" The Demolition Rotator Freecoaster wheel is built with a Demolition Zero double wall rim laced 4x with black 14g spokes and nipples to Ryan "Biz" Jordan's signature Rotator freecoaster hub. The Rotator hub features a CNC machined 6061-T6 aluminum hub shell with proven KHE internals, 1-pc chromoly driver with sealed needle bearings for reliability, angular contact bearing (ACB) for additional side load support and a 14mm heat-treated chromoly axle. Includes 3 slack adjustment washers for fine tuning."
A lot of bmx riders honestly don't understand freecoasters, and that's ok. For the uninformed, every current freecoaster (excluding the unrealeased Eclat Blind and Ezra/Salt Freecoaster/Cassette) have just about the same hub internals, with a different shell. As time has gone on, more and more companies have began to use proven (and fairly old) KHE/Yuhub freecoaster internals. When KHE first started making coasters, they sucked. The bearings blew a ton. Eventually they got more and more reliable with the use of ACB bearings that can withstand the weird forces that coaster internals deal with, and just recently Cult introduced the Match Freecoaster, which uses needle bearings, a new even stronger type of bearing that a lot of companies have began to use in their drivers. Luckily for us, that means stronger hubs and lots of cross-brand compatibility. Now on to the actual review!
*YOU SHOULD RE-GREASE YOUR FREECOASTER AT LEAST ONCE EVERY 2 MONTHS*
First Impressions
The one main thing that stuck out to me about this wheel is that it is more or less the exact same as all of the other freecoaster wheels available, but is $30-70 cheaper than its competitors (excluding the Sunday Freecoaster Wheel). Plus, the rim is extremely strong, especially at this price. Plus, just like most KHE internal freecoasters, it fits the nice plastic snap on Primo Freemix guards with just an extra spacer. When I first received the wheel, I immediately disassembled it completely and set it to maximum slack with no spacers, and the hat washer flipped for even more slack. I also replaced the grease with Phil Wood grease, but that's just a personal preference. After assembling it, I replaced the non drive side cone nut with the Freemix NDSG and a 14mm spacer to keep the correct spacing.
It fit right one (as it should) and I haven't had any issues of wheel slip which other plastic guards often cause.
Riding Notes
For about the first 30 minutes of riding a brand new freecoaster, you might hear a popping or creaking sound as you pedal, but that is just the clutch breaking in, so don't worry. After that, I rode down to my neighbor's house and rode his quarter pipe and grind box. The hub guard slid quicker than a metal guard would, and the heat treated chromoly axle held up nicely. I haven't had any problems with it engaging in fakie and throwing me off, but that is probably because I run so much slack on my hub. The less slack you have, the more likely it is that this will happen. The rim was perfectly true, and I haven't seen any bending or dishing of the rim so far. I haven't had any breakages in the couple of months that I have been riding it, and I grease my hub every 2 weeks or so to make sure it stays that way. I haven't had any broken or blown bearings or bent or snapped axles so far.
Pros
-Cheap
-Strong rim
-Strong axle and internals, with needle and ACB bearings
-Fits Freemix snap on guards
-No rim wobble or hub wobble
-backwards compatibility with a lot of other KHE hubs and internals
Cons
-a thrust bearing behind the clutch would have made crankflips and back pedaling a bit smoother
-hub shell looks sort of odd
-I would have liked to see a polished hub option
-4x lacing isn't bad, just an odd choice that I don't see very often
-Just about the same as every other freecoaster
Hub Durability: 9/10
Rim Durability: 9.5/10
Visual appeal: 7/10
Final Conclusion
This wheel is a great choice for people who want a solid coaster wheel at a good price. Having the ability to use Primo Freemix guards is great as I am not a fan of aluminum hub guards, and the addition of the ACB and needle bearings ensure that this hub is ready to take what you can dish out. If you do a lot of crankflips into and out of grinds, this might not be the best choice as it doesn't spin quite as easily as a hub that has a thrust bearing behind the clutch. Overall, I give it an 8.5/10 for lacking a thrust bearing and not having regular 3x lacing.
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