Since someone else installed the coaster brake assembly both times, there is no way for you to verify that it was done correctly. I have got to be very honest, after 4 years of building and riding my own bikes, I trust my own mechanical abilities more than that of a bike shop. I have literally built my current bike piece by piece, and when I put something together, I know whether it was done right or not. Just because it was done at a bike shop does not mean it was done correctly. And the walmart employee? I'm not even going to touch that. I will agree that a coaster brake should not be the only brake on a motorbike. I personally run a front drum and love it. I don't typically use the coaster brake much at all. But a bent axle is almost certainly due to improper hub assembly. And like I said, there is no way to verify if the assembly was correct one way or the other, since you didnt do it yourself. And since the replacement axle was almost certainly not a huffy axle. Two different brands of axle with the same failure, its almost certainly got to be improper assembly or improper operation. Coaster brakes may not be the best choice of brake for a motorbike, but there are quite a few people using them and not bending their axles. So I for one am still not accepting that the parts themselves are to blame.
Cranbrook Builders!-Please Help!
- Thread starter CARider
- Start date
Ha very well. You seem to have a pretty lengthy history in the defense of inexpensive bike parts In my many years of bike experience, I've never been a fan of coaster brakes. Perhaps, I am just taking out my frustrations on Huffy but after I made the switch to freewheel I never had a problem. I too prefer to do things myself, but the bike shop owner offered to assemble it, and personally knowing the owner and his 30+ year experience made me comfortable that he would assemble it correctly. As for walmart employees, I know they can't do anything right. My local Walmart has hired 50% of the high school drop outs and the Mcdonald's got the other half. That being said the first axel I will mark up to improper installation, but the second, assembled by the shop, no way.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Any bike is only as good as its mechanic (and in this case its rider, being as how they were two separate entities).........And that's my final thought on the matter.
I'd say with all that has been said here about coaster hubs and Huffy Hubs and whatever......... it all easily falls under the (SOME rule)
Some- have had great experience
Some- have had bad experience
Some- were better quality out of the box
Some- were junk out of the box
Some- were assembled right
Some- were assembled wrong
I know.....! I know.....! its sounds like I'm talking about the China Girl engines all the kit parts and pretty much anything else that come over here from China...
Oh....! guess what!
I AM..!!
I think this is another one of those beating a dead horse topics, we're all gonna hold tight to opinions based on our own personal experience, I've yet to have a hub failure of any type or brand ever....... so I can't put any of them down, all mine have proven to be excellent, coaster, freewheel, Huffy brand, who the heck knows? brand.
try it, if it works out for ya run it, try it if it don't work out replace it!
And thats all I got to say about that.
Peace, Map
Some- have had great experience
Some- have had bad experience
Some- were better quality out of the box
Some- were junk out of the box
Some- were assembled right
Some- were assembled wrong
I know.....! I know.....! its sounds like I'm talking about the China Girl engines all the kit parts and pretty much anything else that come over here from China...
Oh....! guess what!
I AM..!!
I think this is another one of those beating a dead horse topics, we're all gonna hold tight to opinions based on our own personal experience, I've yet to have a hub failure of any type or brand ever....... so I can't put any of them down, all mine have proven to be excellent, coaster, freewheel, Huffy brand, who the heck knows? brand.
try it, if it works out for ya run it, try it if it don't work out replace it!
And thats all I got to say about that.
Peace, Map
As my stoner fraternity brother would say, "Burn blunts, not bridges" but perhaps a more appropriate phrase, " burn rubber, not bridges."
I really don't think this was a whizzing match. There were different points of view offered, and supporting arguments were made for each. I'm not mad, and I don't think DudeMan is either (does the DudeMan even get mad? I thought not having a short temper was in the job description, lol).
Oh yeah......... nothing wrong with a friendly debate...., i've actually learned many things on this forum by watching and engaging in some of the debate that have popped up, some have been just down right silly mud slinging contest and others have had good points made on each side that can stir the mind of those sitting on the fence and many times supply some useful info that will help someone solve an issue in the future or avoid one all together.
As long as the debate is on topic and doesnt get into personal bashing and name calling they usually play themselve down and end friendly with a virtual hand shake, not a thing wrong with that.....
Peace, map
As long as the debate is on topic and doesnt get into personal bashing and name calling they usually play themselve down and end friendly with a virtual hand shake, not a thing wrong with that.....
Peace, map
Last edited:
Yeah, I'm not mad. It's all in the name. Dude, we disagree. But no worries, man, because we're all still friends, bro.
Wow just the thread i had been wondering about. I just got a cranny 26 from wally's and was wondering wether or not the stock rims would work. My stock tubes were flat the morning after my first ride (which was 6-8 mi.). Fenders seem real flimsy and even made a rubbing sound at times. do i really need the mm hub adaptor
the stock tubes are crap. Really thin.
The wheels themselves aren't bad, just the rear hub needs regreasing. Fenders need to be ditched.
The wheels themselves aren't bad, just the rear hub needs regreasing. Fenders need to be ditched.
The kit sprocket mounts are ok for cruising and putt-putting around on a china girl. If you're going to do any performance upgrades or install a more powerful engine, I'd go with an adapter. I wouldn't trust a rag joint to any serious power.
Thnx for your response
Well i have the FH 66/80 CD w/speed carb,do you think the mm sprkt /adptr kit will do it some good?
run the stock rag joint sprocket mount on all my bikes since 2009, never one failure, and I doubt there is anyone that puts theres through more of a beating than mine go through just to be honest, I ride in very rough conditions and have hundreds of miles on dusty dirt roads, all my bikes cruise at 30+ mph everywhere I go and I weigh 215lbs.
the coupler/rag joint needs to be set up correctly and adjusted to be well centered on a wheel, which by the way needs to be in very good to excellent condition with good spokes, once all this is done, you will have great service using the stock set up in my experience.
I'm not taking anything away from all the fancy heavy duty sprockets and clam shell type adapters, many people have multi speed bikes which cant use those adapters and have several thousand miles on the stock set up with no issues, two of my bike are multi speed and don't even have the larger spoke like my huffy coaster hub does and I have had zero issues, the stock couplers don't scare me a bit, they become one with the wheel once they are set up properly and stay right where you put them, they aint nearly as pretty and they don't give you the same quick easy adjustment as the clam shell adapter does on a coaster wheel as far as being able to move the sprocket out for chain-tire clearance when running the wider type tires, but even with the stock set up spacers can be made to move the sprocket out a bit if needed.
Hope know one gets me wrong here, I ain't hating on the nice adapters.......! just making the point that the stock set up is just fine if done right because when you lock that many spokes together it makes a strong spot on that wheel, and I like the advantage of having a bigger selection of sprockets that wont break the bank also.
Just my experience & $0.02 on the "rag Joint" set up.
Peace, Map
the coupler/rag joint needs to be set up correctly and adjusted to be well centered on a wheel, which by the way needs to be in very good to excellent condition with good spokes, once all this is done, you will have great service using the stock set up in my experience.
I'm not taking anything away from all the fancy heavy duty sprockets and clam shell type adapters, many people have multi speed bikes which cant use those adapters and have several thousand miles on the stock set up with no issues, two of my bike are multi speed and don't even have the larger spoke like my huffy coaster hub does and I have had zero issues, the stock couplers don't scare me a bit, they become one with the wheel once they are set up properly and stay right where you put them, they aint nearly as pretty and they don't give you the same quick easy adjustment as the clam shell adapter does on a coaster wheel as far as being able to move the sprocket out for chain-tire clearance when running the wider type tires, but even with the stock set up spacers can be made to move the sprocket out a bit if needed.
Hope know one gets me wrong here, I ain't hating on the nice adapters.......! just making the point that the stock set up is just fine if done right because when you lock that many spokes together it makes a strong spot on that wheel, and I like the advantage of having a bigger selection of sprockets that wont break the bank also.
Just my experience & $0.02 on the "rag Joint" set up.
Peace, Map
Do you have the rim,tire and spoke sizes for the cranbrook 26" . What would i do to the stock rims and sprocket to make it work nicely and more safely?run the stock rag joint sprocket mount on all my bikes since 2009, never one failure, and I doubt there is anyone that puts theres through more of a beating than mine go through just to be honest, I ride in very rough conditions and have hundreds of miles on dusty dirt roads, all my bikes cruise at 30+ mph everywhere I go and I weigh 215lbs.
the coupler/rag joint needs to be set up correctly and adjusted to be well centered on a wheel, which by the way needs to be in very good to excellent condition with good spokes, once all this is done, you will have great service using the stock set up in my experience.
I'm not taking anything away from all the fancy heavy duty sprockets and clam shell type adapters, many people have multi speed bikes which cant use those adapters and have several thousand miles on the stock set up with no issues, two of my bike are multi speed and don't even have the larger spoke like my huffy coaster hub does and I have had zero issues, the stock couplers don't scare me a bit, they become one with the wheel once they are set up properly and stay right where you put them, they aint nearly as pretty and they don't give you the same quick easy adjustment as the clam shell adapter does on a coaster wheel as far as being able to move the sprocket out for chain-tire clearance when running the wider type tires, but even with the stock set up spacers can be made to move the sprocket out a bit if needed.
Hope know one gets me wrong here, I ain't hating on the nice adapters.......! just making the point that the stock set up is just fine if done right because when you lock that many spokes together it makes a strong spot on that wheel, and I like the advantage of having a bigger selection of sprockets that wont break the bank also.
Just my experience & $0.02 on the "rag Joint" set up.
Peace, Map
best thing to do in my opinion is the true the wheels so they run as straight as possible if they are wobbly when they spin, remove the front wheel axle and put so good quality grease on the bearings, Auto Zone sells Lucas Tacky grease that is good stuff, I would recommend doing the same thing to the rear coaster hub.
Here's link below that will walk you through the process on the rear hub maintenance, its not on a motorized bike but the fella does a really good job of walking through the process, very simple and very important for making sure the hub last a long time.
Hope this helps ya.
http://youtu.be/b4jgR-ybM_M
Map
great info thanks a bunch guys 
Still trying to find out the size of rim and tire i would need if stock parts are ever to be replaced-Excellent vid link, bookmarked that one in my motorized bicycle Bookmarks Folder
Still trying to find out the size of rim and tire i would need if stock parts are ever to be replaced-Excellent vid link, bookmarked that one in my motorized bicycle Bookmarks Folder
Last edited:
Slamming a coaster brake at 30mph will fubar it almost every time, Coasters were NOT made for 35mph.
I HATE coaster brakes!!!
fatdaddy.
I HATE coaster brakes!!!
fatdaddy.