Coaster brakes to freestyle
 

I currently am fixing up a huffy rock it bike to use as a BMI bike. I have installed a handbrake and pegs but do not know how to disable the back coaster brake to make the pedals be able to rotate bacwards. Any help appreciated thanks

What kind of hub? Most coasters need the clutch and pads removed at least. Andy

How do you determine what kind of hub

Hub brand should be printed on the brake arm.

The easiest would be to buy a new rear wheel based on freewheel hub. Probably can do it for $50 or less and maybe free it you look at bikes being put in the garbage. At one time there were kits to do this but we are talking 30+ years ago. Roger

I've never heard of anyone doing this, but there is no reason that should not work.

:foo:

If you remove the clutch, you won't be able to go forward. At least on Shimanos, KTs, Velosteels, etc., where the clutch drives the hub shell.

Ah, of course! Absolutely right SquidPuppet.

One might think that removing the brake shoes would do the trick. I originally thought that too. No shoes, no brakes, right? Well, it doesn't work. As you back pedal and drive the clutch toward the NDS, the internal spring assembly compress TOO much, binds, and prevents the whole clutch assembly from reverse spinning. That prevents backpedaling. I have read about people adding washers under the spring, down inside the clutch body to prevent the binding. It seems to be critical to get the exact right thickness of washer to make it all work. I've never tried it myself.

being aHuffy you come up against the buying a new wheel , will cost more than the bike is worth..

then you have to get over that and proceed..


I recommend visiting a bike shop.. bike in hand, so they can see your project,



..

"To be able to rotate backwards" typically requires either a freewheel or freehub, neither of which your bike has. To do it right, you'd need to replace your coaster brake hub with one of these other hub types. Replacing just the hub means you'd need to re-lace spokes to the rim and possibly replace the spokes if they're not the right length for your new hub/rim combination. It would be easier to replace the rear wheel with one that already has the hub type you want.

Replacing the rear wheel is also cheaper than rebuilding with the existing rim and spokes. The only exception is if you are already able to build wheels AND you value your labor at zero.

Thanks I am going to try that method

As I rode around today and my Chris King rear freehub was sticking a bit my thoughts returned to the coaster hub question. And I came to the conclusion that I was wrong is thinking that removing the clutch and brake shoes would result in a freewheeling hub. It would work only once, the first time the clutch spiraled off the driver's helical splines it might not return and therefore drive the hub shell when pedaling commenced.


Roger reminds us that there was at least one small company offering a replacement internal bit which did do the job. I seem to recall a SunTour spec conversion bit, and since the ST hub was a close copy of a Bendix the bit would work for them too. never installed one though. Andy

The washer method has worked for now and thanks for all the advice everyone