If you go with a coaster brake, then I would highly recommend the automatic .. much less confusion about what gear you are in as you brake for stops signs or traffic ... plus you have to kill your pedal momentum to shift back to another gear .. I adjust my automatic hubs to shift at around 14 mph @90rpm .. one thing with the automatic, if you are attacking a hill in high gear at say 16 mph and your speed drops below automatic shift point, as long as you maintain pressure on the pedals, it won't shift down.. so in my instance, I could climb a hill at 11 mph in high gear even if I was below the shift point as long as I maintained pressure on the pedals .. and as soon as pressure is released, then it would drop to low.. if you are running a non-coaster 2 speed hub then you wouldn't have to deal with shifting when you backpedal to brake..