Ridden in downhill and enduro by the first outlet to test it, and the deadband didn't bother him.
Gregor Sinn tested the Sidekick hub for MTB-News in downhill and enduro, and his verdict line, translated, is that the hub delivers what it promises. MTB-News tested it first, in September 2024; the English-language reviews came later.
Against Ochain
He compares it directly with Ochain, the crank-mounted unit that does the same job, and calls Ochain an extra part with fairly complex mechanics that needs regular service. Ochain wins on one point, and it's the only weakness his review lists for the hub: the newer Ochain R can be adjusted and locked out from outside, while the Sidekick function can't be switched off. Riding without it means a second rear wheel.
The two get there differently. Ochain mounts at the crank, so one unit can move between bikes. The Sidekick mechanism is inside the hub, so there's nothing extra on the cranks and nothing extra to service.
He didn't mind the deadband
On enduro rides he found it mostly unobtrusive, even at the largest 18 degree setting. Where he noticed it at all was sprinting out of a tight corner. And the smaller effective deadband you get in the easy climbing gears he described as a genuinely pleasant feature.
Quieter, in detail
Sinn pays more attention to noise than most reviewers.
The freehub itself is nearly silent. And because the hub stops the chain's pull from reaching the suspension, the chain slaps around less on its own. On his downhill bike, the noise dropped immediately.
One practical note from his testing worth knowing before you fit one: the hub takes tension out of the system, so a derailleur clutch that's already worn out has less to work with. He had an old one on his enduro bike, swapped it, and the slap went away.
A smart design
His other focus was maintenance, and it's the argument for putting the mechanism in the hub rather than at the cranks.
The Sidekick rear hub adds no extra moving parts beyond the pusher. Changing the engagement angle needs no tools beyond whatever removes your rear axle, nothing small falls out when you pull it apart, and he notes you could do it in the woods if you wanted to.
On cost: build a new bike from scratch and a regular rear hub plus a separate anti-kickback device usually adds up to more than one Sidekick hub. Retrofitting a bike you already own, he notes, is cheaper with the Ochain.
Our take
We sent MTB-News an enduro wheelset and a downhill wheelset a few weeks before the launch, so this is the earliest read on the hub anyone has, and the one review that ran it back to back with an Ochain on the same two bikes. Two years on, his list still holds, and the weakness he named is smaller than it was. Sidekick 2.0 doesn't switch off either, but it added a 9 degree setting at the short end, down from 12, and at 9 the engagement feels close to a normal hub's while the kickback absorption still works. The lag he felt sprinting out of corners at 18 is now a setting you don't have to run. Every reason he liked the hub is stronger in 2.0, which is lighter and coasts with less drag.
Read the full review at MTB-News (in German)
More on the mechanism, and the current 9, 13 and 18 degree settings, on the Sidekick hubs page.
