Argh! Coaster Brake Hub fucked

Okay, so its another of those my mate threads...

But it really is for a mate. But no matter if you do or don't believe me. She has this cheap shitty bike. One of those fairly cheap modern sit up and beg rips off from ebay. Any how. It has a coaster brake, a cheapy one. The hub is fucked. The wheel wobbles, but not the axel. Its like the outer shell of the hub is loose and moves. Similarly the sprocket moves when I give it a gentle tug.

The problem is I don't have a fucking clue how these hubs work or what is connected to what, and a quick googling and left me no clearer. In particular I have no clue what that odd handle thing is on the opposite side of the hub to the sprocket, and is it meant to be bolted to one of the chain stays.

Your help is really needed on every level.
I'm falling apart, and so is the hub!

If I can work this out I really want to make one for me. Not that I have any need for it, but it would be fun...

take it to bikefix. they'll sort it properly, no use fucking around and making a mess of a coaster brake IMO.

they have replacements for sale really cheap too

a friend of a friend's was asked by a girl he vaguely knew to help her service her bike. (this is one of those emoxfag stories..)

he was keen to get to know her and a nice guy so he said he'd do it. He serviced the bike, and noticed that she needed new brake pads. So he replaced them, not realising that he'd put them in backwards...

first time she rides the bike, hits the brakes, the pads come clean out and she crashes :-(

I don't think he saw her again

just rebuild the wheel with a proper hub or just replace the wheel.
coaster brakes are an epic fail IMO (flame me if u feel i need it)

Haha. Not the tidal wave of replies I had expected.
Thanks any way.

I'll pass on the bike fix knowledge fred. I had hoped it was summit I could sort :(

You need to get hold of a Velosteel Coaster Brake Hub - best that are out there, and not prone to epic fail.

http://www.bikefix.co.uk/index.php?unique=47407802fa75d1de393c6dbf8a962c98&get_ol_id=6&get_gl_id=68&get_sgl_id=194

http://www.londonfgss.com/thread9577.html

http://www.londonfgss.com/thread5007.html

If you are east, pop it to my workshop at the weekend and ill be happy to go through it with you.

It is all pretty simple inside there. May just be a case of re greasing the contacts and making sure the cones are tight enough... but obviously not too tight.

The brake arm should be attached to the chain stay with a little p clip, if this isn't there then there is nothing limiting the brake so it can bind up pretty easily.

All coaster hubs work in the same way, its just that some are more reliable than others.

take it to bikefix. they'll sort it properly, no use fucking around and making a mess of a coaster brake IMO.

they have replacements for sale really cheap too

I vouch for them, they're fucking great for the money, had it on my girlfriend bike and it's perfect.

coaster brakes are an epic fail IMO (flame me if u feel i need it)

if you want to go brakeless, coaster brakes are the best thing to go for, safer than a brakeless fixed wheel bicycles too.

matt: Where abouts are you based? I work weekends though. Unless you are free evenings?

VV: I'm not sure she will want to spend the money. I know its not that much, but still. Plus she is about too move to Berlin.

Ed: Thanks. I'll defo send her in that direction.

I do think its a case of the shittest hub ever in the world being fitted, and now falling apart. The whole fecking behemoth only cost £70 new. Whats up with that shit?

Sorry to dredge this up, but it seems like the right line of enquiry based on the previous answers.
I have a new velosteel coaster on my weird cruiser thing, it was brand new and only been up te road and back on the bike.

The sprocket and the bit that the sprocket is attached to wobbles about, I can't wind the cone in on the sprocket side any more to tighten it as it hits a shoulder on the axle. It becomes solid at the point when it would engage and turn the wheel, but on back pedaling it become wobbly again, then solid at the point the brake engages. I'm sure the whole thing was solid yesterday, you can wobble the wheel on the axle when it is on the bike, the axle is not bent or anything.

It seems on the other side there a few spacers after the arm, then a thin nut, that I cannot untighten, looks to be some kind of locktite in there, I was thinking I could undo the nut, and wind this side on, pulling the axle tight against the bearing on the sprocket side.

Really puzzling, as it is all new and the bearings are in pefect condition inside.

Welcome to the club

https://www.lfgss.com/thread44955.html#post1483493

Welcome to the club

https://www.lfgss.com/thread44955.html#post1483493

Sounds like it!

The play is definately down to not being able to tighten the cone against the bearings on the drive side, which seems odd as thae stupid massive cone/nut thing is fully wound in when sent brand new.
I'm going to take it apart tommorrow and try and undo the other side to get some more thread to play with.
I honestly must have managed less than a mile on it before this happened!

Ah, fixed it.
If you get the shitty multi-tool that you get with the hub, slot the little square bit over the drive side if the axle, get a fuck off big spanner and screw off the arm side nut about 3 turns, use the arm to tighten that side in and check the wobble on the dirve side, it will go, but then start to bind like a normal hub, so it needs to have a bit of play.
Sadly, the ride up the road with it sloppy has resulted in my axle bending! anyone got a spare axle for a velosteel?

Ha! Bad luck, eh?
If re-lacing the whole wheel wasn't such a pain, perhaps it would be better to try a different hub (like Shimano)?

This might only be relevant to Shimano coasters, but a little tip I picked up accidently after the bearings cage in my Shimano E110 coaster hub disintegrated on Kentish Town high st and sent bits of twisted metal into the workings...
Coasters are supposed to have a little bit of play in them so the wheel wobbles only very slightly on the axle. This is because you can only tighten the cone down so far on the drive side before it hits the bearings cage and starts to bind. If you lose the cage and repack the hub with more bearings you can tighten that cone down to remove the play completely and have a smoother spinning wheel altogether. If I wasn't sick of putting this thing together so many times since I got it I'd probably do the same to the bearing on the other side. As it is, it ain't broke, so I'm not fixing.

anyone tell me what grease to use to pack a coaster hub? know there is specific coaster hub grease but can you use automotive LM grease?

Any high temp grease is fine, such as lithium grease. (castrol LM is partly lithium grease + some soap agents)
Grease is pretty much.. greasy. Coming from an automitive background, I use copper grease on anything that could seize, lithium on anything that moves.

Hey guys! I built a Ventura coaster brake hub into a 26" rim for my winter bike, it was running ok then today it started making a funny clicking noise, definatly coming from the hub, only when i pedal. Anyone have any idea whats up/ experience with this sort of thing?

please help me. please. please. please.

Mine was clicking when I bent the axle, it bent slightly because I rode it around with a bit of play in it. I failed to study the finer points of tightening up coaster brakes.

Usually though, creaking or clicking will be down to lack of grease, so repack it full of grease, I tend to regrease the my hub if it gets too hot from over use.