Safety COASTER BRAKE horror stories, please add your experience

[mattrgray]

Coaster brakes were alright on motorcycles/motorized bicycles 100 years ago. Now is not 100 years ago, and we don't have the same standards, honestly coaster brakes alone are never enough IMO.

 

[Timbone]

I think trusting these bottom of the barrel super cheap coaster hubs to do anything is out of the question.

 

[KCvale]

honestly coaster brakes alone are never enough IMO.

I totally agree!
NO MB is safe with only one brake, but a coaster brake in back with a brake in front work well.

A pair of C-brakes to go with that coaster brake work very well.

Just start with a good bike in the first place.
That Columbia was junky but the Micargi Touch was nice with just a couple of extra C-brakes it had great stopping power.

 

[mattrgray]

I totally agree!
NO MB is safe with only one brake, but a coaster brake in back with a brake in front work well.

A pair of C-brakes to go with that coaster brake work very well.

Just start with a good bike in the first place.
That Columbia was junky but the Micargi Touch was nice with just a couple of extra C-brakes it had great stopping power.

I definitely agree, just make sure you've got good C brakes! The ones on the 100$ walmart bikes aren't very usable, I had one and the pads wore off in the first ride!

 

[KCvale]

100$ walmart bikes

Putting an engine kit on a $100 Wally bike is foolish, Huffys for the most part, the $100 ones, are junk even for pedaling a lot and will be a constant kick in the ass for not spending another $80 to $120 more for a decent bike to start with.

I have been happy with Micargi bikes, I like the Touch, it has a great coaster brake unlike the Huffy, and with a front C brake it stops just fine ;-}

 

[mattrgray]

Putting an engine kit on a $100 Wally bike is foolish, Huffys for the most part, the $100 ones, are junk even for pedaling a lot and will be a constant kick in the ass for not spending another $80 to $120 more for a decent bike to start with.

I have been happy with Micargi bikes, I like the Touch, it has a great coaster brake unlike the Huffy, and with a front C brake it stops just fine ;-}

I dislike the use off cheap bikes due to this experience. Most of my bikes are just free bike I find around town and fix up.

 

[dom eichelberg]

I had a coaster brake lock up on me for the first time ever. After I applied the brake in a normal stop - it just froze and I could pedal or move the bike in either direction. Strange.

 

[try 1897]

Since the beginning of the forum, I've tried to recommend NOT to motorize single speed coaster models. Every day 5-10 new members join us, and I'd guess 20% of the first timers are going to try that single speed combo.

The ONLY place it might work is the beach area, flat roads where the label Beach Cruiser really applies. If you are 60 miles from the coast, hills begin to appear, and that is where trouble begins. If you are going to piddle around at 10-13 miles per hour in really low traffic areas, fine.

But most folks are itching to hit wide open throttle.

Your life is worth more than a $100 bike, and I thought maybe we could get a thread devoted to bashing this type bike once and for all. Then, if a new MBer joins with photo's of his/her shiny Schwinn with coaster brakes, we could point them to this thread.

Just yesterday:





In 2005 I got a Grampa bike for $30, a '70's model Western Flyer. It was motorized for maybe 2 weeks when a local bike collector bought it, without the engine, just because he needed the leather seat.

Then I found a bikeshop, he only had ONE Sun Cruiser in the rows of bikes, I was more interested in the handlebars and tires than the speeds. ( I've mentioned how I spent $700 on bikes before I found the combo I liked.)

I bought it, motorized it, then ordered a 7 speed from the bike shop catalog. Sales picked up pretty quick, and the single speed basically sat there doing nothing.

That winter, I put another engine on it, and while coming to a stop sign on a wet road, I hit the brakes and slid sideways.

Whooooooa, I'm NOT going to sell something that even I couldn't control.

That bike was stripped of parts (I sold the frame later).

You can "think" nothing will happen, but if you haven't bought a bicycle yet, maybe reading some MBincidents, you will splurge on something with multi-speeds and handbrakes. Makes about a $50 difference on new models in the big box stores.

If you don't see a multi-speed cassette in the Wal Mart racks? Keep on walking, in other words.

Well you all make good scene but and that's a big but I'm old people and two things stand out. First we elderly people grew up with coaster brakes. Second we have no intention of screaming along at high speed. We tend to putt around . So using c b's as they were intended to be used poses little or no danger.Don't worry you will get old and slow down sooner than you think. I'm the meantime always wear your helmet and be safe. Watch out for cars and use the best equipment you can get. You guys are supposed to bury us we're not supposed to bury you. Be safe Old geezer Tom

 

[Huffy Bum!]

I will do that when Huffy makes better bikes, or motorized bike builders stop shopping the toy isle for a bike.

And 8 years lately I'm still riding the same Huffy Cranbrook with the same 49cc 142F 4 stroke motor mounted to the bike with a Staton fricton drive kit. I never use the coaster brake, I installed 2 side pull brakes front and rear. the coaster brake works put never use it for stopping while the bike is moving under the power of the motor! So you snobs can stop bitching about Huffy they are good bikes, if you maintain them and keep the moving parts which need to be greased - greased regularly!

 

[darwin]

In federal bankruptcy court in Dayton, Ohio, in 2004, Huffy's assets were turned over to its Chinese creditors. In 2004, Huffy sold its Huffy Sports division to Russell Corporation. Huffy Sports manufactured sporting goods, including the Hydra-Rib basketball systems used by the NBA. By 2006, Huffy had sold more than 100 million bicycles. After years of struggling against the cut-rate Chinese bicycles that set the price target guiding Wal Mart, Huffy essentially had become a Chinese-owned company. [15] Today, the design, product development and marketing (majority of all business functions) for Huffy is based in Dayton, Ohio. Manufacturing is based outside of the U.S. [16] Crown Equipment Corporation now uses the former Huffy U.S. bicycle factory in Celina, Ohio, to produce forklifts.

Huffy sucks bro, get over it!