The pleasure of the coaster brake, any converted road bikes?

[Bicycle808]

I have a 72 Super Sport with a singlespeed coaster on 700c rims. I'm about to build a Collegiate with a 3speed drum and a front drum as well, again on 700c rimsl. If I was looking to convert a Varsity to 3 speed coaster, i'd lace a Sturmey-Archer AWC or S-RC3 into a set of 700c Sun Rhyno Lite or CR18 rims and run some 40mm (or thereabouts) cyclocross or commuter tires. That way, you keep the pedals from dragging, and you'll have fewer fitment issues overall.

HTH.

 

[Wildcat]

Bicycle808 has a good idea. 40mm tires are about 1.75 inches wide, so you'll have some width. 700c wheels are slightly smaller than 27" wheels, so they will look natural on the bike.
I found this chart which shows the sizes, 700c is the same as 29, so you could go with a wider tire.
But you already have all the 26" stuff.

 

[peejus]

Up thread when i mentioned custom spokes, i didn't know it wouldn't be much of an issue to mate a 3 speed hub to a road bike rim...
Still learning. ..

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[xray]

The 1 3/8ths is a different diameter, for the skinny 26" rim. Doesn't make sense but that's how it works. Schwinn had a different 26" wheel also, the S-7 wheel. It was a tiny bit larger in diameter so nothing but a higher priced Schwinn tire would fit it... If you need just a tiny bit more room, the old steel frame can be carefully tweaked to make it work. I've done it with a piece of 2 x 4 cut to the width I wanted and then hammered it between the stays right where the tire will go, then squeezed the dropouts where the hub bolts up to the right width for the hub. Carefully and little by little until it clears is paramount."

Thanks for sharing all that. I knew the 1 3/8 tires were not gonna work with my rims, which are said to be 26 x 1.95 to 2.15 on the packaging. I won't have to deal with the S-7 problem since I bought the Nexus 3 speed in a new alloy wheelset. I just wish I had researched it more carefully and looked for a narrower wheelset instead of the cheapest wheelset I could find with the 3 speed already laced into it.

BUT, these should be straight wheels, anyway, and not oddly sized. I'm thinking the 26 by 2.0 tires will JUST fit without mods, and will be okay as long as I have no wobble in the wheels. And, the slightest wobble is gonna be a problem.

I'm a rank amateur. I get excited and jump in before knowing the subtle nuances. Of course, that's how you learn. Screw up, and get burned, then you always remember that lesson.

I don't think the switch from 27 inch skinny tires to 26 inch fatter tires will leave the pedals too much closer to the ground. But, maybe I am making assumptions I should not have made. I remember as a kid discovering the hard way what happens when you lower the bike too much. You come riding hard through that turn, and as you lean, the pedal comes down hard on the ground, and the wheels go out from under you.

You guys are posting lots of great bikes, thank you very much. I can never look at too many bikes, I love 'em all.

But, my original idea here was largely about the pleasure of rediscovering coaster brakes, particularly in conjunction with internal gears.

I want to strip the bike down as much as possible without giving up the shifter and having at least three speeds. I'm going for the old "safety bike" look or the "klunker" but with 3 to 8 gears and coaster brake.

Anybody had any experience with the Nexus 8 speed coaster brake hub?

 

[Wildcat]

I heard the 8 speed was normal and seven higher gears, so you need a small chain wheel if you want any low gears.

I rode worn out coasters for years when I was a kid. If they didn't have much stopping power, I would put one foot under the pedal and pull up while pushing down on the other foot to stop.

 

[horsefarmer]

Seven speed Nexus hub is 3 underdrive, direct 1:1 gear, then 3 overdrive gears.

My bike has a Nexus 4 coaster brake hub which has direct and 3 overdrive gears only. I upgraded to a smaller chain wheel from a 20" kids bike to lower the gears a bit.

 

[Bicycle808]

I don't think the switch from 27 inch skinny tires to 26 inch fatter tires will leave the pedals too much closer to the ground. But, maybe I am making assumptions I should not have made. I remember as a kid discovering the hard way what happens when you lower the bike too much. You come riding hard through that turn, and as you lean, the pedal comes down hard on the ground, and the wheels go out from under you.

It's gonna drop you about 3/4" going from 27x1.25" to 26x2.0", which is significant b/c Chicago Schwinns from WW2 on have pretty low BB shells.. but if you don't push it hard, it may not be an issue.... and you can always run shorter cranks, if you need to.

I heard the 8 speed was normal and seven higher gears, so you need a small chain wheel if you want any low gears.

The Sturmey-Archer 8speed is direct in first with 7 "overdrive" gears, so a tiny primary ratio is needed. On the other hand, the Shimano 8 speeds have a 300% (or around there) with 5th being direct drive, and 4 underdrive gearts/3overdrive gears. Way easier to run with "conventional" primary ratios, compared to the Sturmey 8speed. I wouldn't go less than 2:1 front: rear, though.... in accordance with Shimano's suggestions. A lot of guys do run lower than that with Alfine 8s offroad; some blow up quick, while others just keep on rolling...

 

[peejus]

Whats the opinion of a front derailleur with a internal gear rear hub?

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[horsefarmer]

how would you deal with chain tension?

 

[peejus]

how would you deal with chain tension?

A chain tensioner.....

you can get them that just ride with the chain, or an old rear derailleur zeroed out to the rear cog.

The biggest issue i see is having a multi-gear chain with a single gear hub..

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[Wildcat]

With a coaster brake, it won't work. I tried it with a Mongoose beast, trying for two speeds up front. The used chain wheels were easy to add, but the coaster requires a lot of pull, it would bend the tensioner and need 3/4 of a turn to engage the brake. So, I settled for the lower gear.

 

[peejus]

With a coaster brake, it won't work. I tried it with a Mongoose beast, trying for two speeds up front. The used chain wheels were easy to add, but the coaster requires a lot of pull, it would bend the tensioner and need 3/4 of a turn to engage the brake. So, I settled for the lower gear.

View attachment 41097

Gotcha... but i suppose a free wheel rear gear hub would work though..

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[Wildcat]

It should work. My single speed chain fit the walmart chain wheels from a 21 speed, I was surprised. It worked great until I hit the brakes and the derailleur gave up..

 

[peejus]

My holland look has a sachs 3 speed with a coaster brake, the royce union is a 3 speed sturmy archer free wheel and rim brakes..
I have another SA rim that i haven't dug into yet, but i suspect its the same.
Presumably, a double chain ring up front with a 3 speed in the back would give you a theoretical 9 speeds..
The concern is the practicality of the exercise.

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[Bicycle808]

The smoother move, in my opinion, would be to run a rear derailer on an IGH, rather than a frontderailer with an IGH. Most Sturmey drivers will easily take 2 dished 3/32" snap-sprockets, and then you just run the derailer. Sturmey-Archer makes a 3speed hub with a freehub body (run up to 10 speeds casette!) and Sachs/SRAM used to make a 3speed hub with 7- and 8/9/10 freehub bodies. But yeah, obviously, you can't run a coaster like that.

If you have a brit-thread BB shell, and you like to spend money, you could run a Patterson 2-speed planetary crank (or a Schlumpf 3 speed, if you REALLY like to spend) with whatever rear IGH you'd like. The stock gear on the Patterson is a 28 direct with an overdrive equivalent to a 45t.... And, on a bike with an American BB shell, you can run a Dana 3speed (vintage-only) with whatever IGH you like.... lotsa planetary gears, no chain tension issues....and, of course, a coaster brake. I kinda wanna build a bike with an AWC and a Patterson... and maybe a front drum brake. I'd go with a twist/trigger combo to handle the shifting, and put both of'm (along with the front brake lever) on the right, so I could operate all the shifting/braking one-handed...

 

[peejus]

The smoother move, in my opinion, would be to run a rear derailer on an IGH, rather than a frontderailer with an IGH. Most Sturmey drivers will easily take 2 dished 3/32" snap-sprockets, and then you just run the derailer. Sturmey-Archer makes a 3speed hub with a freehub body (run up to 10 speeds casette!) and Sachs/SRAM used to make a 3speed hub with 7- and 8/9/10 freehub bodies. But yeah, obviously, you can't run a coaster like that.

If you have a brit-thread BB shell, and you like to spend money, you could run a Patterson 2-speed planetary crank (or a Schlumpf 3 speed, if you REALLY like to spend) with whatever rear IGH you'd like. The stock gear on the Patterson is a 28 direct with an overdrive equivalent to a 45t.... And, on a bike with an American BB shell, you can run a Dana 3speed (vintage-only) with whatever IGH you like.... lotsa planetary gears, no chain tension issues....and, of course, a coaster brake. I kinda wanna build a bike with an AWC and a Patterson... and maybe a front drum brake. I'd go with a twist/trigger combo to handle the shifting, and put both of'm (along with the front brake lever) on the right, so I could operate all the shifting/braking one-handed...

I never knew such front cranks existed!

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[Wildcat]

On a three speed, the old twist grip shifter looks and is vintage and I've hooked one up to a nexus 3 speed in the past. They were made for the old Shimano 333, but I think SA had a version also.

 

[Bicycle808]

I never knew such front cranks existed!

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They do, but none are cheap. Danas are old but scarce, and in pretty high demand. They pop up on the RRB for-sale forum, the CABE, and eBay fairly regularly, but working ones don't come cheap--usually well over $100 for a crankset that's over half a century old..

Patterson cranks are kinda affordable, but not really. I guess it's all relative. http://pattersonbike.com/product/patterson-transmission/ These get shifted by cable and almost any standard shifter.

Schlumpf transmissions are truly pricy, but they're supposedly really high-quality. I've never lived with one; thus far, I haven't had enough scratch to justify the purchase. http://www.cyclemonkey.com/schlumpf-innovations.shtml You can find'm used for less, but the retail is between $500 and $750, pretty much, depending on the options. You shift these by kicking a button in the center of the crankarm. Pretty rockin'.

 

[horsefarmer]

Patterson crank looks cool !

 

[SILVERKINGPC]