Originally Posted by
cachehiker
This is about where the CPSC standard lies. It takes about 0.5 g's to stop a bike going 15 mph in the distance required. It also takes about 0.5 g's for an upright rider to endo an undersized bike. I don't remember what grip strength they apply to the brake lever though.
Coaster brakes manage to meet the standard by exploiting the upright position of the rider applying more weight to the rear wheel, a lower recommended pressure for the rear tire, and more leverage available from the rider's legs.
Last time I looked, they weren't selling fixies in department stores. I don't know if this is because of liability or because fixie riders are too "haught" to buy them.
In any case, I'm not a big fan of coaster brakes or fixies without a front brake. I know. I'm not cool. I prefer the redundancy of having some kind of braking on both the front and the rear wheel. That has a lot to do with the traffic light on Highway 91 at the bottom of the 10% grade I ride down when I leave home.
Walmart has one, complete with a flip flop hub, don't recall the model name at them moment.
I actually prefer a coaster brake on a bike used for normal upright city riding, it allows me to moderate speed without using my hand brakes. FWIW I usually set up a coaster brake bike with 3 brakes. My current city bike has roller brakes and can stop plenty fast enough.
Aaron
