Geared Coaster Breaks

Anyone have experience with one of these?  When I consider the cost vs breaks/pads/front and rear derailleurs/cassette in the back/all those cables and housings this thing doesn't seem so bad especially when considering all the maintenance saved.  My reservations are: do I get a gearing that still lets me speed on the LFT? Is the breaking smooth or is it a slam break that will bald my tires? If I need it can I slam the breaks? It's flat here in Chicago so it's not as if I need the 21 gears I have now.

I commute to work every day, bike pretty much everywhere to the point that a pair of sneakers will last me years. Anyone have one of these and how does it work for you here in Chicago? I am just mesmerized by the idea of having 1/2 of the maintenance time I spend going away and my ride getting incredibly simple. Thanks.

Shimano Nexus Inter-8 Coaster Brake Hub

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Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on January 8, 2014 at 9:49am

First off it is brakes. 

You stop your bike with brakes that can break if you do not maintain them.

How do people not know this? Seriously?

Second off I firmly believe that most all coaster brake internal hubs are time bombs; I hear nothing but horror stories.

Permalink Reply by pherm on January 8, 2014 at 10:06am

Oof, harsh.

That said, I can corroborate. One of the SRAM coaster brake hubs (the i-motion 3, I believe) totally blew up under me this summer, somehow throwing its arm into the spokes and more or less totalling the wheel.

It was pretty fun to have the coaster for a while, though. Lots of sweet skids.

notoriousDUG said:

First off it is brakes. 

You stop your bike with brakes that can break if you do not maintain them.

How do people not know this? Seriously?

Second off I firmly believe that most all coaster brake internal hubs are time bombs; I hear nothing but horror stories.

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on January 8, 2014 at 10:26am

I have a 69 schwinn racer, the Sturmey Archer coaster brake has lasted what, 45 years?  IMO coaster brakes will last decades longer than pads.  Of course there are stories of every kind of bike part imploding, but not too many on coaster brakes.  With newly released coaster brakes, YMMV.  Don't knock it til you read what others have heard or read ;)

Permalink Reply by Haddon on January 8, 2014 at 10:56am

I'm mostly worried about the bigger gearing, does a hub give the option of going fast if need be?  Because there are times (6am LFT when its the only thing you want in the world)

Permalink Reply by Lee Roy on January 8, 2014 at 11:21am

There are a several styles of this hub available.

Some are coaster, drum (maybe) and roller brakes.

The photo here looks to be of the "Coaster brake" type.

I got a set of these Nexus Hubs this past fall 2013. I never found the right bike to install them on. The rear hub is the Nexus 8 speed (not high effiency/"Red Band"), and has the new "Roller Brake". My understanding is that the "Roller Brake" is different from the Disc. That difference is that it has a Power Modulator. I think it means that you will brake very quickly, but not skid the tire. Dug may have more specific knowledge on these since he's the pro and I work at a shop as a hobby during the summer on weekends. Though I have been in the industry 20+ years. There is only so much a single person can possibly know. Which is why I do lean on our shop staff when I do not have definitive knowledge.

It is matched to a front wheel. Both F & R hubs are laced to  a set of

Electra Cruiser (Blue with White Pinstripe) Aluminum rims w/12 gauge spokes. 

Warning: Sales Pitch ahead 

I'll sell the set to you for a very reasonable price, PM me if your interested. 

You will need to pick up a few parts though from your local LBS.

Your shop will be able to get you up and running with this.

The hub I have is not a Coaster Brake, and you can Freewheel.

I have only heard that these are bullet-proof.

There is a big section on the Sheldon Brown website on the Nexus line.

Good Luck and I hope you find the information you need.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on January 8, 2014 at 12:28pm

I would go with roller brakes or disk brakes over coaster brakes.  Coaster brakes are a little bit of a pain in the ass because you have to have the cranks in just the right position to utilize them and then when you stop your crank isn't always where you want it to be when you start out again but you can't pedal backwards to put the pedal where you want it again.  They just are not as convenient or work quite as well braking with the pedals/crank than with a hand-brake type system. 

Secondly, coaster brakes shit where they eat.  They are full of grease inside the hub and the brake "shoes" are basically pieces of machined steel being slammed together and grinding against each other into that grease.  That's all well and good for a single-speed coaster but with an IGH the filthy-black metalgrime grease from the brake side of the hub can migrate to the grease/lube on the geared side.  Greasy metal sinter gunk is just fine in a coaster brake but not so much in the finely-tuned clockwork of an internally-geared hub.  Some of these hubs do a better job of keeping the brake grease out of the IGH side, some less.  With the old Sturmey-Archer 3-speeds they are so dead reliable and tough that it doesn't matter how much crap gets into it. There is tons of tolerance built into the system (thus the false neutrals if they are not adjusted correctly) but with Japanese and German-designed systems the tolerances are much more precise and that means less room for crap to foul the system.

The newer IGH's are less robust with 6,7,8 speeds than the older 3 & 4 speed hubs that were around in the in the vintage days.  They are still good but they are not as bomb-proof as the old Sturmey-Archer or even the older Shimano 3-speeds.   Eventually they will need work and most of the local bike mechanics employed by the area LBS's have no clue how to work on them.  There are a few folks who do know how to work on them but not at every bike shop.  So be prepared to do some searching for shops that will. 

Personally I'd avoid the coaster-brake IGH and instead go for a roller-brake or disk brake (preferably hydraulic and not mechanical although for rear brakes it's not as big a deal if you go mechanical IMHO.)

If you do really want the cable-less simplicity of a coaster then I would go with the Sturmey-Archer 3-speed version of it like this one.  There is a vintage older version of this although it is hard to find these days.  Go new.  3 speeds are plenty in Chicagoland.  There is plenty of gear-range spread in the 3 speeds unless you are pulling a trailer sometimes and need a lower low and still need a higher high when you are not.  Most 6,7,8 speed hubs realy don't give you that much more gear ranges than a simple 3 speed, they just give you more choices in between those basic 3 gears.  In flatland you really don't need those choices.

Permalink Reply by Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles on January 8, 2014 at 12:37pm

Go fast gear? Yes. However, it will depend on your wheel size plus chainwheel and rear cog combo. I have my Alfine8 set up with my happy spot in 5th. That gives me three more higher ranges for downhills and tail winds.

As far as the coaster brake goes, keep the hub adjusted and lubed properly and it will last quite awhile. My 1952 Bendix PowerBrake two speed keeps on chugging along.

But, use it on something like a repack downhill race and it will die a violent death. Therefore, a front brake is a good idea.

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on January 8, 2014 at 1:52pm

That's a sweet hub.  Had one on a bike once and really liked it.  As bullet proof as the hub it is has one weekness -the cog itself.  Keep an eye on the chain stretch.  If you let it get bad and wear out that rear cog you will be bumming.  The whole cog is integral to the proprietary driver assembly and they are getting really hard to find these days. You can't just find any old cog to replace it.  You need the Bendix version and if I remember right there are two different styles too. The yellow band and the blue band ones are not interchangeable if my memory serves me. NOS replacements go for $45+ on ebay if you can find the right one at all. 


Mike Bullis 5.5-6.5 miles said:

.

As far as the coaster brake goes, keep the hub adjusted and lubed properly and it will last quite awhile. My 1952 Bendix PowerBrake two speed keeps on chugging along.

Permalink Reply by Haddon on January 8, 2014 at 6:23pm

Thanks I guess it will be the Archer 3-speed, it's just an effort at the moment to reduce the time spent doing maintenance and assorted upkeep. My second ride has disc breaks, this one has rim (and differing pads).  There is the semi regular cable tightening and the rest and I'm just trying to make my ride simple and easy. The part where I can't backspin is so small to me it won't be an issue.  I just want to ride and not have to deal with upkeep and if I can cut out a significant percentage of the gear on my ride (no derailleurs, no worry on pads, elimiminate most of the cables {from 3 of them to one] etc) I'll be perfectly happy. My only worry is going full tilt on the few times when I can on the LFT.

Other than that anyone good at wheel building??  Thanks

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on January 9, 2014 at 5:04am

Shimano and SRAM also have 3-speed coaster brake hubs as well. 

Another option is the SRAM 2-speed Automatic coaster-brake hub which is like the old Sachs Torpedo vintage hub that is so highly prized and difficult to source these days.   The advantage of this hub is that you can dispense with the twistgrip shifter and all the associated cabling needed to shift.  This automatic hub doesn't even need to be "kicked-back" like the Bendix hub we were talking about above but automagically shifts up at a certain speed and then back down when the bike slows.  It's seamless shifting although you are sort of stuck with the speed it shifts at as that is dependent on wheel rotation RPM, and that depends on the wheel size for what ground speed it shifts at.  This point will be different for a 20" 26" or 700c wheel (or any other different wheel diameter.)  In the old days the Sachs Torpedo came in two different flavors -one for a 20" wheel and one for a 26-27".  There was a way to tweak the weights inside but it was finicky.  I suppose this hub might be adjusted the same way by a skilled mechanic who knows IGH hubs inside and out.  I haven't run into this hub yet in my shop so I can't say any more about its durability or even ultimately its adjustability.  But it's a hub, not a rocket engine.  How hard can it be to tweak it a little?  It's just a matter of finding a real bike mech and not a typical LBS wrench monkey who is afraid of IGH's. 

Permalink Reply by Apie (11) on January 9, 2014 at 7:01am

If you do need someone to work on your old 3 speed hubs, there is a guy at Rudy's on Irving Park in Jeff Park. He's worked there for 20+ years, and has parts.  He is very thorough and LOVES doing it.

Permalink Reply by Haddon on January 9, 2014 at 10:19am

James, if you could: For the front crankset what is the suggested tooth count? I'm going through amazon.com and seeing 32, 36, 46 and there are surely others.  Given that this is for stop and go commutering with occasional bursts of simply astonishing speed - what would be your suggested tooth count on the front if I go with the Archer 3speed ? ? ?  Also don't want to wreck my knees.  Thank you.

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