pasqual.

.....zurich is a flat sweet little city..... therefore one gear is
enough. but its more than just the practical reason; its love.
my singlespeed should not have only one gear but allso no
breaks................. but it is quiet difficult to find a nice new
backpedaling-break hub. all i found was an old ****ty hub on
our local junkyard :-(

---> any idea? thx, pasqual.

jitensha!

first off they're called coaster brakes. it's a lot easier to find stuff if you know what it's called. secondly, look on ebay, go to the local bike shops and ask. i'm sure you can find one pretty easily.

jimv

Sadly, currently manufactured coaster/back-pedal brake hubs are pretty crappy. You're options are limited to Shimano/KT and Joytech. The internals are not very robust and the brake pads are quite small. You're best option is to find a old Fichtel & Sachs hub or even a 1960's Bendix Red-line. Of course a New Departure would be a fine hub as well. The old hubs were made well and usually clean up very nicely. If you find one and need help refurbing it, let me know, they really are quite simple to work on and I have loads of parts for most hubs too. In the future I'll be selling some hubs but I can't say when that'll be.


Definitely, if he's looking for brakes in the US or on US websites the term 'coaster brake' should be used.

Historically, however, 'coaster brake' is an american term. Most other countries still refer to it as a 'back-pedal' brake. I'm not certain why but I think it has to do with american companys' (ca 1890's) desire to distinguish their 'modern' brake hub (with internal shoes or disks) from its predecessors (all kinds of contraptions that pressed pieces of wood or metal onto the tire tread). Apparently Europe and other places felt the improved performance would provide enough distinction.

Jim

familyman

Jim, you say that the modern ones are pretty crappy, but are they seem to be absurdly cheap. Would they last you a season living in a pretty flat place? That is someplace where you wouldn't be burning them up on hills. It's just that for $15 a piece it seems you could buy a handful and just re-lace the wheel when the shoes wear out.
A coaster brake bike is in my future and I've been weighing my options.

Magna Man

In Russia, back pedal hub had shoes that could be replaced. Did this job many times when young.

jimv

Sure, you can get away with it in a flat area. A friend bought a Giant Cruiser last year which had a Shimano coaster brake and after descending a long hill two or three times (on different days) the brake cooked itself. After repairs and the addition of a front brake he was able to ride it for several months before it failed again. Admittedly he was a big guy (270-ish) and these were pretty long hills (ahhh Seattle) but I've been riding a 1954 F&S coaster on my Steamroller for 6 months and the insides are still like new....and I'm no lightweight at 250 lbs.

So yes flat terrain does make a huge difference. My main concerns are for those who ride in hilly areas. When you build your rear wheel it's a good idea to use a strong rim as braking at the hub stresses the wheel and spokes more than a conventional rim brake. Also, unless you are really small (weightwise) stick with 36 hole hubs. There are loads of 20 and 28 hole hubs around but they are for kids bikes. I still think it's a good idea to throw a front brake on too.

If the hub does fail, it usually does so in the 'guts' and once you've done it a few times replacing the innards is a 5 minute job. There's usually no need to lace up a new hub everytime....just give it a good inspection.

Good luck and keep us posted. Personally, I love riding a coaster brake.

Jim

jimv

Yes, even the new Shimano/KT and Joytech hubs have replaceable parts and rebuild kits are available and with the exception of the Morrow brake they are all very easy to service. Are there any back pedal brakes currently made in Russia? I would love to buy one if they exist.....actually I would like to find some old ones as well.

Jim

Magna Man

Would not know-moved to New York many years ago. Most Russian bike hubs are garbage.

jimv

Oh I see. Well I hope to find one someday to examine....I am a big fan of coaster brakes.

Curiously, is this a quote or commentary ... or did babelfish just eat it for lunch? ;-)

Это место заполнилось людьми, которые не знают ничто о велосипедах.

Jim

shecky

Having never been anywhere near Zurich, I can't point you in any particular direction. I can say that in the U.S., coaster brake (back pedal brake) hubs are extremely common. And the hubs alone can be purchased for less than $20 US brand new.

I think the currently available Shimano/KT/Joytech coaster brake rear hubs usually work quite well. I find the ones that don't work very well are ones that have been seriously neglected or fiddled with by incompetents. Sometimes I find one that offers little modulation, going from "off" to "on" abruptly with no "middle". I've also found this to be true with old Bendix models, too, however.

It must be kept in mind that relying on a rear brake only, and coaster brake in particular, will never stop as well as a bike equipped with a front brake of just about any kind. However, they may be perfectly satisfactory for many users, particualrly in flat areas. Frankly, I haven't found coaster brake pad size to be a particular problem, nearly all coaster brakes are capable of braking up to and including wheel lock-up. Perhaps, more of a "problem" is that coaster brake hubs are essentially tiny drum brakes... with enough leverage to lock up that wheel. Which translates to enormous amounts of heat generated during agressive braking. Hence the smell of burning grease when the 270lb rider comes down off the mountain, and the "Repack" namesake. Fortunately, I'd wager most bikes never face such abuse.

Coaster brake hubs are not only cheap, but spare parts, such as (most often worn out) brake shoes, are cheaply available. Between replacement brake shoes, new grease, ease of service, and inherent durability, I'd say a coaster brake wheel could last a very long time indeed.

Completely by accident today, I stumbled across this link: https://www.velosteel.cz/ . A Czech manufacturer of coaster brake hubs. They seem to use one basic design (rather different from the common Bendix/Asian designs found in the U.S.) with a couple of sprocket options: three-splined and threaded... a very interesting choice. These may be much more easily available in Zurich than the U.S.

There are some coaster brakes I would definitely avoid. They'd be older Sturmey Archer three-speed hubs equipped with coaster brakes. While I've found they worked fine as three speed hubs, the braking ability was truly deplorable.

jimv

My friend's brake seemed to work fine ... while it lived. It was repaired under warranty so I don't know what part actually failed. He said it sounded like there were loose parts rattling around in the hub. After the second time he just gave the bike away. The second failure left the wheel locked.


Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was told there was a company in the Czech Republic making top quality coaster brakes but was told a different name and therefore never found anything about it. The 'ramped roller' drive was an early Sachs design and it works really really well. Sturmey Archer's SC-1 and Durex both used it.

So I have to take back what I said about noone making a good coaster brake anymore!!! I'm going to try to order one in the next few days.

Thanks for the find!

Jim

Hunter

Jim,
Это место заполнилось людьми, которые не знают ничто о велосипедах translates to "This place was filled by people which do not know anything about bicycles."

jimv

I babalfished it and got a chuckle out of it too and was curious whether it was a quote from a song or book or whether he was just trying to tell us something ;-)

Jim

familyman

Jim, keep us (me in particular) updated on that Czech hub if you pick one up. I'm very interested.

jimv

I sure will. I sent them an email last night. I hope to hear from them in the next few days. I may have to put together a multi-hub order.... we'll see.

Jim

shecky

Jim, that sounds like a good idea. I wouldn't mind one of 'em if the price is right.

lesid

Hi all

I'm picking up this rather olr thread. I'm thinking fo setting up a singlespeed bike and i should look minimalistic, that means using a coaster brake on the back weel instead of a rim brake. Did anybody order those hubs from Czechia and could tel if they're good?

Is there such a thing as a coaster break flip flop hub with the coaster break on one side and a fixed gear on the other (or a way of turning a coaster break hub into one)? Turning the wheel would mean to move the break lever to the other side of the bike, but that should somehow be possible... Or would that mean that pedalling in the fixed gear would tighten the break? in that case the break lever should be removed in order to have the coaster break spin free, I believe (IANAMechanic). Any Ideas or experiences?

LeSid

Hobartlemagne 

This is a break, and believe me, you don't want one of these.

abeyance

good job on the newbie for resurecting an old thread rather than creating a new one. The search function rules.

Bad job on the brake/break thing.

A coaster brake with a fixed gear hub probably has never been created. If one was, it was a one-off, as fixed gears and coaster brakes are on opposite sides of the bicycling spectrum (casual vs hardcore rather than number of gears)

NYC fixed sells coaster brake wheels laced up to weinmans. Just buy two sets of wheels.

end thread.

blickblocks

In Soviet Russia, coaster hub break you!

metaljim

that was bad.

lesid

Right, my English teacher would have killed me for that one. Thanks for the photo, Hobartlemagne, made me LOL about my mistake.

So, is anyone breaking the Czech way?

pedalphile0

i ride a coaster brake in orlando which is flat so im not to worried about burning out my hub, however is it better to lock up the wheel than to not? it seems like locking up the wheel would help minimise the internal friction. i can see how this would not be preferable in hilly areas though

hudsong

Coaster brakes might be a neat idea for things like girlfriends..
Hmmm...

lesid

Or if you want to build up a minimalist singlespeed bike with the only cable being the one to the front brake, and still have two brakes. If you believe that real men drive fixies without brakes, go yhead and drive in the traffic.