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I've been failing to rebuild an old Raleigh Caprice for the missus since last year, the idea is to assemble an easy to use bike with a step through frame that she can't break or get confused by. Originally I had planned to kit it out with F&R drum brakes and use a 5 speed sturmey hub I picked up...
But recently I've been toying with ditching gears from the project all together, just giving her a low single ratio (she's only going to ride flat paths on it) and possibly even going for a coaster brake hub on the back, still with a drum on the front...
So coaster Brakes? What's good, what's bad?
I see shimano's CB-E110 Coaster Brake Hub pop up cheap all over the place, is that a good or terrible sign?
I've put a coaster brake and 3 speed hub combo on my commuter bike recently. My natural inclination is to back pedal to position the cranks for moving off or hopping up curbs etc, so it's taking a bit of getting used to. Lots of little close shaves as I stand up to weight shift a bit and skid the back wheel unintentionally. 😁
If that's not going to be a problem for your missis they are an effective brake because the long crank arm gives decent leverage.
Shimano coaster brakes are great.
Used by me and all of Denmark, Holland etc.
SJS do adaptors if you don't have a wee tab to attach the torsion arm to.
Alternatively - have a look at the Sturmey 2-speed coaster kick-back hub. Cable-less shifting for the win - but probably not what your wife actually wants 😉
https://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/products/detail/s2c-silver
If you're used to them, great. If you're not, then they're a right pain in the arse as you can't backpedal to get your pedals in the right spot.
I hate them, millions of Americans and Europeans like them. Also great if you've got limited hand capabilities.
Oh and don't worry about them being cheap. Shimano make commuter bike stuff like dynamo hubs and drum brakes that we rarely see here but they sell in huge quantities in Europe and to a low price point and decent quality. That's why they are cheap.
As people have said, just take a bit to get used to/remember it’s there. Not likely an issue if you wife only rides one bike. Have one on a pub cruiser bike I have, and love it. Occasionally bites me though on the way back from the pub if enough shandy’s have been consumed 😀.
My natural inclination is to back pedal to position the cranks for moving off or hopping up curbs etc, so it’s taking a bit of getting used to.
That's a fair point, she may well not take to the back pedal action...
The main goal is to simplify the controls, she's not good with shifters so going to a lower than normal SS ratio makes sense...
I've looked at the sturmey S2 for me before but I think the combination of backpedal braking and kick-shifting might be a bit much for my missus.
I did look about for an old SRAM automatix as they did that with a coaster brake version before it was discontinued, but any examples knocking about seem to be on the pricey side.
The front runner for a SS/drum brake hub is the Sturmey X-RD at present...
The main goal is to simplify the controls
IMO if you didn't learn to ride a bike with a coaster brake then its presence actually makes things more complicated not less.
Molgrips makes a fair point. One brake on each hand really couldn't be more intuitive.
How about a shimano roller brake. Left and right brake levers for familiarity, not sure if you can get a s/s hub for them though.
Yeah I'm coming round to that idea, I think I was half looking at 'interesting' ideas I'd maybe like to try, I shouldn't really experiment on my wife...
Already got a drum brake wheel for the front, just need to build/buy one for the rear...
I used to go on holiday to the German side of the family quite often. I would borrow a bike and coaster brakes were the norm. I can't say I ever found a problem adapting. For pootling about the back pedal thing isn't really an issue.
SRAM did an automatic hub geared hub for a few years, might be worth a look. I seem to remember it was coaster compatible
For pootling about the back pedal thing isn’t really an issue.
It was for me even pootling.
What's the spacing on the rear dropouts?
Most coasters are 120mm, and the Sturmey Archer SS drum brake hub I built up a couple of years ago was 130mm as far as I recall.
I fitted it to a 135 as frame and just pulled the dropouts in by 5mm on each side. Worked very well.
Coaster brakes, lethal if you are used to back pedaling for any reason. But the joy of fakies not having to reverse pedal.