How bicycle coaster brakes work (2018)
dougbarnesauthor.com
dougbarnesauthor.com
I have hydraulic disc brakes on my bike, and they are the greatest thing ever! Yeah, they require maintenance, but totally worth it.
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.
I'll never forget when I was a kid (13 or so) going for a ride in the city during a downpour, slamming on the brakes because a pedestrian stepped out in front of me (mixed pedestrian/bike zone, no cars, we both assumed no-one else was dumb enough to be out), and ... nothing happened. Damn near shat my pants. Luckily the pedestrian saw me and jumped out of the way.
In retrospect that was too much downpour. Could literally see water spraying out my brakes. The hot cocoa after was fantastic tho
I wore one set out... But I bought a new old stock bike that was made the same year as me... the tubes were ok and the tires are fine, but the brakes wore through very quickly. Probably 200 miles or less.
Cable operated disc brakes seem to be a sweet spot IMHO.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
This guy fox!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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.
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.
In a turn you either apply energy if that is at all possible (usually), or just steer. It is recommended to accelerate inside a turn, because that way you can better control grip on the rear due to not accidentally engine-braking (not applicable to bicycles), and because thrust on the rear wheel helps the bike into the turn (applicable to bicycles).
Braking in a turn is a last-effort thing, taken only if you are certain that it'll lessen damage from otherwise imminent crash.
Biking is traction/grip control at all times. Traction is always shared between steering and brake/accel. You do not want less control in a turn, and loss of traction means loss of steering.
So you do not ever brake in a turn.
You decelerate on a straight before it. If a turn goes bad for whatever reason, that means that a) you made a mistake entering it at the speed you did, and b) now you choose what to crash into, and then execute the crash while hoping that your protection holds, which might include hard front brake and a steering input so that you lowside feet (and bike) first into the obstacle. But not before.
So the first lesson of bike-riding is being aware at all times of available traction.
95% use of fronts follows: you only use them on straights, and there they are much more efficient than rears because the whole mass of you and bike enhances front wheel traction. cf. the wheelie.
As an example, pedaling while turning is often a bad idea because of the risk of pedal strikes, so acceleration inside a curve is often out of the question. And braking obviously reduces the grip available for turning, so braking while turning is only done in an emergency situation. But if you are going to brake while turning, using only the rear brake is suboptimal on a bicycle.
It doesn’t feel as good as decelerating before, and is most definitely not as safe as you clearly explained.
There are 2 benefits of actually using brakes (smartly as comments say) - leaving deceleration to the motor wears it down much faster, and repairs are more complex/expensive than changing pads/disc of brakes. Second reason is more important - folks behind you know whats happening, thats why brake lights are so strong. Don't expect 100% of the folks watching you closely 100% of the time, thats incorrect and dangerous expectation. On bike you are the most fragile participant of the traffic, its in your interest to signal your behavior to others as clearly as possible.
Not in the slightest, and I have no idea where this idea even came from. Whatever amount of stress the engine and rest of the drivetrain is under even at maximum engine braking, it experiences significantly more under any hard acceleration. Even semi truck jake brakes that actually reconfigure the engine's air flow to generate even more deceleration forces than would otherwise be possible max out at a fraction of the acceleration powers that same engine is capable of producing.
The only part of a standard automotive drivetrain that has significant directional differences in strength/wear would be the differential gears, but even that difference isn't going to matter in anything close to normal use. If you're doing clutch drops in reverse that's another matter.
The biggest risk to anything drivetrain-related from engine braking would be badly shifting a manual transmission and either damaging the transmission itself or choosing the wrong gear and over-revving the engine.
The brake light thing I fully agree with you though. I love engine braking when I'm doing performance driving as much as the next guy, but I won't do it in traffic for anything more than holding speed on a downhill for that reason. Significant deceleration in traffic should always be accompanied by brake lights.
It's motorcycling basics really.
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.
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.
This is interesting, I recall having some of these as a kid.
I'd say the key drawback not mentioned is that, in many riding conditions (such as but not limited to riding when in close proximity to vehicles, riding in high wind, riding in proximity to severe drops or road discontinuities, riding with heavy loads, riding downhill with luggage encountering sharp bends, repositioning legs for a hard ascent, etc.) you cannot always freely alter your physical stance to apply additional pressure to the braking system (as it may upset other concerns) nor can you afford a short latency to reposition to your stronger leg before applying the brake (or a short burst of climbing on difficult terrain).
So while functional in most conditions, I'd say they are in fact objectively inferior in terms of latency and control and thus safety and utility in many realistic conditions.
What could be an improvement (and may have been made already) is a speed-gated clutch, that is to say, slow reverse is permissible but a burst above the gate speed enables braking. This could solve a minority of the issues in terms of control at the cost of complexity.
Few cycle tourists seem to optimize for using navigation tools or holding cameras while riding. Oldschool Europeans used to mount maps on their handlebar bags, but I haven't seen that in yonks. It might be common on a short-hop or produced-for-youtube thing, but to my mind it's not really the same mental space as touring, which anyone who has done it would understand: long distances, often daily goals or pre-nav, strong engagement with topographic change and natural environment = ~no need for while-riding lookups. Sure, if the road is well-surfaced and there's nobody on it, or it's a phone-photographed quickie: go for it. But unless it's a fleeting moment, most people I know would stop, have a drink, perform any lookups, maybe take a photo, then set off again. F=ma. Luggage means you have relatively large m. Fiddling with your camera while riding can be a bad idea.
Concurring with what you say, I learned all of the obscure failure modes of coaster brakes the hard way. Today I would not put them on anything but a maybe a kids' bike or beach cruiser. You can't guarantee that your feet will be in the right place at the right time to stop the bike.
Among other failures, I've experienced coaster brake "fading" on a descent when my house was at the top of a hill.
Adding a front brake is an improvement but not a panacea. You really need reliable two-wheel braking. It's not just for redundancy but for actual control of the bike during hard braking.
Damn well it was! I remember we used to play tag on bikes. But when we switched to hand brakes, it became impossible, as you need a free hand and speed control at the same time.
Did y'all have only one hand?
I know some people use the rear wheel locking up as a way to sense when they have applied enough front brake, but that's not necessary. It's also possible to learn to sense that directly.
Maybe because with tag you always either full accelerate or full brake with turning at the same time. And if your opponent is on the right, you are left with only front wheel brake that works very bad in turns. Maybe some pro could pull that off, but we sadly abandoned tag.
Another disadvantage not mentioned in the post is that with coaster brakes the pedals can get trapped by the kickstand. I don't remember the details because this was a long time ago, but I accidentally found myself in a situation where I couldn't pedal forward because the kickstand was in the way, and couldn't pedal backward because the brakes engaged. I don't remember how I fixed it.
So if its in the way, they're backpedaling.
The way to solve it is to lift the bike's rear wheel and pedal like normal. That's it. No unbolting needed.
Thanks for unlocking that memory for me, it's been decades since I had to know that.
A-ha, I think that's why I ended up doing.
And thanks to you as well!
Take your weight off the seat, grab the back of the seat behind you and lift enough so the rear wheel loses traction and then you can push the pedals forward a bit.
Not ideal, but possible.
Urban cycling in the US is a whole nother beast. It's dangerous enough without effective brakes.
Same if you drive an unfamiliar car, it's more bumpy in the beginning but your brain will adapt, especially manual gears. I remember some cars did have terrible clutches and gearboxes and very low torque engines so it felt intimidating as a kid.
Source: I have a bike with one coaster brake and one normal one. Have never intentionally used the coaster brake, have used it unintentionally many times.
Had my rim brakes at least once lose a lot of efficacy during a large downpour and coaster brakes make a great backup for extra breaking power. They sure do like to lockup your rear wheel but that is still better than the alternative of only having very weak rear/front breaks.
You should test the brakes before every ride! The front brake should make it very, very hard to push the bike forward. (The back brake should lock the wheel but the bike will continue to move forward.) That way, you can quickly tell whether they are worthless or provide true security.
Very accurate.
That's a good test for blowing the cover of extraterrestrial imposters posing as human beings.
They don't know about pedaling backwards to stop a bike, because they were never a four-year-old human.
Children's bicycles have coaster brakes. In the USA, a federal law requires them.
I remember leaving rubber marks on the pavement by locking these things up hard while turning the steering.