This business of coaster brakes

B

Bill in Oregon

New Member
I'm looking at a first 4-stroke build on a Sun Atlas with Shimano coaster brake on the rear. I thought I would add a Sturmey Archer drum to the front wheel. This combo should be adequate for a conservative (gray-haired) rider, right?
 
Bill,
You'll get differing opinions on this and they'll all be based on personal experience. I currently run a coaster on the rear and a disc on the front of a rather heavy Nirve chopper. The bike has roughly 300 miles on it and I've not once had a problem getting it stopped. I typically ride conservatively too but with an occasional WOT blast. My hair, what's left of it, is getting a little grey around the fringes too. My beard is almost white but it's not because of brake failures :)

Tom
 
My top speed is about 30mph. I run a Worksman front drum and a Shimano clone rear coaster hub. I typically use just the front brake for normal stopping, and usually slow down quickly enough. I am still getting used to the drum brake, as in how hard to squeeze the lever and how soon to use the brake before I need to stop. The other night I was approaching a traffic light and either didnt hit the front brake in time, or didnt squeeze the lever hard enough. I barely tapped the coaster right before I got up to the light, and I stopped on a dime. I just typically only use the front brake because the coaster is hard on my knees. But I love my Worksman drum, and as far as I know, everyone here that runs a Sturmey loves it as well. Drums do need to be broken in, so be aware they will not stop as good when you first get them, but they will break in and work better after that. They dont lock up like a disc brake, but with a front drum and rear coaster (which is also a form of drum brake) you should be fine.
 
bigbutterbean said:
They dont lock up like a disc brake, but with a front drum and rear coaster (which is also a form of drum brake) you should be fine.
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I have no idea what you mean by that. I run discs on all my bikes as do many others. Never had one "lock up".

Tom
 
With a disc brake, you can stop on a dime if you squeeze the lever hard enough, right? At least that is what I have heard from others here. I have never used a disc brake in my life, so I have no personal experience to go by. A drum brake by itself will not stop on a dime, but I can stop on a dime if I want to by using both brakes.
 
You will be fine, PLENTY of guys run a coaster with a front drum . I found it better to rely mainly on the front sturmey 90 percent of the time.
 
Bill in Oregon said:
I'm looking at a first 4-stroke build on a Sun Atlas with Shimano coaster brake on the rear. I thought I would add a Sturmey Archer drum to the front wheel. This combo should be adequate for a conservative (gray-haired) rider, right?
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I'm running the same brakes you want, on my bike. For me they offer plenty of stopping power.

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I've also run a disk on the same bike. The disk works better, but for my mostly sub 30 mph riding a disk is slightly overrkill.

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Back in the day (40's and 50's) when a paper boy bought a Whizzer kit for his cruiser, the dealer would recommend a Morrow coaster brake for the rear if he chose not to install a front brake. They had shoes about 3 times larger in surface area than the standard Bendix. Most of the newer caliper and disc brakes have more stopping power, but if you want to retain a vintage look, Morrows are available at swap meets and on ebay.
 
i gotta say a front disc and coaster is plenty enough for all speeds. and as ive heard. ive never had a disc lock up on me "yet" and im almost ready to replace the pads. when you really need to STOP hit both. the dist will not stop enought to go over the front when u gotta really pull on it.
 
Apparently nobody understood what I meant when I said "lock up". I did not mean lock up the wheel as in the wheel cant move. I also did not mean lock up as in send you over the handlbar. I meant lock up, as in, a disc brake will stop you INSTANTLY if you need it to, if you pull the lever very hard. This does not imply that that the brake is operating improperly, nor does it imply that the pads may be too worn, or that a disc will send you over your handlebars. All I was simply stating was that I have heard from people that use discs that you can stop very quickly, and that a drum will not stop you AS QUICKLY as a disc. I still like my drum brake very much, and if I need to stop more quickly, I use my drum and my coaster. The drum by itself is fine for normal stopping.
 
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