Pretzels Anyone? Coasters suck...PROOF!

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flatblack

New Member
Break-in time on the Cranbrook. Installed a side pull break on the rear. I've barely been using the coaster. Very light pressure. Most of the heavy duty work has been done by the hand brake. I just installed my Dax RT carb and finished dinner (5 hr smoked baby back ribs); decided to take the Scuffed Huffy for a small spin around the 'hood. Was running awesome, pulled up to my driveway, applied slight coaster and full hand brake and BAM! This happened:
5868355058_e74e10d8a8_z.jpg


Outta nowhere, the thing folded into a pretzel. Mind you, this is with the entire hub being tore down, bearings repacked and assembled with the utmost precision. I had been paying extra attention to not relying on the coaster for stopping. NO big stops or lock-ups had been made.

So now here I am. The hub is in good shape other than the arm. I figure I have a few options. Some a lot more pricey than the others.

1. New "stock" replacement arm, then bend back to working condition. -$10
2. Prebent arm from Pirates. Which are currently out of stock. -$15
3. New Shimano 110 hub/complete wheel. -$40
4. Complete new HD wheelset with coaster. (Most costly, but honestly leaning towards this)
5. Springer front end, V-brake adapters, free wheel hub/single speed on rear and front use brake set from my Giant STP2 dirt jump bike that's just sitting in the corner collecting dust. -No adapters available on danscomp anymore.
6. Springer front end, V-brake up front. Make rear wheel free wheel with side pull as is.

I honestly feel the Cranbrook frame/head set/bars are good to go. Wheelset is questionable...brake well...that didn't work out so well.

Any opinions and help would be appreciated. So bummed. The thing was running so well going into the 2nd tank!
 
all coasters don't suck. it's the hi-stops, KT's, and no-name brands that are junk. if you read the cranbrook reviews online, there's a lot of them without motors that have had coaster brake failures, or at the least, clicking and grinding noises.

the shimano coaster is a great hub. shimano's been in business for over 100 years, and it's current design is the one most copied.

they might start disappearing soon, as they're made in Japan, and a lot of bike manufacturers were destroyed by the earthquake and flood. i've heard from some reliable sources that Japanese bike part prices are gonna be skyrocketing on the parts that are still available. only time will tell.

i run coasters on all my bikes and love 'em.

i'd suggest going with a shimano, and if you wanna go all out get a complete Worksman wheel.
 
Protip for the OP: get another washer on each side. You have horizontal front-exit dropouts, and they will open up more than they already have. They're already spreading.

My opinion, I think coaster brakes have no business on a MaB and neither do those dropouts. I'm no light guy like Baird, and maybe I'm biased because of it, but I say these things because I'd like to think I know better from my own experience.
 
So far my Shimano CB110E rear wheel has proven itself to be, bullet proof, skid proof, curb proof, off road in the boonies proof, and down hill racing in the dirt proof.

I would think it's safe to say that your rear brake is not a Shimano CB110E coaster brake.
 
Nope. It was a good ol' falcon. Ya think a whole new wheel set would be the best way to go? Better off to replace the Huffy's with something decent? Not wanting to throw more at this bike than it's worth. True, it could be scavenged later for a better build.

Looking at this option:
Wheels - Heavy Duty 26 x 2.125 Wheel Set | BikeWorldUSA | Bicycle Parts and Bike Accessories
It would get me back on the road quick, after a bit of sanding and painting to match the bike.
 
That sounds good, but they do not say what the hub is. You could very well get another Falcon hub.
 
I've actually found that the 'HiStop' hubs have the strongest arms!
I've also pretzeled up some Shimano arms like that before. :(
 
I haven't had any issues with the coaster brake on my non motorized stock OP Roller but the rear hub has at times had quite a few thunks, sproings, knocks and pings. No lasting problems and a year after I got it I still ride this bike everyday with no problems. Come to think of it, all of those noises were last summer, no noises yet since I got it out and started riding everyday in late April this year. Still, there is no way I would use that hub if I motorize this bike and most definitely disc brakes front and back on any MB build.
 
I'm with Bairdco on not all coaster brakes being equal. I've been very impressed with the quality of some of the old ones. Sachs especially who invented the torpedo coaster brake... German engineering. Even many of the German light motorcycles had coaster brakes. I've never had trouble with the American made Bendix bubs. On the other hand I don't down hill race or jump curbs or come to screeching stops for the heck of it, standing on the pedal. Just looking at some of the Chinese ones makes me uneasy. The quality of the metal is poor, finish is poor and it makes you wonder what corners were cut in the design. Was the focus to make a hub that would safely stop the the bike, or to make as much money as possible with cheap components. Some of the old hubs are worth re lacing into new wheels with heavy duty spokes, IMO.
SB
 
How about if you leave the arm off and use it as a free wheel rim ? Then add a Large Rear Hand Pull Brake ? I might do that on My Bike Build and then I have more room to mount My Sprocket as well .
 
Already have the rear hand pull brake installed. The coaster was just there for safety sake. Like I mentioned. I barely had been applying any pressure to it on my rides. There also hasn't been a way that I've seen yet to turn the coaster hub into a freewheel.
 
flatblack said:
Already have the rear hand pull brake installed. The coaster was just there for safety sake. Like I mentioned. I barely had been applying any pressure to it on my rides. There also hasn't been a way that I've seen yet to turn the coaster hub into a freewheel.
Click to expand...

http://motorbicycling.com/f3/disabling-coaster-brake-2615.html

http://motorbicycling.com/f53/possibe-disable-coaster-brake-function-29512-2.html

Every time I run the search engine I forget where to find it..

This might help.

I am forever sold on disk brakes myself.
 
I ordered the wheelset from my earlier post. Figured they have to be a better build quality that is on the bike now. Hopefully, they will allow the pull brake to mount on the front. It would only be a matter of time before another wheel failure of some sort was bound to happen on the stock Cranny wheel. It just means refinishing the new wheels to match the style I had going on with the stockers, remounting the rag joint (awesome), and hoping the chain alignment isn't too far off.
 
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