freedom can be easily adjusted with the Sidekick design.
Descending on a mountain bike at 15mph (~25kph) a rear hub and 29” rim rotates at 170rpm or nearly 3 times per second. A hub with a 18 degree engagement angle (20 engagement points), could potentially engage over 60 times per second! The likelihood of having pedal kickback in this scenario is extremely high and only increases with hubs that engage faster.
Faster engagement may be a selling point of some hubs, but it definitely does not lead to better suspension performance. A hub with 1 degree engagement (360 engagement points) can potentially engage over 1000 times per second, practically ensuring pedal kickback and severely limiting suspension performance.
Deadband is the period of hub operation after the freehub begins advancing but before the pawls start moving outward to engage the ratchet ring. Sidekick is the only hub in the world with a preset, adjustable deadband.
In all traditional hubs, there is no deadband, only the period of rotation between the freehub and the hub shell where the pawls are between teeth on the ratchet, and the pawls are being pressed against the ratchet by the pawl springs at all times. Similarly for face-gear type hubs, there is only the space between engaged positions, and a spring presses the gears together at all times. These two systems describe the vast majority of hubs on the market today.
In the Sidekick, a spring retracts the pawls away from the ratchet until they are required. As engagement (pedaling) begins, the pusher passes through the deadband before lifting the pawls towards the ratchet.
With Sidekick’s adjustable deadband, the rider chooses the exact deadband desired to tune the hub response time and suspension benefit.
Yes, Sidekick hubs are compatible with all Class-1 e-bikes; there are additional benefits for e-bike riders!
E-bikes experience the same kickback effect as any full-suspension bike, the difference being that spikes in chain tension will be loaded into the motor, rather than feeding directly into the cranks and pedals. While this chain force typically wouldn’t be felt by the rider at the pedals, the negative effects on suspension performance are the same.
Since e-bike motors operate with a torque sensor, the rider can use the highest deadband setting and still experience quick engagement of the rear hub. The motor will turn the chainring faster than the rider turns the cranks, more quickly taking up any slack in the chain.
As an added benefit, chain vibration can cause a significant amount of noise with certain ebike motors, such as Shimano EP8 or Bosch CX motors with internal counter-acting clutches. On these bikes, Sidekick can significantly reduce or even eliminate this noise.
Extremely low drag is the hallmark of the Sidekick hub, whisper-quiet, smooth operation is how it rolls!
The primary pawls are always disengaged from the ratchet ring while coasting, so drag is significantly reduced compared to standard hub systems. The only spring-loaded pawl in the system is the pusher pawl, which uses a light-action spring to initiate the hub motion.
The improvement in suspension performance makes a big difference in rolling speed. You’ll notice yourself carrying more speed in and out of features on the trail, as your suspension predictably operates at all times.
Pedal kickback can significantly impact your ride by making the suspension feel unpredictable, especially on rough terrain, leading to decreased control and comfort. Many riders have become
so accustomed to pedal kickback occurring that they are not acutely aware of its impacts until it has been removed. While not every ride will produce pedal kickback, its effects are noticeable when it occurs, resulting in leg fatigue and compromised rider positioning.
There are many times while riding when suspension compression doesn’t cause a kickback event. With enough wheel speed, the suspension will not compress quickly enough to apply tension to the hub, since the hub-shell will outrun the cassette/freehub. However, kickback does happen at low to medium speeds with quick suspension movements, causing a deadened feeling from suspension.
The Sidekick Hub not only eliminates pedal kickback but also reduces chain vibration, allowing for smoother and more efficient suspension performance at all times.
The proof is in the ride - equipping any bike with a Sidekick hub will result in smoother, more efficient, and more predictable suspension performance.
All full-suspension bikes will generate some pedal kickback due to chainstay growth during suspension compression. Kickback occurs when the rear suspension compresses and causes the chain to tighten, pulling the crank arms backward. With the rider’s weight on the cranks, these forces transfer to work against the suspension as it tries to compress, reducing its effectiveness. This effect is amplified when descending in rough and technical terrain, producing less consistent suspension movement, reduced traction, and a harsh ride.
Pedal kickback varies on every bike depending on speed and gearing, so it also reduces the predictability of suspension performance. Seemingly random inputs to the pedals and intermittent harsh suspension movement can confuse the rider and reduce control, as well as make suspension setup problematic.
e*thirteen’s Sidekick hub addresses this issue by adding an adjustable deadband to the hub engagement that decouples the drivetrain from the suspension, eliminating the problem at its source, so chainstay growth never causes tension in the chain.
Performance - Sidekick hubs decouple the drivetrain from the suspension eliminating kickback at its source. Crank mounted anti-kickback solutions for example simply mask the kickback effects for the rider while Sidekick eliminates it from the source.
Reliability - The internals of the Sidekick are shielded from the elements (no creaking!) as they are located inside the rear hub.
Weight - There is a very low weight penalty between Sidekick and traditional hubs, adding a fraction of the weight of other products.
Cost - Sidekick doubles as a high-quality rear hub and anti-kickback system. Other products are additional components that add significant cost.
Free Speed - The added benefit of extremely low drag in Sidekick hubs means you’ll accelerate faster and carry speed better.
Crisp Engagement - unlike the “elastic” feeling engagement common in some other hubs and anti-kickback devices, Sidekick’s engagement feeling is reliably crisp and familiar.
The Sidekick Hub works using a unique freehub mechanism with three primary pawls that engage a toothed ratchet to drive the hub shell forward, much like traditional hubs. However, in the Sidekick Hub, these pawls are held in a disengaged position during coasting. When you start pedaling, a patent-pending* ‘pawl pusher’ lifts the pawls into position, engaging the ratchet. The pusher acts as a ramp, allowing the pawls to slide up and engage as the freehub body rotates.
This pawl pusher is mounted on the hub axle and is controlled by a fourth, low-force timing pawl that remains in contact with the ratchet. As pedaling begins, the pusher moves through a preset deadband before engaging the pawls.
While coasting, the pusher can rotate freely in one direction (counter-clockwise) but is timed precisely to the ratchet in the other direction (clockwise). The freehub body moves a specific distance relative to the pusher before the pawls engage, a movement we refer to as the deadband. This deadband absorbs chain tension from suspension movement, effectively eliminating pedal kickback.
Unlike other kickback prevention systems, the Sidekick Hub allows suspension motion to continue unhindered during deadband travel, with no spring resisting the movement. This ensures that the suspension performs naturally, with no negative feedback.
Another benefit is reduced drag. Since the primary pawls only engage when pedaling, rather than constantly ratcheting over the ring, the system operates more quietly and with less friction, leading to quicker acceleration and faster coasting speeds.
*US20240157728A1 Hub system, method and device with adjustable deadband