>>999597>why they picked that mechanismAre you talking about the roughly 3:1 drive ratio or the freewheel design where you don't have to pedal all the time?
Because the ~3:1 ratio (on my BMX it's a 30T chainwheel and 10T on the hub so every 1 time I pedal, the rear wheel spins 3 times) is for the speed. If it were 1:1, it would be like a super low gear and would be about as fast as walking.
But the freewheel, you just need to ride a fixed gear. It uses up a lot more energy because your legs are always moving. You can't just coast downhill. Kinda destroys the benefits of the bicycle being an efficient mode of transportation.
Look into "Freecoasters". It's a type of hub made for BMX bicycles where you can be coasting in reverse and the pedals won't move backwards. They are more complicated than the typical freewheel but they could probably design something along those lines that allows you to pedal the bicycle backwards.
