tmh657

Do they fail very often? I have a cruiser with only a coaster brake. It's an Electra.
I just changed the rear cog from 22 to 18 and get up some speed now.
There's a bejillion bikes like this but I haven't seen any of them crash because of brakes.

xenologer

Supposedly they don't break down often since theyre all sealed up, but when it does fail someday It'll be impossible to repair.
Just get a front brake, it's easy to know how its doing, and its a much more effective brake.

tatfiend 

Any bike with a rear wheel brake only such as a coaster brake will take about double the distance of a bike with both front and rear wheel brakes to stop in an emergency, with the front wheel brake properly used. Not good in an emergency or when riding fast.

The coaster brake also is nor operable if you have the chain break or jump a sprocket. Not a common failure but it can happen. Make sure that the chain is properly tensioned and in good condition on any coaster brake bike and if you overheat the coaster brake have it serviced promptly. Symptoms are a grabby coaster brake or smelling it get very hot.

The Repack downhill MTB course in Marin County CA was named for early coaster brake mountain bikes. The brakes got so hot they required repacking with high temperature grease after every run down the course.

dabac

No. I've "had" to relube a few that'd become grabby, and to scrap one because of rusted through return spring. But as a rule they'll keep providing moderate service for decades during regular use. Supposedly they'll suffer more in really hilly, mountainous areas, where they can overheat, but I've never ridden one under those conditions.

That isn't the most sensible thing to have.
While the brake itself is quite rugged it is dependent on the chain and the torque arm to operate, and particularly chains can come off "by themselves", which'd leave you entirely brakeless.

Another advantage is that with dynamic weight transfer and whatnot, you can get more braking out of your front wheel than your rear, which can come in handy sometimes.

HillRider

If there is any way to add a front brake to this bike, by all means do it.

As mentioned by the other posters, any rear brake is MUCH less effective than a front brake in stopping the bike and if you spill the chain you will have no brakes at all. If you want only one brake, it should be in front.

DieselDan

You need your senior member status stripped. Coaster brakes can be repaired and rebuilt by any decent shop mechanic.

Coaster brakes are reliable enough not to worry. Just keep the chain tension correct, and that has to be done manually.

DannoXYZ 

Actually more like 10x the distance, depending upon speed.

HillRider

It's not the reliability that's the major "problem" with coaster brakes, it's that a single rear brake provides such dismal stopping distances for any speed above a walk.

DieselDan

Most coaster brake bikes are beach cruisers or kid's bikes, and none go faster then a brisk walk to start with.

tmh657

You haven't seen me ride. The reason I started this thread.

Geordi Laforge

...then add a brake, if you're concerned for safety because you ride a cruiser at fast speeds.

bmorey

It's years since I rode a bike with a coaster brake but I remember mine locked up fairly easily. That's why they were popular with a certain set - great for doing 'broadies' as we termed them as youngsters.

Sixty Fiver

I have a few coaster equipped bikes and my 1933 CCM is going to a friend... I told him all about the limitations of coaster brakes and this bike cannot be retrofitted with a front brake due to the fork crown and the fact the fork itself was not designed to withstand hard braking forces.

My 1940 CCM has a coaster brake and since it has a modern fork I was able to fit it with a front brake...prior to this refit I broadsided a car that pulled out in front of me because even though the brake had been rebuilt and was working perfectly, it just didn't have enough stopping power.

This bike is too fast to have just a coaster brake...

ogbigbird

when you are riding and need to stop, there is some degree of weight transfer that shifts the weight forward, thus limiting the real effectiveness for a rear coaster equipt bike to stop shortly. and as mentioned, if the chain snaps you no longer have brakes, and it doesnt even need to actually break, it could just come off ht echainring or cog. if you can add a front caliper brake to your bike, id do it. not only will it be safer, but you'll get shorter stopping distances. most the bikes i ride are older single speed cruisers with only coaster brakes and they are reliable and rebuildable, just not very efficient.

tatfiend 

I was quoting information from "Bicycling Science" published by MIT and based on test information from British and American tests of rear wheel brakes versus both wheels being braked. Tests done on bikes with brakes in excellent condition.

They listed rear brakes as providing a maximum *********** of about .25G maximum and dual brakes able to give a bit over .5G before risking a header. BTW modern automobile anti lock brakes, properly used, can get close to 1G stopping power so the average car can outbrake any bike by a considerable margin in an emergency stop.

rayban-usa

Coaster brakes are the most durable braking system. Sealed from the elements, they only fail if the chain breaks. Keep your chain in good condition and it is unlikely it will ever fail. Chains are easily repaired, and rear hubs readily available for replacement and low cost.

operator

If you ride a coaster brake equipped bike over 5kph, do yourself a favour and put a front brake on.

bikemeister

That's what I've got going on my new build - a coaster brake rear hub and a caliper brake up front.
I'm scrounging to find a single caliper. Since most everybody wants brakes in pairs, I'm hoping to score an old Campy or Modolo caliper on the cheap because it's "not a set".

garage sale GT

I found it's occasionally possible to move the axle a bit due maybe to overly aggressive braking with a c/b. Then it falls off because the chain's too slack.

Usually, though, it won't fall off when you're actually braking because then you tension the chain. It usually happens where there's room to coast down to a stop.

Plynthblox

I'm pretty sure that once you factor in inertia the bike still wins by a mile... I'd love to see a demonstration that proves otherwise, real world experience has never shown me anything but the opposite.

operator

I think there's a crossover speed where the car is going to stop faster than the bike... Have you ever tried to emergency stop from say 100kph? Think you'll still outbrake a car with ABS?

noglider 

Coaster brakes are very easy to service!

One thing no one has mentioned yet is that when you apply the coaster brake, you move your weight backwards, making it more effective than most rear-wheel brakes.

I don't disagree with the advice to add a front rim brake. But I do feel that a coaster brake is adequate for many riders. Most casual riders who have them forget about their handbrakes and probably won't remember to use them in emergencies, so their existence is fairly useless. Plus you have to maintain and test them, which isn't likely.

Another interesting point is that here in the US, we generally believe that small children are not strong enough to operate handbrakes, but they are the norm for children's bikes in France. I wonder why that is!

Sixty Fiver

Many old coaster equipped bikes had frames with track ends and used a rather toothy lock washer in addition to a pair of tugs to keep the wheel from moving.

If set up properly, and this usually relies on one's ability to properly torque the axle nuts, the wheel will not budge.

The same applies to fixed gear and 3 speed bicycles which also use lock washers and need to have their axle nuts properly torqued.

Sixty Fiver

Tom - When my daughters started riding I equipped their coaster bikes with front brakes with a right handed mount as to properly teach them good braking skills. This was a pre-requisite to them being able to longer rides with me and to be able to ride on the road.

My 8 year old daughter would practice by riding up and down the sidewalk at speed and hammer the front brake...with a high bar and low saddle position she could actually skid the front wheel.

She also quit using the coaster brake.

Now that both bikes have dual hand brakes she still prefers the front brake as she know it has most of her stopping power... I have clocked her at 30 kmh and she can keep up with me on fairly quick paced rides.

We still do drills to make sure their skills are sharp.

noglider 

How old is she now?

My younger daughter goes in and out of liking cycling. She's 17, so I don't have as much control over what she does as I used to. If she doesn't want to ride, she won't. But recently she took her bike out on her own accord, after many months of no riding, so I was pleased.

She owns four or five bikes. Surprised? Her favorite bike came with the brakes wired "Italian style" i.e. with the right lever controlling the front brake. She's aware of it and says she doesn't care. I'm thinking of switching it so she gets used to riding bikes North American style. She's a lefty, though I don't think that matters.