coster brakes are they safe to use

Secure the coaster brake arm properly and it should be fine - as far as coaster brakes go.

Coaster brakes that are assembled, installed, maintained and operated properly will not come off.
Coaster brakes are not nearly as strong as linear pull brakes.
Coaster brakes can overheat if you are braking down a really looooong hill.
Coaster brakes should not be the only brake on the bike. If anything bad were to happen to the pedal chain you risk loosing the use of the coaster brake.

Also, not all coaster brakes are equal in quality. Some are quite good. Some are junk. Some people hate them and others like them. I like them just fine for myself, providing they are good ones. Yes, you also need a front brake of some kind. The faster you intend to go, the better the brakes need to be.
SB

Coaster brakes are fine on a pedal bicycle if you heed the above. A motorbike should have some type of front brake no matter what kind of brake is on the rear.
I used a shimano coaster brake on the rear of my motorbike for a year or so with no problems.

all my bikes have coaster brakes on them, and they're all good quality, like Shimano, Bendix, Suntour, and Sachs.

KT's, HiStops, YCC's, and other cheap brands fail all the time, even on bikes without motors. (i'm not gonna argue this with the walmart crowd, i've seen it happen, and it's well documented on this forum, as well as walmart's own site in the reviews...)

i also use front drum brakes, mostly 'cause i like the old-timey look.

i was thinking about the brake question the other day, after someone was trying to convince me to get discs.

people will tell you what brakes they think are best, usually claiming discs are, but my coaster brake will lock up the rear tire as fast as a disc can, and my front drum will lock up the front wheel, also.

braking only works as long as a wheel is rolling. once it's skidding, you lose traction.

so, you need a brake that can slow the wheel down rapidly, without sending you into a skid.

no matter what brakes you use, if they do that, they're good.

on that note, it's gotta be a quality system. if your brakes break, you won't stop. so whether you get discs, drums, rim or coasters, they gotta be good quality.

with a coaster brake, you should definitely have a front brake also, no matter what kind of hub you're using, 'cause if you break your chain, you're screwed.

my first cruiser ended up coaster rear and caliper front and rear...three brakes.

http://trybridbicycles.com/hybridbicycles/2011-05-25%2014.54.06.jpg

bairdco said:

people will tell you what brakes they think are best, usually claiming discs are

Click to expand...

You raise a valid point, people like the idea of discs but like coaster brakes, all discs are not the same. Discs on box store bikes are like suspension forks on box store bikes, yes it has them but they are operationally marginal, and those two combined can create something seldom discussed: front end torque steer.

Brakes on Bikes are a lot like engines on planes: it is generally better to have more than one, for the reason that if you only have one and it fails, well...you see where that's going. And if they're good quality, you get to stay up longer for less trouble.

I had a coaster brake on my first bike and I popped my rear tire going around a corner because the coaster brake got so hot it locked up the rear tire and popped it during a parking lot race. I ended up messing up my knee and had to be on crutches for a week.
Second time going 30+mph and go to stop. That arm band snapped and the pedal backlashed, sprained my ankle, almost bucked me off the bike but fought the bike until it slowed down then crashed. Roadrash and a bruised ankle.
Granted that was over 3 years ago and I don't know if they make better coaster brakes but I would say: Stick to disc brakes. It's much safer but that's my opinion.

I found a picture of my first coaster brake experience.

I have a coaster brake and like it, but wouldn't use one on another mb bc. I think v-s or discs are 100x better. This bike didn't have any rear v bosses. I really like them on pedal bikes though for a winter singlespeed. If you hit a bunch of goop, you can open the front v-brake, but still have something to work with. I just use mine basically for holding on hills, or assisting the front v-brake.

Check this out. The standard band broke on mine. Luckily nothing happened. Here is the electrical conduit I replaced it with.