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> 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 p

• 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 15d 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 15d 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.