Coaster brakes were invented for wood wheels---and they remain the very best brake for wood wheels.
But a good bendix single red band hub(bendix 76 is also OK) would be the very best hub you could git for this build because there are 1000s of them ,great chrome hubs for a good look,and most important---lots of replacement brake blocks avalible!Overhaul takes about 30min if your slow.---sam PS stay away from any english coaster!

Did you 'repack' the hub when it started to seize up?

I guess the other thing too is that I like how a fixed gear bike perpetuates momentum differently than a freewheeling or coasting bike. Did anyone who made the switch notice they were having a harder time going up hills?

I guess we lost interest in this one huh? I was hoping to get some more stats or pics if anyone has any other stories about riding coaster brake on a fixed frame. The other stuff that people have said sounds good and is nice.

I built up an old Flandria as a WWI era scorcher lookalike with a 27" coaster brake. I wanted it "clean" (no cables). The coaster brake is NOS but about 50yrs old, never laced to a wheel. The bike rides great but the brake is almost worthless, even after repacking. The hub looks like it's very high quality, maybe nickel plated. I can lock up the rear wheel if I'm not going very fast and use enough pressure but I have to anticipate stops, which kinda sucks.

I too have been thinking of building one of these. It will be my first step into any kind of road/street bike. This post has been very helpful, now I just need to find a frame...

This is mine - at the time it had 26 inch wheels (but not any more) and was being bombarded by love rays from heaven (still is).

I'm a big fan of this type of bike, and of coaster brake bikes generally, especially for poking around in a place like NYC.

Good way to have nice clean looking bike without going brakeless. Other than that not quite as fun as a fixed gear in my opinion.

Best wishes,
Dr. Hans

My primary city ride: Steamroller frame w/coaster rear.
Rides like a dream, but needs a front brake for winter.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...coaster700.jpg

Nice, Nice! That's what I'm talkin' about. Now, I've got a Pista myself (go ahead, make fun of me) and I thought it would look nice with a coaster. I don't know why the coaster brake bikes aren't more popular or as popular as fixed gear bikes. It makes more sense, right?

The main reason is that no major manufacturer currently sells a good quality 700c coaster wheel or complete bike. Also, no real improvements have been made in coaster brake technology in basically ever.

I think they will become more popular than they currently are, especially when the trendy fixers move on to something else and get rid of or coasterize their bikes.

A 700c coaster makes more sense for me, but they aren't any better or worse than fixed. It is totally a matter of personal preference.

I think the bikes the use for the "Little Five" Races at Indiana Univ. are Coaster bikes. Pretty sure they are IROC style, where everyone gets the same type of bike. I have also heard that after the race these bikes sell real cheap. I am going to try to get my hands on one next year in April.

They are. It's just that they're more popular with bike riders rather than bicycle enthusiasts.

The Little 500 bike is even more up my alley. I'd just as soon give up three piece cranks for a one piece if a reasonable frame came out that would support the BB size.

Thanks for the info!
http://www.nycbikes.com/images/items/_353_1.jpg

I ordered those today. Could't resist the price. I can't do fixed right now due to the tender knee but I hate the look of my bike with brakes on it.

i used to have a 2-speed bendix coaster on my bike. in that odd quarter turn of nothingness when you apply the brake, it shifts into a lower/higher gear. it was tight.

I just found these spokes which look like they will adapt the 12g hube to 14g rims

http://www.sapim.be/index.php?st=pro...&detail=butted

These are butted spokes, 2.3mm at the head, but go down to 2.0mm for the body.

Most of the spokes I have broken were at the head.

Bringing this thread back because I'm definitely going to switch over to a coaster...after riding about 800 miles fixed since the end of July my knees are starting to hurt...especially after 2 hour riding sessions.

So...basically what I found was a Shimano coaster brake hub that Seattle Bike Supply sells which I wanted to lace to some Velocity Deep Vs. After that I'm lost. I know someone mentioned spoke gauge. Do you think I'd have to buy special spokes in order to do this also?

Some coaster brake hubs - those made for BMX bikes etc. had super big holes to accomodate fat spokes (sorry, I don't recall the different hole diameters offhand). Most of the Shimanos that you would buy new would have the "normal" spoke holes. Even the "normal" spoke holes are pretty large though. You can build those up with regular spokes, but you will increase spoke life if you take measures - I recommend using DT spoke washers under the spoke heads, which are made specifically for this purpose. I have built coaster wheels with and without this precaution, though, and both methods worked just fine.

Best wishes,
Dr. Hans

<<I'm thinking of building up a 700c rear coaster brake wheel for my track frame. Anyone ever done this before or have insight into why it might be a bad idea, asthetics aside?>>

Bad idea IMO. Probably no worse though than riding a fixie without a front brake on the road.

Try this. Remove the the front brake from your road bike. If you enjoy riding with that ammount of braking then that is what you should expect.

A while back I ripped around wrecklessly on my 1939 elgin through a parking lot. when I needed to brake I had to shift my weight behind the seat and pray. The problem was not modulation or strength but just not enough tire.

Being the tire is about 3 inches across on the fattie the problem would even be more pronounced on a skinny tire.

From experience the bendix does not have the modulation or quality or older units but is lighter.

Should I take advice from a meatwad? hahaha, jk.

I was the one who had to use fatter tandem spokes because the holes in my shimano hub were 'roomy'. It cost a couple extra bucks, but the wheel has worked flawlessly for me. Thicker spokes are also a good idea considering how much extra stress is put on them by a hub brake as compared to a conventional rim brake.

It would work either way, but I feel better having the larger spokes.

meatwad makes a great point about the skinny rear tire braking. I personally am not usually comfortable riding a bike without a front brake. Anecdotally, i find coaster brake wheels with fat tires offer better braking than coaster brake wheels with skinny tires. But there are variables such as frame geometry and wheel diameter that are not accounted for.

It seems, however, a coaster brake would offer at least as good braking as any brakeless fixie with a good rider.

I was originally thinking of going for a coaster, but because fixed gear seems to require a whole different riding style(which intruiges me) and the lack of newer and readily available coaster hubs and the rumors that you will just burn through those rear brakes in no time, lead me to choose to try a fixed gear first.