Help - Coaster or Hand Brakes?
- Thread starter scokes
- Start date
bryant
Member
The break lever swithe from left to right and right to left seem to make a lot of sense. Whenever I get my motored bike going I am going to do that.
sparky
Active Member
Just make sure to warn your friends if you even decide to let them ride your dream machine. No doubt they'll let off the throttle at top speed and slam on what they thought was the rear brakes.
I don't understand why bicycles have to have opposite brakes from motorcycles, since a motorcycle is the natural progression for all 2-wheeled rebels.
I don't understand why bicycles have to have opposite brakes from motorcycles, since a motorcycle is the natural progression for all 2-wheeled rebels.
suspect
Member
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- Sep 2, 2009
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- 7
i realised i left out an advantage of the cruiser brake over cantilever and caliper brakes, as i took off down my very steep driveway last night in the rain, that is, it works in the wet, but its not an advantage over disc brakes, which also work perfectly fine in any weather.
sparky
Active Member
I have no problems with V-brakes in the rain. I do have problems with mud getting ALL OVER my clothes, tho.
You can even order some kevlar brake pads that might even wear your rims down before they completely wear the pads themselves. I do believe the brand & model was "Clark's VCR" from the UK. I woulda bought 'em for my bike, but the guy at the bike shop told me they wouldn't fit on my "off-beat" Chinese bike.
You can even order some kevlar brake pads that might even wear your rims down before they completely wear the pads themselves. I do believe the brand & model was "Clark's VCR" from the UK. I woulda bought 'em for my bike, but the guy at the bike shop told me they wouldn't fit on my "off-beat" Chinese bike.
bryant
Member
Ok, I don't think I will let any of my friends ride it. Would probably get a law suit against me if one did get hurt.
Shadeslay
Member
I have no problem with my v brakes in the rain either, other then the godly noise they make.
Reid
Member
You guys are right; don't think that I'm arguing -against- a front brake.
Can only say that I've had both.
The Sun Kruiser's coaster brake is of superb, smooth, non-locking, non-fading,
and is a copy of a 1913 USA patent design. Its hub is thick, fully hardened steel. The shoes are steel.
I have my weight fully over the rear, STICKY, grippy Big Hank slick.
This just happens to work fine for me.
I am able to run a mere 10PSI in the front tire (Big Hank).
Now, that seems absurd on the face of it, but...you saw those boys squeezing
that soft tire?
When I had my stufu-accident, the Weinman rim did not bend, the tire was not damaged, even though it all took a FULL impact right to the concrete curbing.
The very soft, yet -ample cushion- of that "underinflated" front tire
surely saved my eZee from ruination. The motor's plastic planet gears are not damaged in the least.
Now, say I fit a front brake to the Sun Kruiser: then I must, must, run at least thirty PSI, for the front braking affect on the Big Hank at a -lower pressure- causes severe sidewall wrinkling.
I used to have a Mongoose Retro e-cruiser, and upgraded it with extra battery voltage. It had these same tires, that I fitted. I had to run at least 25PSI in the front tires. The bike ran 25mph unassisted by my legs.
It was OK, but being an SLA powered, very heavy frame, weighed quite a lot!
Now, the current bike is weight biased all to the rear. There is no braking strain on the front wheel and its tire and motor, even if I HIT a curbing, as I did.
All that happened was the front fork's soft steel dropouts "spread" apart and allowed the motor's axle to wind several turns, ripping wires.
The fork itself was not bent. And it was a heck of a header.
Had I not landed in the swale, I'd have been hurt bad.
And no front brake would have saved me from that particular spill.
I can stop FAST on my current e-bike. But, again, NO WAY would I advocate others to follow my lead: accidents will happen.
I do know enough to use good chain and unworn, steel sprockets...but,
yes! A failure of the chain or the rear sprocket to hub key-ing, means
NO BRAKES. Hence, it is not a good plan for regular riders, and certainly
not a good plan for hill work or over-20mph riding.
So, we are all on the same page. No arguments. No concrete opinions fit all riders.
Can only say that I've had both.
The Sun Kruiser's coaster brake is of superb, smooth, non-locking, non-fading,
and is a copy of a 1913 USA patent design. Its hub is thick, fully hardened steel. The shoes are steel.
I have my weight fully over the rear, STICKY, grippy Big Hank slick.
This just happens to work fine for me.
I am able to run a mere 10PSI in the front tire (Big Hank).
Now, that seems absurd on the face of it, but...you saw those boys squeezing
that soft tire?
When I had my stufu-accident, the Weinman rim did not bend, the tire was not damaged, even though it all took a FULL impact right to the concrete curbing.
The very soft, yet -ample cushion- of that "underinflated" front tire
surely saved my eZee from ruination. The motor's plastic planet gears are not damaged in the least.
Now, say I fit a front brake to the Sun Kruiser: then I must, must, run at least thirty PSI, for the front braking affect on the Big Hank at a -lower pressure- causes severe sidewall wrinkling.
I used to have a Mongoose Retro e-cruiser, and upgraded it with extra battery voltage. It had these same tires, that I fitted. I had to run at least 25PSI in the front tires. The bike ran 25mph unassisted by my legs.
It was OK, but being an SLA powered, very heavy frame, weighed quite a lot!
Now, the current bike is weight biased all to the rear. There is no braking strain on the front wheel and its tire and motor, even if I HIT a curbing, as I did.
All that happened was the front fork's soft steel dropouts "spread" apart and allowed the motor's axle to wind several turns, ripping wires.
The fork itself was not bent. And it was a heck of a header.
Had I not landed in the swale, I'd have been hurt bad.
And no front brake would have saved me from that particular spill.
I can stop FAST on my current e-bike. But, again, NO WAY would I advocate others to follow my lead: accidents will happen.
I do know enough to use good chain and unworn, steel sprockets...but,
yes! A failure of the chain or the rear sprocket to hub key-ing, means
NO BRAKES. Hence, it is not a good plan for regular riders, and certainly
not a good plan for hill work or over-20mph riding.
So, we are all on the same page. No arguments. No concrete opinions fit all riders.
Reid
Member
paste-in of this noob's avoidable accident, not brake related
The accident was a wake up call, not so much that I need a front brake,
but to NEVER corner a cruiser bike with wide, platform pedals, leaning hard through a traffic circle at high speed: inside pedal hits ground:
bike and rider continue, airborne. The bike flipped over me, and landed after I hit the dirt.
Any experienced rider would not have had this accident.
Yet, note the lycra riders? One of them is just a hair's distance of pedal to the asphalt.
So this must be a fairly common sort of accident for Sunday riders.
I learn by near-death experiences.
Summary: front brakes for all but for myself,
and never corner too hard whilst pedaling a bike with a low-slung bb.
See the second image, see the slight dip in the curb height?
My point of straight-on impact was right there, just to the left of the curb dip.
Posited: no regular tire and wheel combo would have survived that hard an impact.
The wheel is not even bent the slightest from true. The ten PSI super-phat Big Hank
is the reason why: it is a true balloon tire. And the rim is double walled, etc.
In retrospect, torque arms on one or both sides would have saved the fork and the ride, completely;
I would not have had to pedal the half mile back to the house.
I will be fitting at least one torque arm when I get around to fixing my error above.
Reid Welch said:
The images are externally hosted so are not a drag on this forum's server at all.Reid Welch said:New pictures just made a few minutes ago.
I have not un-done the axle nuts yet.
I plan to order a new fork, for the axle clearly spread the steel dropouts.
The SUV shows where it happened.
Lycra riders show just how tight one of them corners there, his pedal just barely clearing the pavement.
I pole vaulted. The bike leaning against the garage shows its maximum tilt: then you go Pogo.
This same thing happened to me on the first day I rode the bike manually, slowly, wobbly,
turning too tight in front of the house: Pogo! and a ripped knee. I may shorten the cranks by cutting and welding;
I like to corner fast while pedaling. Perhaps a shorter steel crank is available ready-made;
otherwise, I will cut and weld, or get much shorter pedals.
I was very lucky, landing on the dirt, bruised but no head injury.
This was the one time I did not ride with my BMX helmet (which would not have made a difference.
Cheers,
Scarface
The accident was a wake up call, not so much that I need a front brake,
but to NEVER corner a cruiser bike with wide, platform pedals, leaning hard through a traffic circle at high speed: inside pedal hits ground:
bike and rider continue, airborne. The bike flipped over me, and landed after I hit the dirt.
Any experienced rider would not have had this accident.
Yet, note the lycra riders? One of them is just a hair's distance of pedal to the asphalt.
So this must be a fairly common sort of accident for Sunday riders.
I learn by near-death experiences.
Summary: front brakes for all but for myself,
and never corner too hard whilst pedaling a bike with a low-slung bb.
See the second image, see the slight dip in the curb height?
My point of straight-on impact was right there, just to the left of the curb dip.
Posited: no regular tire and wheel combo would have survived that hard an impact.
The wheel is not even bent the slightest from true. The ten PSI super-phat Big Hank
is the reason why: it is a true balloon tire. And the rim is double walled, etc.
In retrospect, torque arms on one or both sides would have saved the fork and the ride, completely;
I would not have had to pedal the half mile back to the house.
I will be fitting at least one torque arm when I get around to fixing my error above.
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