FBinNY 

I only own one bike with them, namely the Dahon folder I use as my "get around" bike. If I had a choice, it would be a single speed freewheel with 2 caliper brakes, but it was free and this beggar doesn't choose.

I keep cursing the lack of a front brake, but the bike doesn't see all that much use, so I'm too lazy to source a brake with the right reach.

Among my beefs against coaster brakes, is the reality that stopping distance without a front brake is outrageously long.

But my real objection is about stopping and starting. You have to orient the pedals to stop, stopping with the rear foot and putting the forward foot to the ground. That means you then have to switch feet to start off.

This isn't a big deal except to someone who's been riding with freewheels for 50+ years, and I've been trying to tweak the system by stopping and quickly putting the rear foot to the ground before I fall. Unfortunately I live in a hilly area, and rarely get to stop on the level. So, today, I gave it another shot, but when I released the brake to plant the foot, the bike rolled and sure enough I fell causing injury to my pride, along with some small loss of skin in places that have had this happen all too often.

As I said, I hate coaster brakes, and when I wake up tomorrow with bloodstained sheets, I'll have another reason to hate them

Dan Burkhart 

Ha ha. I hear ya. Not a big fan myself. I only have one bike with a coaster brake. It's a Sturmey Archer S2C, and while the brake is adequate on the street, I have almost gotten myself in trouble with it on some steep off road grades.
I will fit a front brake to it one of these days, and certainly before I take it down any more big hills.

BobbyG

I haven't ridden a coaster brake bike in 30 years. Now I'm curious to try it! (probably will encounter the same results as you)

Reynolds 

I don't like them either. Only plus is clean, no-cables looks.

Wanderer

My first "mine only " (after the shared 20" balloon tired Schwinn) was an old balloon tired LaSalle, that my dad paid $2 for on the way home from the train. I put tires (knobbies because they were cool) and tubes on it and rode it all over, for about 4 years. Then got a new Schwinn American (middleweight), in brand new shiny red, after saving lawn mowing money for 2 years. Cost me $62. Put a knobbie on the back of that one too, as soon as the back tire wore out!

Kept the LaSalle for my paper route bike............ and the Schwinn was my sport bike until I went in the Army! After the Army, came marriage, and a pair of Schwinn Suburbans, 5 speeds, WOW!

They both had coaster brakes, and I never knew anything was wrong with them! Bikes are what set me free!

Wish I had them both, right now!

Sy Reene

Install clipless pedals. That way, if you're manly enough, you can brake by just pulling up/reverse if you have to, with either foot no matter where it is.

indyfabz

I love rock and roll. So put another dime in the coaster brake.

"and when I wake up tomorrow with bloodstained sheets,"

Reminds me of reading "The Godafther." There was a mention of that after Michael's wedding in Sicily.

wipekitty

I had a very brief love affair with coaster brakes, coinciding with my very brief love affair with old Schwinn cruisers and overlapping with my much longer (and still ongoing) love affair with fixed gear bicycles modified for road use. I thought it might be fun to build up a single speed road bike with a coaster brake, thus retaining the clean aesthetic of a brakeless wonder but without the safety concerns. I went as far as buying a cheap coaster hub, with the goal of building up a wheel. This did not happen.

My love affair passed when I realized that coaster brakes are not much fun: same foot positioning problems while stopping as a fixed gear, but with the added difficulty of needing pressure on the pedals to keep the thing stopped. I still have a '67 Schwinn Breeze with a coaster brake, but I mainly keep it around as a loaner.

If anyone is in need of a coaster hub that weighs probably 50 lbs, let me know.

JonathanGennick 

Coaster brakes defined normal for me while growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s, because mom wasn't into wasting her money on those temperamental geared bikes with their skinny tires and wires all over the place. Back then, my Schwinn Typhoon coaster brakes actually worked better than any of my friends' rim brakes. I don't remember rim brakes being good at all back in the day.

Fast-forward to last week, and I almost face-planted while giving my daughter's bike a quick ride around the parking lot. Stood up to coast and must have shifted my foot backward w/o even thinking. Probably what saved me was my foot lifting back up as my weight shifted forward. The irony is that my intent on that little ride was to test out the front handbrake that I had just put on for my daughter.

sfh

This summer, I was in Amsterdam for a few weeks and rode a coaster brake bike for the first time in decades. Be careful if you give it a try. If you are one (like me) who starts the dismount while slowing to a stop, that gets interesting really fast with coaster brakes!

jefnvk

I had a coaster bike, a Schwinn Collegiate, it also had a front brake. I rarely used the coaster.

But yeah, stopping and starting was a PITA. It was pretty much relegated to tooling around the apartment complex duty. Only other time I've use them (after the age of seven or so) was on rentals, never a fan.

Reynolds 

And in the film, Woltz - but "bloodstained" would be an understatement in his case...

fietsbob

Band brakes Can combine the worst aspects of marginal quality and poor operation.

One of the customers took 1 of the shop's rental bikes, a coaster brake beach cruiser...typically used by the river shore, bike path

up to the 'column' highest vista point - park , in town and smoked the 10 dollar chinese hub..

You think about quality collapse in comparison with the New departure, 'repack' hubs , on old mount Tam..

that were not single, though abused use, disposables.




...

55murray

All of you are, simply not worthy

corrado33

I'm pretty sure most coaster brakes aren't band brakes... right? Most have shoes that get pushed out against a cylinder. Where as a band brake (if I recall correctly) is simply a band wrapped around a cylinder and to brake you tighten the band. And aren't band brakes used on mopeds? I would imagine if they're good for mopeds they'd be fine for bikes.

Anyway, seriously, you guys are all a bunch of wusses. Coaster brakes are fine. They allow no handed operation of the bike. A 2 speed kick shift with a coaster brake is even better. You can shift AND stop with just your feet. Yes, it's mildly annoying that you have to position your feet when you stop. The way to get around that is to ride very slowly (slow down first with the brake, then ride slowly enough that you don't need a brake to stop) when you approach the stop then simply put your foot out when your forward foot is in the right position. It takes a bit of practice, but it's really not that bad. Not any worse than practicing track standing. Would I take one down the side of a mountain? No, that's not what they're made for, but otherwise they're fine.

JonathanGennick 

In flat-ish areas I think they can work well. I had no trouble growing up in Detroit w/a coaster brake.

Geometry of the bike can help too. An upright seating position can help keep your weight over the rear tire.

Crashola

Coaster brakes on a 70's banana bike in the rural US were the bomb. Locking up that rear wheel and doing a hockey stop was a blast and looked cool as hell. Especially on gravel!

Milton Keynes

Same here, probably mid-80's when I got out of junior high school and abandoned my banana seat Western Flyer bike for a Schwinn 10-speed.

My son, though, likes his coaster brake and when we were shopping for a new bike for him, he didn't want one with a front hand brake. I think he was afraid of flipping over, but I was hoping he'd learn how to use hand brakes.

SquidPuppet

I LOVE my coaster brake bikes.

Stopping on hills is never a problem. I dismount once stopped, no need to continue applying the brakes. Proper re-start foot position is already established.

Positioning my feet and pedals for my re-start is effortless. I don't even think about it, my feet are just programmed to do it before I come to a stop.

I can apply the brakes with either foot. Left foot for right turns and vice versa.

I can apply the brakes at any crank position other than 12:00.

My coaster brake bikes are stealthy silent when coasting. I like that. The swarm of insect noise is so passe. I have a bell if I need to announce my presence.

Far less coasting drag than all those nasty pawls too.

My coaster brakes don't care if it rains, they still function at 100% of their ability.

I never need to adjust toe in or lube or adjust caliper pivots.

My coaster brakes don't destroy the sidewalls of my expensive rims. My black rims remain black. My polished rims retain their mirror polish and aren't covered with brake dust.

The pads never drag on the rotors and I never need to bleed them.

My coaster brake hubs are lighter than an expensive track hub + freewheel + caliper + lever + cable.

With an OLD of 110mms, my coaster brake rear wheels create far less air drag than an obese roadie or disc hub.

Thank you Shimano.

Darth Lefty 

I tried one over the last year or so. My reflexes weren't right for it, and I got injured.

The hub was a Shimano 3-speed, so at least its quality was not in question.

canklecat

Work on your foot callouses and Fred Flinstone braking.

SquidPuppet

Option 1. Free. Cold set the frame if it's steel. Doesn't get any more precise and sanitary than that.

option 2. Almost free. Capture a 5 or 10mm axle spacer (or stacked washers) between each cone and it's lock nut. Stays put, damn near invisible.

BobbyG

There was that one time my grade school buddy and I did "hockey stops" on a wet, grassy ball field. We'd pedal until out hearts were about to burst and then slid sideways for what seemed like miles!

SquidPuppet

Metallurgists and frame builders tell me it's 100% safe. I'm warm and fuzzy with it.

For every bike I build I remove the reaction arm and custom bend to exactly match the position and angle of that specific chain stay. I do that so that so that it is centered and the clamp lines up perfectly. I do that even if I don't use spacers.

Do these "Look ridiculous"? 8mms on one and 10mms on the other. Which one is which?

SquidPuppet

Another luxurious location to play drifting games is the smooth red dirt on a baseball diamond.