When the team asked for a simple, durable freecoaster hub with a larger slack setting than most, we got to work on developing something totally new. The Eclat Cortex Freecoaster takes the tried and tested clutch style internals, and addresses ALL of the problems that those hubs had infamously been plagued with in the past.

Lets break it down for you

The first issue was the internal friction mechanism. A typical Clutch system hub uses small balls on springs to apply friction to the inside of the hub shell, allowing the hub to engage. These small balls often wear out, causing damage to the hub and eventually end up in the hub slipping and cease working. Over the course of a year we developed a new type of friction system we’ve called IOS (Internal O-Ring System), which is not only incredibly durable but also more stable than other clutch style freecoasters. After research and testing, we worked out that by using a large, high-strength coil spring on the inside of the clutch in combination with a super tight precision polymer o-ring, that we could apply stable friction to the entire circumference of the axle, rather than just at x2 points like a regular classic KHE style hub. This makes the hub much more durable and will require zero maintenance. With our new system, the clutch is always applying friction to the axle in all places, which means the wear is constant and will not deteriorate a specific area of the clutch or hub.

The biggest issue with clutch style freecoasters was always that they generated “play” over time. When the clutch threads into the driver, it acts like a vice and clamps the large drive side hub bearing, and ultimately will cause large loads on that bearing causing it to weaken and become loose. We solved this issue by using a special “stopper ring” which sits freely behind the bearing, preventing the clutch from passing a certain point and putting load on the bearing and destroying it. This special part really give the Cortex a huge advantage over other hubs, and enables you to give it as much side impact as possible, without the hub generating play.

Our team asked for a hub with a large slack setting, so the Cortex comes out of the box with just over 1/4 crank of slack, however this is fully adjustable and can be made much smaller by adding small spacers behind the clutch, which are included with the hub.

After 7 months of heavy testing, we still have team riders riding the Cortex hub as good as it was the day it was laced up.