bikemig 

One of my projects this summer is to build a dedicated winter commuter. I know that disc brakes are more or less the gold standard when it comes to winter riding. I'm curious whether anyone has used a rear coaster brake? I'm thinking of converting a rigid mtb into a winter commuter. It's pretty old and has cantis in the front and a u-brake in the rear. I've been thinking of building up a rear wheel using a 2 speed hub with a coaster brake.

Leebo

The coaster brakes usually do not have god modulation, ie locking up the rear wheel.

TampaRaleigh

I've been riding for the last couple months on a Sturmey-Archer S2C rear wheel and LOVE it. I haven't had any problem with unintentional lockups.

Being in Florida, I can't say how it does for winter riding.

Angelis

Rode a bit last winter with a coaster rear brake. It was on my beach cruiser/klunker. I had studded tires and a nice low centre of gravity; seemed to work just fine. It did lock up fairly easily though.

dynaryder

Rode my old Swobo Otis(fr disc,r coaster) through the snow a couple times. Was glad to have the disc up front. If you're somewhere flat it might do ok if you keep the speed down. But if you have hills I would def run a front brake.

Also,were you looking at the auto hubs? Good info on the SRAM here, with links to the SA. Doesn't sound like they're sealed well enough for winter use.

xuwol7

Converted an old Peugeot mtb for winter commuting, single speed with this wheel and tire:

https://www.amazon.com/Wheel-Master-2.../dp/B004E3UKCM

https://www.rakuten.com/prod/nokian-s...ngId=289790380

Coaster brakes are easy to get used to and it don't have to be an all or nothing skid fest.
I even use toe clips and straps, You may want to run at least a front brake (I don't but when your chain breaks learn to stop the rear wheel fred flintstone style lol)

Wilfred Laurier

a coaster brake is fine for the rear
but for regular riding in traffic
you need some type of front brake
and the front brake should be your main brake

chriskmurray

A friend of mine rode down Pikes Peak (14k feet) all the way into Colorado Springs (6k ft) on a bike with nothing more than a rear coaster brake and it did just fine. With all the marketing BS out there it is easy to forget that even though nice, that stuff is not always needed.

I will mention, panic stops and stopping on ice are not strong points of a coaster brake so defintally have a front brake and use it when you must quickly stop. The 2 speed kickback hub is great btw.

dynaryder

Wait,what? Are you saying front brakes are marketing hype? Cuz that's just crazy. The majority of your braking ability lies in the front brake.

bikemig 

Yeah, I'm planning on running front and rear brakes; the coaster is a third brake. I just think those 2 speed kickback hubs are cool. I can run the frame either with discs or cantis; it's a surly 1 x 1 frame. I know discs are the gold medal standard for winter braking but I was wondering whether a coaster brake might work also because I'd like the 2 speed hub (there are some short climbs on my commute).

chriskmurray

Not at all. "so defintally have a front brake and use it when you must quickly stop"

Front brakes are good, marketing hype is saying that you must use disc brakes. They are nice for sure, but in no way a "need"

Wilfred Laurier

i dont know if there are any disc compatible hubs with coaster brakes
so you will likely need to use cantilever or some other rim brake on the rear
if you want three brakes

but that is just fine
a properly set up and maintained rim brake is totally acceptable on the front or rear
anything in addition to that is just gravy
although not totally necessary on the rear as just about any type of brake can lock it up

dynaryder

Why would you want a third brake? If you've got the coaster,having another rear brake would just add cost and complication. Also,you do realize that if you're using a kickback w/coaster,that every time you use the coasterbrake you're also shifting gears?

fietsbob

I've been using a Sturmey Archer Drum Brake Hubset for 20+ years .. needed Zero Maintenance..
other than a spoke or 2.. replaced freewheel..

Their smooth Modulation a real benefit when the roads are Icy under the studded tires.

I have them on an Old stumpjumper MTB ... ignored the Canti Brake Bosses..

SA has nice IGH 3 and 5 speed Hubs with drum brakes , and a combo Dyno/drum hub
for the long dark, season..

turbo1889

My thoughts on the OP's question and what has been discussed so far:

#1 ~ Not all coaster brakes are created equal, some have very little modulation and like to lock up right away others are much better with a long smooth back stroke of variable resistance that you can feel. Some are well sealed and keep the wet and road goop out, others are not.

#2 ~ Depending on the winter conditions you experience in your area rim brakes for winter riding ca be a very bad idea contrary to what at least one poster has stated. Using rim brakes in the winter under the conditions I experience in my local means that about 40% of the time in the winter conditions I ride in the rims get coated with enough half frozen goop that braking action can be delayed by anywhere from 1 to about 20 seconds from when the brakes are applied until they actually start to slow the bike down. That is way, way, way too much margin to be safe and that isn't even mentioning the 5% or so of the time when the actual brake mechanism gets packed with goop and freezes solid so absolutely nothing happens when you pull the brake handles because the brake arms are frozen up solid. That can still happen with mechanical disk brakes but is considerably less of a problem because the disk brake and caliper at the center of the hub isn't in the direct line of fire for constantly getting coated with half frozen road goop. Although far from ideal if I didn't have access to disk brakes (many years ago that was the case) I would use a bike that at least had a good coaster brake as a back up in addition to the rim brakes and I would constantly apply the rim brakes every few minutes to keep them and the rims from icing up too badly and creating too long of a delay in braking action when they are needed. Been there done that, don't just expect and count on rim brakes to work on demand in winter riding conditions, if you do it will be a matter of when not if you have an accident do to delayed or inoperable frozen up brakes.

bikemig 

Are you running this as a single speed or as a 3 (plus) speed in the rear with some sort of tensioner? Drum brakes seem like a really good option for an old mtb.

fietsbob

Mine is a 20+ year old UK made Sturmey *Elite , a 7 speed freewheel hub in back

*sealed cartridge axle bearings .. Now SA has a Cassette version Too..


Ive got them on a dropout repaired MTB frame with long horizontal slot dropouts

so I could run an IGH..


but for now its a Triple crank & 6 or 7 speed freewheel set..

got All weather sports [Fairbanks AK ] Snow Cat (45mmwide) Rims, and Nokian Mount and Ground W tires on it ..



Snow and ice on the coast is not annual occurrence, but the funnel of the Columbia Gorge does bring
East of the Cascades Interior frigid air-masses out here occasionally..

howeeee

that is correct,,,you to do it again to get back to the gear you were in,,,lol