iv been looking at getting a brand new bike and was looking into the cruiser bikes but they all have coaster brakes, would coaster brakes have enough stopping power with a highly modified pk80 that goes 45 ish? or should i look for a mountain bike with disk brakes?
what style brakes best suited for motorized bike?
- Thread starter mrfubs
- Start date
Get a mountain bike with at least a front disk brake. That way if you're not handy enough, you can get an aftermarket caliper and a 203mm rotor for it.
I've got Tektro caliper brakes on mine and it's okay, but it really needs more. Better than just a straight coaster brake though. (as my groin has already found out...)
I've got Tektro caliper brakes on mine and it's okay, but it really needs more. Better than just a straight coaster brake though. (as my groin has already found out...)
Going 45mph with only a coaster brake is more excitement than I care for these days. I added a front caliper to my cruiser, and it's marginal at best from around 30mph even combined with the coaster brake.
If you can swing the discs, it's absolutely the way to go. Good luck!
If you can swing the discs, it's absolutely the way to go. Good luck!
If your bike didn't start with a disc brake, conversion setups are expensive (new forks, calipers, pads, rotors). If you can find a decent used wheel with a drum already laced in (check ebay) then its going to be a lot cheaper than converting to disc. Even a new wheel with a drum is probably cheaper than converting to disc. Also probably cheaper than buying a whole new bike just to have disc brakes, especially if you're going to need to upgrade anything right away (bigger rotor, more durable pads, etc). I run a front drum and rear coaster and go 30-32mph. My good buddy jbcruisin has a bike that goes almost 50 mph and runs the same setup. You won't need a new fork to install a drum brake, as you can simply fabricate a bracket to hold the brake arm in place. The only thing you will need is a brake lever with good pulling force (i.e one that curves outward away from the bars a little). A standard v-brake type lever should be sufficient. I use a motorcycle type lever, but mostly for the built in brake light switch. I had to bend the lever out a little to get the amount of pull I wanted. Luckily it was made of aluminum. I very gently bent it a little at a time with a seatpost until I had it where I wanted it.
