6 ms·

Where is all this love for coaster brakes coming from?! They are, IMHO, one of the worst brakes ever. They have caused me numerous spills and scraped knees (d

• andrewshadura 15d ago
  Incorrect. They're perfect for everyday utility cycling. You just need to learn to use them properly.
  • switchbak 15d ago
    Personally, I wouldn't want to ride a bike with only rear brakes - or do you also have a front brake with these?
    • fransje26 15d ago
      > or do you also have a front brake with these? No, not necessarily. I've been using bikes with only rear brakes for years and years as city bikes, and never had a braking problem. On the other hand, I've borrowed many bikes with conventional rim brakes and invariably had (serious) braking issues because they would be badly adjusted.
      • switchbak 13d ago
        I've had cars pull out in front of me, giving me less than a second to stop. A rear brake in that scenario would just skid, and I'd be in a world of hurt. For that matter anything but a pair of high-end brakes would have put me in serious jeopardy. I agree rim brakes are terrible and typically very hard to set up properly. Also they're really bad in the rain, and especially when the rims can freeze. Personally I'm a disc brake guy, either hydraulic or mechanical. My road bike's mechanical disc's have only needed an adjustment every few years, and the odd set of pads. I've been a mountain biker for decades, so a preference for disc brakes is understandable. A distant second to that would be a very nice set of V brakes, with the aforementioned problems.
• brikym 15d ago
  They're legally required in a lot of countries on small kids bikes and not easy to disable. I think the argument is that kids lack the strength to operate a hand brake effectively. Experts all seem to say that coaster brakes are terrible for safety and learning though.
  • andrew_lettuce 15d ago
    Hand strength is an issue with cheap, adult sized cable hand brakes but not an issue with smaller levers or even the cheapest hydraulic brakes. The kids bikes that require them ate also made of mild steel and with more than my Enduro bike. Don't buy a cheap, department store kids bike. You can get multiple kids through a quality bike and still sell it for like $100 less than you paid.
• andrew_lettuce 15d ago
  I agree with you, coaster brakes suck. And losing your brakes if the chains drops is really serious, especially because it tends to happen when you need brakes the most. Cable disc brakes have come a very long way and there are some decent models that require very little maintenance and work great. Also for every skid you get on a coaster brake I'll raise you a nose Endo with the front disc brake!
  • TacticalCoder 15d ago
    > Also for every skid you get on a coaster brake I'll raise you a nose Endo with the front disc brake! This guy fox!
  • Hobadee 15d ago
    > Also for every skid you get on a coaster brake I'll raise you a nose Endo with the front disc brake! I can slam on my front disc brakes and not endo. Step 1: shift your weight all the way to the back. (hang off the back of the seat). Step 2: have front suspension. Weight shift is mostly enough on its own, but front suspension eats up whatever endo tendency is left.
• TacticalCoder 15d ago
  We used to call coaster brakes "torpedo" when I was a kid and, yup, they're totally horrible. If you've got coaster brakes I don't even know if you can learn to trackstand (you need to both slightly pedal forward and brake, and adjust by slightly pedaling backward): trackstand looks like you're idle but micro-adjustments are constantly happening. Then I take it probably could wheelie a bicycle with coaster brakes but I fear it'd be hard: same things, you do micro-adjustements and they're not only done with the rear brake. I'm pretty sure I do pedal backward a bit when I do wheelies. And when I readjust the position of my feet on a bicycle: I do it while backpedalling. Last time I used a bike with coaster brakes I realized how dependent I became on being able to pedal backwards.
  • to11mtm 15d ago
    One of the earliest 'mountain biking' trails, before real mountain bikes existed, is called Repack because they were using Coaster brakes and you'd basically have to rebiuld/repack the coaster brake hub with grease after a run due to all the heat forcing the hubs to expel.
• to11mtm 15d ago
  TBH I don't care for hydraulic disc brakes much. My -favorite- setup for Discs, at least use to be, Avid BB7s with Avid Speed Dial levers, with Flak Jacket Housings. That combination was super simple to 'dial in' (Hydraulic brakes tend to be a lot more inconsistent on 'feel' unless you are very persistent about bleeding and know how to use a disc tuning fork) and honestly had a lot less overall drag than I've experienced with most hydraulic discs. Replacing cables is way easier than re-doing hydraulic lines, also you don't have to worry as much about overheating janking up your fluid. Only drawback is, yes, make sure your cables are set up right and clamped down good. But yes, Coaster brakes suck, especially since 'failure' means either rebuilding the wheel or outright replacing, because nope, not gonna do that sort of hub job.
• japanuspus 15d ago
  As the family bike maintainer in Scandinavia, hub gears and coaster brakes are a godsend: Simple, cheap, and the only wear item to replace after a winter driving in salty sludge is a cheap chain -- and this takes half the time if there are no brake cables to detach. This might be a Nordic thing, but being able to handle rear wheel lockups is a necessary skill when driving on winter roads. Once you overlook a section of black ice, not even the nicest hydraulic disc brakes will be gentle enough.
  • fransje26 15d ago
    > Once you overlook a section of black ice, not even the nicest hydraulic disc brakes will be gentle enough. My experience with black ice and bikes, is to unexpectedly fall flat on my face because the front wheel loses all grip. Without even getting to the point of trying to brake..
    • lstodd 15d ago
      That's a lowside. Turn very gently if weather invites ice (or wet autumn leaves which are about as creepy as ice), never use front brakes. Locking and then suddenly reacquiring grip on the rear wheel causes highsides on motorbikes, it's when you fly out of the seat and into the oncoming 18-wheeler. But it's quite hard to do on bicycles. Fronts are useful when you have to decelerate rapidly while travelling in straight line, but in turns you just don't touch them ever. edit: and on a decent motorbike/scooter you learn to not use brakes except in emergency, 95% of all deceleration is handled by just dropping the throttle.
      • david-gpu 14d ago
        Braking while turning is a risky business indeed. You typically want to use both brakes at once to reduce the chance of skidding, but if you do lose grip on either wheel nonetheless, you better have quick reflexes and release both brakes. Sheldon Brown talked about this [0]: > Skilled cyclists use the front brake alone probably 95% of the time, but there are instances when the rear brake is preferred: slippery surfaces, bumpy surfaces, front flat, broken [front brake] > When leaning in a turn, traction is shared between braking and turning. Using both brakes together reduces the likelihood that one wheel or the other will skid and dump you. The steeper you lean, the less you can brake, so moderate your speed before a curve. When you are leaning deeply, you need to release the brakes entirely. > Using both brakes together can cause "fishtailing." If the rear wheel skids while braking force is also being applied to the front, the rear of the bike will tend to swing past the front, since the front is applying a greater decelerating force than the rear. Once the rear tire starts to skid, it can move sideways as easily as forward. I broke some ribs a couple of years ago on a downhill trail due to fishtailing. I should have dismounted, but I had not realized that the surface had turned from gritty to muddy. [0] https://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html https://sheldonbrown.com/brakturn.html
• locallost 15d ago
  What a weird comment. A lot of people posting their use case for them, personally never fell from them, and in the end don't get that about maintaining hydraulic disc brakes. There is literally nothing to maintain except rarely just replacing the pads or the discs.
• ninininino 14d ago
  I believe there's a strong, slowly growing cultural backlash to interrelated concepts of planned obsolescence, design that assumes maintenance burden doesn't matter, durability and simplicity, and hatred for depreciation. Coaster brakes are an example of a simpler design, that requires less maintenance, that are cheaper, that are poor in some environments like hills but are fine in flat areas. Some would rather walk their bike down a hill but have a bike that never needs brake maintenance than to have better brakes that are a point of failure. The same drive that pushes people to trying to build offgrid homes is slowly growing in spaces of material goods and home goods and such. Add environmentalism to it also.
• kazinator 13d ago
  > Where is all this love for coaster brakes coming from?! Nowhere. They have pretty much disappeared from bikes for adults. Even the bicycle-shaped objects. The article mentions Shimano internal gear hubs with coaster brakes, but I think the popular versions of those hubs have a cable operated hub brake mechanism, not one that is operated by backward pedaling. The principle of operation may be similar, just not of activation. In the USA, a federal law requires them on sidewalk bikes for small kids. I believe that the coaster brake is better than any other brake that would be found on a kids' bike that retails for $80 or less. Can you imagine such a bike with disc brakes; what garbage they would be. As the article says, coaster brakes should be combined with a front brake. The front wheel provides more stopping power due to weight transfer to the front, and there should be redundant brakes in case one fails. Maintenance? Most people don't know how to do bike maintenance and don't bother. Coaster brakes don't require maintenance, unless you count rebuild with new grease after 60 years. That's pretty amazing. Brakes that require maintenance are dangerous in the hands of consumers who are not bike nerds, and who can't afford or don't bother to have their stuff serviced at the LBS.
• Gualdrapo 15d ago
  In my experience hydraulic disc brakes require less maintenance than rim brakes. Living on a hill (like I had to go up a ~150m 23% wall to get home, and go braking down it to go places) meant I had to spend frequently on rim brake shoes and, eventually, rims. The frequent rain and mud makes it to the rim brake shoes and diminish braking power if you don't keep them clean. That doesn't happen with hydraulics - clean them with alcohol, bleed them once each year and you're set. I agree, they're the greatest thing ever.
  • VBprogrammer 15d ago
    > In my experience hydraulic disc brakes require less maintenance than rim brakes. Cable operated disc brakes seem to be a sweet spot IMHO.
  • flyinghamster 15d ago
    Rim brakes are even worse when you're riding a recumbent with 20" (406) wheels. Nothing like being over an hour from home and having a rim give out after hitting a bad bump. I'm very grateful that my trike has drum brakes and my MTB has mechanical discs.
  • IslandRebel 14d ago
    Rim brakes last ages. I used to ride 100 miles a week easily up and down hill on my mountain bike V-brakes for 3 or 4 years and had to change the pads like maybe twice. Maintenance of cantilever and v-brakes is changing the pads every so often and putting some oil/grease on the cable/replacing the cables. None of this is that difficult. I don't understand why people pretend that lining up some pads, and then adjusting the cable is super difficult > The frequent rain and mud makes it to the rim brake shoes and diminish braking power if you don't keep them clean. People greatly exaggerate how much of an issue this is. I could lock up the wheels even in the wet and muck with V-brakes. TBH, You have to ride to the conditions anyway.
  • CorrectHorseBat 15d ago
    Hydraulic rim brakes also exist and they are amazing too
  • 15d ago
• bluGill 15d ago
  They were not impossible to control. It wasn't easy, but you quick got used to it and got enough. Partially that was learning to plan a head so you didn't need to much control. Or you learn to enjoy drifting the back wheels.
• perrygeo 15d ago
  > Where is all this love for coaster brakes coming from?! Childhood nostalgia? They are indeed terrible brakes from a riding perspective. But a) no cables or pads to mess up, b) beginner friendly and c) skidding. Great for kids riding around the neighborhood, the only real purpose.
  • Kaliboy 15d ago
    The average bike in the Netherlands has coaster brakes. It's also great for getting on tall bikes at a standstill, since you can lock the pedal and use it to step up, you do need to quickly start cycling though.
  • kqr 14d ago
    I doubt they're actually that beginner friendly. My children switch between coaster brakes and hand-actuated rim brakes regularly (different sets of bikes in different locations) and they have preferred hand-actuated rim brakes since they started cycling. They like it when the bike doesn't suddenly stop when they accidentally pedal a little backwards, something that happened particularly frequently when they were beginners. They also like being able to prepare for the stop by taking their feet off the pedals and hovering them over the ground while they brake.
  • giglamesh 14d ago
    They can also serve an aesthetic purpose. For many years my daily rider was fixed, so no need for a rear brake. I got tired of riding fixed but also wanted to maintain the clean look of less cables and other visual clutter that comes with a brake - so a coaster seemed like a good enough option. I use my front (rim) break as my stopper and the coaster is just kind of a back-up or bad weather brake and for that purpose its worked great. I'd love a disc up front, but as far as I know, the fork on a circa-1989 bike isn’t compatible with a front disc brake setup, making the upgrade challenging without welding.
• MisterTea 15d ago
  > They have caused me numerous spills and scraped knees (due to the rear wheel locking up and skidding out from under me) and have done the same to my kids. Skill issue ;-) My first bike I learned to ride on was a BMX with coaster brakes that was part of the fun! Rip down the street then slam the pedal back to leave skid marks. And who didn't love slowing down a bit, then slamming the coaster brake while turning the handle bars to do a sick rear sideways skid. My next bike was also a BMX with a rotor and front/rear pegs. That lead to way more spills trying to do stunts on the pegs or spin the handle bars. Never got good at the stunts part. Might have worked better for a smaller, lighter me but I would like to give coaster brakes a go again on a proper sized BMX.
  • tjoff 15d ago
    Sure but you can do it easier and with more control with any other type of brake,from the basic V-style rim brakes to hydraulic disc brakes.
    • toast0 15d ago
      At least on the bikes I had access to growing up, rim brakes were hard to adjust so you could easily lock up the wheels, but not drag when not applied... Especially if you had safety levers. V brakes hadn't been invented yet: we just had side pull or center pull. Coaster brakes didn't tend to noticably drag and were easy to lock up. When I got access to v-brakes, yeah you can lock those up no problem... Lots of fun. A little tricky to learn modulation with when you're coming from older style rim brakes though.