Two Speed Kickback

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Wildcat

Wildcat

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I made a video showing how a two speed kickback works. This one has a coaster brake, but the shifting is the same on a regular kick shift hub. This one is Sturmey Archer, but it's the same operation. High gear has pawls that make noise, low is silent. One downside is that when you stop it shifts because you pedaled backwards. Then you start out in high gear instead of low. I've found that if your only bike is a kickback two speed, you get used to it and it becomes second nature. I like this because there are no cables to shift or brake, simple.

 
I also have put some miles on the SRAM Automatix hubs. Too bad they quit making them, but they are still available. I have one bike now that uses the freewheel version. I prefer the coaster brake version. It is convenient to just pedal and let it do the shifting. Right at 10-12 mph is just right for me. There is one manual thing about it, if you maintain pressure on the pedals, it won't drop back into low. Once you let off, the weight drops back and it's in low again.
single 2.JPG
 
ParkRNDL said:
I have an old set of Schwinn wheels with a Bendix kickback on a Schwinn Deliveri (Heavy-Duti) frame. Very cool to drag out and cruise for something different once in a while.
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The kick back heavy duty hubs are not all that common most ewere on tandems Is it a real HD with 10 gauge spokes? If so "Bully " let me know when you want to let it go.
 
musclebikemadman said:
The kick back heavy duty hubs are not all that common most ewere on tandems Is it a real HD with 10 gauge spokes? If so "Bully " let me know when you want to let it go.
Click to expand...
Oops, no. It's a regular kick back off a girls' frame '62-ish American. I just have it on a more modern Heavy-Duti frame.
 
JA331 said:
I have one of the new SA kickbacks on my 98 Trek cruiser. Nicely made but heavy. I think it weighs about 3 pounds. Are the Bendix hubs similar? Never seen one downunder. View attachment 164895View attachment 164896
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That's the same hub as in my video in the first post. Bendix 2 speeds haven't been produced since 1969, but there is a company making reproductions of them recently.
https://www.somafabshop.com/shop/product/eagle-2sp-coaster-brake-hub-6102?category=980
The Bendix yellow band and red band were a low gear with a normal gear, Sturmey Archer 2 speeds are a regular and a higher gear. Bendix blue band hubs are a regular and a high gear, originally made for 20" wheel gearing. The difference between gears in ratio was nearly the same for both brand of hubs.
 
Your gearing will be slightly higher, but not by much. It'll add about 2.5 GI to your ratio. If you add one tooth to the cog you'll have nearly the same gearing as if you were using a 26" wheel. With the usual 18 or 19 tooth cog, you'll have a low and a normal gear. This is with the hubs that have a normal and high gear, not the yellow ones with low and normal, those would be geared way too low with a 32 tooth chain wheel.
 
They are pricey but look good. I've haven't seen any reviews of these remake versions that Eagle sells.
 
how hard is this thing to install? Any chain tensioners or the like involved or just thread on a 1x chain, make sure the lever band is on, and go?
 
Yes, nothing more than fitting a usual coaster hub wheel.

I removed mine as I found it annoying that it changed gear too easily with a small backward movement of the pedals…….and I wanted more gears.
 
So... do I go with the blueband, sturmy, or a shimano?

And should the front gear be swapped out? A situation like this is exactly why I put a front crank that lets me swap chainrings.
 
I only have a Sturmey Archer so I don't know how well the remade blueband (or Yellow), or if there is a two speed Shimano.

As for your chain wheel, see how you like the gearing as is and then change to the chain wheel you like, depending on how you like the high and low gears together.
 

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