mparker326

This was one of the projects that starts with a part.

Last fall I bought a bin of misc old school bike parts. In the bin was a Bendix coaster brake hub. I thought it was a one speed, but research proved it was a manual 2 speed hub. It felt pretty gummed up, so I found some diagrams on line & took it apart & cleaned it up. The parts inside were caked with old grease, but had no wear. I had no shifter, but reading bikamper's posts on here, I just needed an old Shimano 333 shifter, bell crank & a cut down pin. After I picked up one of these from Iowegian in for the trade section, I was set.

But what to build it up in? Weight wise, the hub is a pig. I initially was thinking clunker style bike. I have a mid-80's MB2 that would be a good candidate. But I wanted to keep it simple and only have a coaster brake, so I thought the exposed canti posts on the frame would look bad. How about a road bike? Which one wouldn't be killed by the weight? Enter the Schwinn "lightweights". I found a neglected Schwinn Continental frame at the bike coop that I picked up for a trade. So I laced the hub to a 27 inch rim I had laying around.

I was going to switch out the Ashtabula crank to a 3 piece with the converter kit so I could up my front chainring tooth count, but I wanted to make sure the hub shifted ok first. Come to find out the direct drive gear is low & the shifted gear is high. So the 40 tooth Ashtabula ring works great with the hub gearing. Something about a coaster brake bike looks right with the Ashtabula crank.

Since weight & steel was no issue. I had some old Bullmoose bars in the 21.1 diameter required by the Schwinn headset that I threw on.

This bike rides like a tank and is an absolute joy to ride on. The Bendix hub is smoother & less sloppy to shift than any Sturmey Archer hub I've used. It doesn't have the annoying clicking that the SA hubs have either. I haven't ridden a coaster brake bike in over 30 years. Riding this bike makes me feel like a kid again.

Thanks for reading.

ColonelJLloyd 

That's really cool. I like it. I wouldn't mind having a coaster brake bike for kicks.

Kobe 

When I read the title I thought it was going to be some kind of 2 chain ring setup. This is much better, very stealthy.

pastorbobnlnh 

Very cool idea. I was thinking it needs fenders, but the more I look at it the more I like the simplicity. Any pictures of opening the hub and spilling its parts?

mparker326

Bob:

I was thinking fenders & a Pletscher rack as well. The only fenders I have that fit are some Planet Bike plastic ones & they simply don't fit the look. I need some steel Wald fenders.

I didn't take a pic of the hub internals but Bikamper did. My hub internals were the same as his. https://www.flickr.com/photos/21499296@N08/4141382633/

Interesting thing about the Bendix is the planet & sun are inside the cog.

Justin: You should really try it. It is a hoot to ride. Sheldon didn't factor in the fun when he dissed coaster brake hubs.

rhenning

This is what my version of that type of bike looks like. The picture is 3 years old but I added the manual shift Bendix last summer without changing the look of the bike. Roger

bikamper

Hey, I heard my name mentioned. The Schwinn turned out really nice.

Here is what my 2 speeder became. Dumped the coaster brake parts and riding the hub as a 2 speed fixed gear.


And also a breakdown of the hub. Comes apart with just a screwdriver and a Crescent wrench.

mkeller234

That is awesome, I really like it. Some Wald fenders would look great, but I agree that it still looks very nice in it's current forum. After looking at road bikes so much, it's amazing when you see how simple a bike really can be.

The MAX

My winter beater has a coaster brake. I would recommend using a front brake for emergencies though. When/if coaster brakes fail, they fail catastrophically.