legalize_it

does anyone have a coaster brake lying around willing to part with cheaply or for free?
1 spd or 3 spd....preferably something older, bendix, sturmey archer, not some newer huffy crap!

jimv

I saw some at Recycled Cycles recently. I don't know what make they are but would be happy to check them out and let you know. If it fits your needs I could grab one and send it off to you ( I live next door to a shipping place). The only caveat is that the weather is expected to be crappy until wednesday so I may not get down there until then. If the rain is light I would go sooner.

On a similar note, I was at Bikesmith today checking out their 2-speed fixed rear hub. I like singlespeed myself but I must say it was sweet.

Thanks...

Jim

legalize_it

that sounds great. let me know what they have, and take your time getting around to it. im not in any rush about it, just starting to gather parts for the next project bike!

also, if you see any front drum brakes, find out the price on that too!!!

thanks,
daniel

shecky

Bendix, Shimano, Suntour, Sachs are probably the better ones you may find. however, I'd stay away from Sturmey Archer 3 speed coasters. The braking ability of those ones seems nonexistent.

MKRG

I thought that Sturmey Archers were supposed to be good. At least that's the impression I got over in the vintage forum.

legalize_it

thanks for the heads up about the sturmey archer hubs....
im kinda looking for a bendix anyways!!!

im surprised actually, bc the regular 3spd S-A hub is pretty reliable if its been maintained...could it be that the coaster hub you used was beat up? do you have any experience with 1spd S-A hubs?

shecky

There are several Sturmey Archer coaster brake hubs. While they may function normally as 3 speed hubs, at least a couple of the coaster brake modeal are known to have serious braking defects. This seems true with the one I own (a TCW), and on the others I've tried. There are a couple problems with the brakes on these. One is that they just are pretty crappy as far as coaster brakes go. A bigger poroblem is that when braking, particularly in high gear, is even less effective because the brake is also coupled through high gear. This is kinda like giving a already poor brake even worse mechanical advantage. And a even nore dangerous problem is that these hubs, like the more common freewheel 3 speeds, can go into "neutral" between 2nd and 3rd if the cable is not adjusted correctly, which can be bad enough, but also disengages the braking ability completely, since the braking is linked through the gear train.

These hubs can still be useful if you also have at least a front brake on the bike. My Sturmey Archer coaster brake bike has a caliper on the front which helps stopping capability of the bike 300%. A rear caliper is probably not a bad idea, either. Would be silly if the coaster brake was more effective. But in this instance, it makes more sense.

Aside from the brakes, the one I own works fine. In fact, I've considered trying to disable the coaster brake completely and effectively turn it into a freewheel 3 speed. However, I've never taken one apart to observe how difficult this would be.

There does exist a AWC coaster brake model. This is a more recent design. I'm not sure when it came into being, but it's supposed to be much better than the older designs, addressing all the old problems, basically being a coaster brake version of the old reliable freewheel 3 speed, the AW. However, I've never tried or even seen these models.

legalize_it

thanks for the info!