Rapid Rise vs. Front Freewheel (or both?)

Retrorockit

Old School Hero
These are both obsolete Shimano technologies. I've used them both (separately and together). There are some similarities, and a couple differences. I'm still using them on current bikes. A 2004 MTB Ebike conversion, and a 2004 XC softtail converted to 1x11.
WTH is it?
Front Freewheel System (FFS) was offered by Shimano/Schwinn and a few others in the 70's. Metal wires for push pull shifting and gear indexing at the derailleur. Shifting without pedaling was the main benefit. The 5 speed freewheel had a slip clutch for each cog in case the chain got jammed for safety. Weight, complexity, and a certain entrenched snobbery about "proper cycling" meant it didn't last long. MTBs and ebikes didn't exist yet. "A solution looking for a problem" was Sheldon Browns opinion.
Rapid Rise is Shimano's name for a low normal rear derailleur. Front derailleurs are all low normal AFAIK. Low normal means cable is release for down shifts. The opposite of typical rear derailleurs. This doesn't actually allows shifting w/o pedaling. But it does allow the riders to preselect a down shift w/o pedaling, or even when stopped. The shift actually happens the next time the rider pedals. The shifter typically works backwards. Both the spring load and the numbering of the gears. This was common in many Shimano pruduct lines up to about the 9 speed era. IMO it favors twist shifters to acommodate multiple downshifts at once. Shimano RR Revoshifters ended at 8 speed.
Is it still relevant?
Rapid Rise- still has a following on some 1x bikes. Commuters for shift when stopped, and DH bikes to down shift w/o pedaling. Proper 8s revoshifters are getting scarce. I nver stopped using it. 1x8 works just fine onmy Ebike, and it was already there.
FFS from Shimano has been long dead and forgotten. But Shcwinn's volume of production means bikes and parts are not too hard to find in the US. But the technology is still making an appearance in MTB, and Trials bikes.
Intend Magic Cranks offers a freewheeling crankset (with a magical price tag to match). But their solution for the rear freewheel is to lash the cassette to the spokes with a small zip tie for a breakaway safety solution. I can confirm that this is all that's needed. They strongly recommend a chain guide at the top. I do too. if you can keep the chain on this offers real time up and downshifts any time the bike is moving. No reverse pattern shifters, or derailleurs required. Basically any 1x bike can use this. Again twist shifters provide more benefit with this.
BMX/Trials, and even Tandems get into the act becuase they offer cranks that accept the rear freewheel flipped around to run on the front. Typcally single speed or IGH bikes. There are "toothless" freewheels with a flange to bolt chain rings on. The trials freewheels typically have many more points of engagemant (clicks) than BMX freewheels. On tandems the stoker with this can take a break every now and then. The real time shifting means that if you level the cranks for clearance then shift into the lowest gear the derailleur cage will be pulled up out of harms way also. The clicks at crank speed also allow finding the right gear by sound when ready to resume pedaling. On my Ebike ot put an end to tossing the chain on upshifts when leaned over in turns. It loos like I'm the problem FFS was looking for.
 
Last edited:
I used rapid rise Shimano deore mega9 on a 3 x 9 about ten years ago with brifters ( shimano v brake leavers with shifters built in so you twisted the leaver up to shift to an easier gear and pushed it down to shift to a harder gear). I liked how you could easily shift to an easier while braking.

Kyle
 
This was nice to have on a 3x bike, but the front derailleur is Low Normal, and you could also dump gears there. On 1x bikes it's the only way. FFS or RR. I think they should be coming back with the 1x wide range cassettes we have now. I suppose that's not so Retro is it? The concepts are.
 
Rapid Rise relied on the spring to resist chain tension and hold a lower gear. On the other hand, a high-normal (normal) derailleur locked itself in place with cable tension. When the spring weakened with age, Rapid Rise then started to upshift under load. As a result it's a flawed concept that works well out of the box but fails early.
 
The spring resists cable tension. High normal has a spring also. It just works the oposite way. Nothing locked about it. I have 20 year old Rapid Rise derailers that work just fine (they're all 20yo by now). MTB guts didn't like it because Hi Normal could force a downshift when pedaling uphill. Rapid rise is Low Normal loss of tension would create a downshift. You may have gotten this idea from running non Rapid Rise shifters with Rapid Rise derailleurs. The spring in the shifter is pulling the wrong way. Then both springs (derailleur and shifter) would be pulling towards an upshift. The derailleur spring was probably just fine.
 
Rapid Rise gave some of the crispest mechanical shifting I have ever experienced, but I couldn’t get used to reverse shifting levers though.
 
I have to agree. My Ebike is 1x8 Rapid Rise with a correct RR Revoshifter. My 1x11 converted XC bike has a front freewheel mod so I can shift any time like RR, but they're both reversed from each other now. When the XC bike was 3x8 it was RR also. My wifes Nexus 8 IGH has the reverse pattern Revoshifter also. Since the Ebike has FFW now I may move away from RR. Kind of a shame because the XTR mid cage Rapid Rise setup is really nice. FFW is harder to set .up But once it's done I think it's the better solution. It might help you if the RR bike has a gripshifter, and the other had triggers. Then the conflict could be less obvious.
Of course you did say "levers" didn't you.
 
Last edited:
I started out with dual control mk1 on rapid rise and switched to XTR970 pods as I really hated the dual control (apparently mk2 dual control was much better). The shifting was so crisp, but the reverse action of the shifters (press to move down the cassette and release to move up) was never something I got used to. RR made a lot of sense - in my head, moving up the cassette requires more mechanical energy than moving down the cassette (fewer vs more cassette teeth being engaged) so made sense the rear mech was sprung this way. Can the pro mechanics please go easy on me? :oops:
 
I make a point of running RR Revoshifter with RR deraileur. The SRAM Attack stuff is sprung backwards which was OK until it rained and the spring loads ganged up on me. So I now use the Rare Shimano x8 RR Revo stuff. It was OK when all my bikes shifted backwards. So with the XTR pods it would probably only allow a couple gears down at a time? I've never seen a mention or part# for 9 speed RR specific shifters, Revo or otherwise. Did they ever actually exist? I think most people run the RR derailleur with the wrong shifters, and then say it doesn't do anything. Even if the shift quality was different, throwing down multiple gears at once w/o pedaling, or even stopped in surprise situations always had value for me in urban riding. Especially on the 1x8 Ebike where dumping gears in the front is no longer an option. But the front freewheel seems even better since the shifts happen in real time.
Since the FF setup is little known I'll share some feedback from the Ebike guys. On a mid drive Ebike a zip tie between the spokes and cassette get's you in the game. The forum I post in is almost all DIY 1500W bikes.
One user put it on his street bike and liked it. When he put it on his Emtb it spit the chain a couple times offroad. He had a wide narrow ring and good chainline. I suggested a modern clutch derailleur. he tried that and said it fixed the problem.
One user on one of the higher powere 2500W bikes just put the Zip tie in abd said it now shifted like his moto.
My own case was a little harder. The 26" wheels pushed me into a 50t chain ring which has a wide chainline. The old rapid Rise derailleur didn't help either. No Wide narrow ring either. "8 the hard way". After breaking all the roller chain guides I could fing I looked to the recumbent guys for a solution. I broke some of their stuff too. But found an Ebike battery mounting frame clamp that was strong enough, and a 15tcogged 2x ball bearing roller chain idler. I made a simple 3/8" thick Aluminum bracket to connect them. 8mm bolt for a shaft. I published part# and photos. No idea of anyone else has used (or needed) that. but it's there to be done. Shifting up or down while leaned over in corners (the upshift w/o pedaling used to break the chain connectors). Throwing it into low gear also moves the derailleur cage up away from curbs.
These old concepts still have something to offer. Sometimes quite a lot.But like most things there is a learning curve.
 
Back
Top