Coaster brakes- Cruisers, klunkers and fun havers

As the title says coaster brakes only. Preferably on bikes not meant to have them, possibly used in situations leaving the rider under biked. But always there for fun to be had.
My recent contributions:

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Had been riding this fixed but switched to a coaster and I kind of hate to say it but, it’s so much more fun.

Did 57 miles on it yesterday.

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Its totally fun. That build is rad .

Need to get used to the wooden on/off nature of the braking again.

I have had coasters for a while, the one on my schwinn klunker is pretty modded up with a heatsink, loose bearings, chamfered pads etc but it’s been a while since I had one on something with tyres this skinny so have been getting taken by surprise with how easily it locks up!

Modding coasters is also an interesting, i mostly run the Shimano ones, but have not cracked them open to fiddle with the bits. Maybe this is the place for such ideas. Also have 650B with a vintage Austrian hub that works surprisingly well. At least have not died yet lol.

I’d say,

Bearings - definitely worth doing.
Axle upgrade - if you need a longer axle then go for the best you can get, otherwise I wouldn’t bother upgrading from the stock axle.
Pad chamfer - not entirely sure I’ve noticed any difference.
Heatsink - definitely helps if the hub is your only method of braking.

Only time I’ve ridden a coaster was on a generic American cruiser thing. Was a slow but awesome ride, love the power slide action on dirt.

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What are those

Generally use shimano cb-110 hubs. What are you swapping with bearings?also have to run a front brake here by law. I generally do to avoid the hassle but even as a bigger dude don’t have much trouble as it’s pretty flat. But I have 4 trashed velosteel hubs in the basement. Wonder if they are even worth trying to fix/practice on.

Yeah cb110 is my hub of choice too.

With the bearings it’s the ones on the drive side, both sets, replace the caged bearings with as many loose balls as you can fit in. One set takes all the force of driving and the other all the force of braking so more bearings = better distribution of forces.

I think the velosteel hubs are quite different inside, a bit more fiddly to service and IMO don’t work as well. HiStop are (supposedly) a clone of the Shimano hub and can use Shimano innards.

I used to have a three speed Sachs coaster hub that was amazing. I never serviced it and it just plugged away. Gears were really positive and the brake worked as well as a cb110.

Yeah the older ones are pretty good. I have an older on that has a lot of side to side play? But seems to be just super loose tolerance but locks up super tight for big tire skids lol

From the forum

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I have an older on that has a lot of side to side play? But seems to be just super loose tolerance but locks up super tight for big tire skids lol

Does it just need the cones adjusting? In that respect they are no more complicated than a standard hub, it’s once you take the guts out that they start getting tricky but even then not really.

Maybe, I have not had a chance to check

This is Rad! Definitely looks like a fun haver.

For me it is the perfect combination of klunk, fun, wank, rat and functional. Definitely a fun haver!

Double post

Finally got this put back together for real, but think I over tightened rear hub cones …

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My Surly Karate Monkey coaster. Brilliant fun but way too many bikes means the frame and wheels will be for sale….:(

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKwTKeLCs7A

Klunking - Mountain Bike Racing - 1979 - Steve Fox

Here's my Heretic Coaster set up on a Gitane track frame...so much fun!! Available btw..
Thanks for looking

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Just built up this Peugeot klunker, makes the commute so much fun!

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What type of front hub is that?

One of those hub brake ones, just without the bracing arm!