TreyWestgate

I have a single speed mountain bike and wonder how would a coaster brake system do?.

I would lose the ability to backpedal and it would maybe not be good on technical trails or big hills which would mean repack.

But it would last longer than pads and maybe a little more reliable in some ways and would be resistant to weather.

wschruba 

It can be done, but I personally think that you may be doing it for the wrong reason. If your only reason is durability of the braking system, buy some drum brake hubs--you'll likely be much happier.

If, however, you're doing it for something different, yeah, they're totally functional. You won't be doing anything nutso on them, but they are still plenty capable as mountain bikes. Leave a front brake on, especially if you are riding with/around other people; nobody else should get hurt if you bite off more than you can chew on a downhill.



*edit*

Try to find an older oiled coaster brake, if you are going to ride it more than once or twice. Re-packing the hub gets old very fast.

bmthom.gis

I'll leave this here for you
See Transition's Throwback Klunker Mountain Bike in Action | Bicycling

dabac

Don't like that setup very much. Once riding gets a bit technical, the delay before the brake bites, and then before drive engages again quickly becomes annoying.

bikemig 

Yeah klunker time,

JohnDThompson 

Hey, the first "mountain bikes" were all coaster brake equipped. Google "repack road."

shelbyfv

Have you ridden your mountain bike on a "technical" trail? What's your definition of "repack?"

Retro Grouch 

"Repack" was the name given to a trail in Marin County that Gary Fisher and the early mountain bike adopters rode. It's name came from the concept that in one ride down the trail the heat generated by your coaster brake would cook out all of the grease so you had to repack your hub.

I-Like-To-Bike

What percentage of bike riders ever ride on such long and steep descents as the Marin County racing "repack" trail, or its equivalent, at maximum possible speed with constant maximum braking application; <1%?

shelbyfv

Of course most of us do know the origin of "repack." Just thought it amusing that the OP would bandy it about.

Maelochs

I'd say the biggest compromise would be in balancing ... when I am riding, and particularly if I need to brake hard, i don't want to have to lean back on the pedals and probably lift up on the bars to lever myself down to compensate for the pressure on the pedals ... or one one pedal, actually.

I know that is where mountain biking started, but I wouldn't want to go back.

As for whether it is possible ... it was in the early '70s, so it ought to work still. I don't see an upside, but it isn't my bike we are talking about ...

fietsbob 

Re Pack was the thing that you had to do at the bottom of the hill once the grease scorched from the Heat of braking..

BITD there were much Better coaster brake than what comes on cheap Bikes, now . The Rental fleet at the nearby LBS is coaster brake cruisers .

Usual user just wants to stay near the river shore MUP, then theyre adequate..

One Guy took it to the top of the Hill, fried the hub, That was The end of that rear Wheel .

The Cheap chinese hubs wont be worth rebuilding, so The wheel went in the scrap pile.

fietsbob 

I have had the same S - A drum brake Hubs for JRA, on my old MTB for 30 Years .. Sturmey-Archer | X-RD
they say a 1 speed freewheel version is offered.. whole Hub shifted to the right..


Now they have a Rear cassette Hub, too
Sturmey-Archer | X-RDC

But The axle bearings still seem to be in the center . not at the far right end of the cassette driver, like Shimano Freehubs..

so I cannot say how much 'air' you can get and Not bend things, when you come back Down..

http://www.sturmey-archer.com/files/...0-%20X-RDC.pdfSturmey-Archer | X-RDC


Maintenance free Mountain Biking sounds like an Oxymoron, to me to ride off road is to Break things..




...

2manybikes

Here (New England) many of the ski slopes in the summer offer a lift with a bike on the ski lift to the top and then you ride down. Some of the slopes are a long way, even more than mile. The brakes on a MTB going down the slopes is on almost all the time. It's just a matter of how hard you brake. A coaster brake would never take the heat. This is a good application for well designed disk brakes.
Some riders will do this for most of a day over and over. There are a lot of downhill trails that need excellent brakes all over the world, that would fry coaster brakes.