2bok

How do i adjust the time it takes for the coaster brake to engage??? like i want to go a soon as i start pedaling.. its kinda hard to explain

JohnDThompson 

No, there's not really any adjustment possible. Whatever the hub gives you is what you get.

Jaytron

?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

rustybrown

lolwut...but still going out on a limb...

There will be a slight hesitation until it "catches." Just has to engage the hub. Trust me, you don't want to take these apart to "adjust."

hueyhoolihan

the turning of the cog until engagement involves a cone (like that on the hub bearing) threading onto a vERY coarse thread moving it toward a race on the inside of the hub (think of a rear cup and cone bearing without the ballbearings). when they engage, they lock up and away you go. the distance, and therefore the amount of rotation of the cranks until engagement, is determined by a combination of how coarse the thread is and the distance separating them when fully disengaged and is a intentional byproduct of the design, which for most of them is at least a century old...

BTW, the engagement mechanism is sometimes called a clutch, i think.

lz4005

How far do you have to turn the crank to engage the hub?

It isn't difficult to adjust the amount of play in a coaster hub. And you don't have to take the whole thing apart. Play between drive and braking is adjusted by the tightness of the cone nut. It can take some trial and error to fine tune exactly the right amount of play, and is much easier with the right size cone wrench. Almost any coaster hub can be adjusted to have less than 1/4 rotation of play in the cranks.

Street rider

Not sometimes, all the time. Thats what it is.

sillygolem

Lower gearing will decrease cranking distance to engage the brake while also increasing mechanical advantage, letting you brake harder for the same pedal effort.

If you've got an old American cruiser, the gearing is probably very high (85 gear inches is fairly common,) so you aren't losing much speed by swapping cogs. Most modern cruisers are somewhere around 65 gear inches.

Greyryder

I used to adjust the coaster brake on my old Schwinn Whateveritwas, when I was a kid, so depending on the coaster brake is made, it can be done. Damned if I remember how I did it, though.

RaleighSport

I know we had someone post a while back where they said they dissassembled one and got it working again, he seemed to know a lot about the inner workings and dealing with the pawls and adjusting the braking.. so it definitely can be done even with the modern stuff.

Dr. Banzai

Your only true option is to get new brake shoes for the hub or a new cone as well. Depending on make, it's the shoes or clutch cone that wears first. I assume this is an older hub and not brand new. If it's brand new, the only true option is to change your gearing.

NIB parts are hard to find, but I recommend a suntour coaster brake with shimano coming a close second. Their engagement is the fastest. The engagement is determined by the worm gear ratio.

As a coaster ages, the cone and shoes wear and you can find the engagement not working. You spin a bit then it catches. It sucks. So having new parts in there tightens it up. Also, welding the cog to the driver and welding the cone to the arm will reduce any play. Using a splined front sprocket (bmx style) or a sprocket that has direct mating to the crank (like most road cranks) is the way to go.