simple_dragon

so I've been checking a few different topics on and off when I finally thought about this question and unless I'm missing an older thread or so I didn't see anyone having any relative answers for these two things yet....

are coaster brakes meant for relatively smooth routes or the good ones don't mind the occassional gentle 2km downhill ******ing regarding of frame weight?

unless I'm looking at it wrong I assume that with a typical coaster brake rear and rim/disc-front combination one could coast-brake and if at the last few feet or so it looks like the pedal would be in an akward angle position then since its only a few kph left its a simple matter of letting up on the rear and use the front alone to bring it to a full halt (and if needed hold it where it is there as well) correct?

Homebrew01

Should be fine. The front brake has the most stopping power anyway, so the rear does not contribute that much to total stopping ability. I use the rear for general slowing, and the front for hard slowing & stopping

Dahon.Steve

I had a bike with a roller brake (Bianchi Milano 7 speed) and one with a coaster brake (Sram 3 speed). Both were very good and able to stop the bike. About 95% of the time, I was able to come to a complete stop with either brake and without having to use the front brake. Using clipless pedals enables a coaster brake to stop at any point in the stroke. One good aspect was that it preserved the front brake.

Now for the bad. I found the coaster brake often creates friction and slows momentum when cycling. The situation was so bad, I had to sell the roller brake bike (Bianchi Milano) because it would slow down the bike way too much. I took my coaster brake bike, turned it upside down and rolled the rear wheel. Just as I thought, it slowed down about twice as fast as the front wheel.

I purchased a bike with a Sturmey 5 speed hub brake in front and rear. To my surprise, that bike did not have the same problems as the Nexus 7 or Sram 3 speed! I guess you can make a quality internal hub brake without sacrificing speed. By the way, I would look at the Sturmey front hub brake because it really works!

wahoonc

I use the coaster brake for speed adjustment during city riding, the front brake to hold the bike in place or for all out emergency stops.

Aaron

fietsbob

there is a quality range of coaster brake hubs ,

Recently seen Sturmey Archer-(sun race).. is selling a "Coaster brake for adults"..

They've been combining them in a Multi speed hub for some time now..

dynaryder

That's because Roller brakes are not drum brakes. SA uses drums,Rollers are unique to Shimano. Drum brakes use a lever to actuate a cam that pushes two shoes(actually brake pads,but they're referred to as 'shoes') into the inside of the drum. Rollers use a lever to actuate a central flower-shaped cam that pushes rollers(discs) outward into metal shoes,pushing them into the drum. The shoes require special high-temp grease due to the metal-on-metal contact. The grease on the parts as well as the central cam's position on the axle cause more drag than a drum brake. Roller brakes are basically cable-actuated coaster brakes.

Dahon.Steve

Very good. I didn't know this.

simple_dragon

thanks, something more for me to think about. might still see if I can't find someone to share any kind of coaster-braked bicycle just for me to try for a short time

fietsbob

Great White North? Desert Island? .. No bike Shops sell any to test ride, where you live.. ??

Dave Horne

I personally would never want to own a bike with coaster brakes.

I had to look this up to know exactly what coaster brakes were. I grew up with coaster brakes and I've always associated them with kid's bikes or low cost adult bikes.

Over here the only times I've encountered them was when the dealer loaned me a bike while my bike was in for repairs. A very simple street bike will have them and if the trips are just short ones I suppose coaster brakes would be OK.

I-Like-To-Bike

What kind of rear brakes do all those Dutch single speed bikes have? When I was visiting there seemed to be lots of coaster brake equipped bikes ridden by the Dutch people, though not by the "enthusiast" types who rode derailleur bikers, such as tourists and weekend club riders.

Also, you must not have been looking in Germany. Almost all the IGH and single speed bikes in Germany (and there are lots of 'em) are equipped with coaster brakes. I almost bought a Gazelle while living in Germany and probably should have. It was the export model, modified for German preferences. It had a seven speed IGH with coaster brakes and front hand brake. It also had the wider tires preferred by Germans 47 x622mm, rather than the 37x622mm found on the same model Gazelle sold in NL.

Rollfast

You can come to a rapid stop quite easily with a coaster. If you lose the brake cable you may only be able to lay it down or hop down to stop with your feet, which would be nasty. US and other countries' laws require new bikes to have a front hand brake. With proper maintenance the coaster will do fine. The more you can transfer to leg action instead of hand/arm, the more you are free to control the steering, which is why they were created as well as the lower maintenance factor.

There are advantages to both systems and if you don't prefer a coaster that is fine. If you research early bikes however you will likely see many coasters as well. During the balloon tire revolution it was considered a good thing to have and I also never recalled any new bikes being cheap when I was a kid, only less expensive. In the US we are spoiled silly and practically give bikes away in the classifieds and at yard sales...they are somewhat disposable to many but each one is a useful tool in the hands of someone that needs it.

JohnDThompson 

Sturmey-Archer also makes foot-actuated multi-speed coaster brake hubs, e.g. the "AWC:"

Dave Horne

A single speed bike here in Holland would more than likely have a coaster brake. For short trips (in a city for instance) they're probably just fine. I would also assume that a lot of student bikes also use coaster brakes as well.

This is a generalization but I would assume that folks over here who bike some distance either for work or just recreation probably wouldn't have coaster brakes. The only bikes I've personally encountered over here with coaster brakes were single speed bikes. I should also add that the most simple bike I've ever purchased over here, 20 years ago, was a three speed Gazelle and I'm fairly certain it had drum brakes.

I'll ask my bike dealer the next time I speak to him what the percentage of bikes he sells uses coaster brakes.

Rollfast

And SA hubs are excellent, many of us grew up with them, which is why they are still out there vs. others.

Little Darwin

I owned a bike with coaster brakes for a while back in the early 70's, and then almost immediately I upgraded to an SA 3 speed... Maybe it is because I never used a coaster brake regularly, but I find them cumbersome.

But, if they suit your riding style, they should stop you as well as any other rear brake... but I would run them with a front brake, for better braking, plus redundancy in case of rear brake failure, or chain problems.

dynaryder

But nowhere near as fast as you can with a front brake,or as controllable as a bike with two brakes.
Braking and Turning Your Bicycle

Um,what? If you have brakes on both ends this isn't an issue. Had a guy bring his wife's cruiser into my clinic. It was coaster only and he said she had dropped the chain before. I highly recommended that he install a front brake as well. DC is very hilly,and running a coaster only/brakeless fixed is a Very Bad Idea.

Ok,you just made that up. Motorcycles have their throttle,front brake,and clutch controlled by your hands;ever see a racer go around a track at 200mph? The idea that somehow having to use controls with both hands and steer a bike at the same time makes it less controllable is ludicrous.