Coaster Brakes for a Beachy Clem Build

[Justin Kennedy]

I'm considering converting my 64 Clem L frame into a beach cruiser and kid hauler to keep at my in-laws' place in Florida. The bike is currently stripped down to just F/F/HS/BB, so starting from scratch here. I can source most of the components from my various parts bins, but looking into doing a coaster brake set up which I do not have on-hand. 

Anyone have experience with setting up a coaster brake'd bike? (Not specifically on a Clem, just any bike in general.) I see MONē has a pretty bas ass coaster brake wheel that's built on-demand, but I'm not sure it's worth $325++ as I'd prefer to keep the build as inexpensive as possible (we're only down there a few times a year). Any other off-the-shelf coaster brake wheelset recommendations? 

Also, what other fun components make it a certified beach cruiser? I have some VO Klunker bars to throw on there and I got some some inspirational ideas at the two below links (LOOK barefoot pedals per Crust Matt's Romanceur, pops of anodized components, etc.). Maybe a B-O-B or Frances Cycles trailer to haul gear to the beach? What else is fun? 

https://theradavist.com/the-coaster-brake-challenge-and-yall-thought-you-were-a-freak/

https://droppedchain.com/first-gen-romanceur/

[Bill Lindsay]

The show stoppers that I would fear are:

1. A coaster brake requires a no-tensioner way to take up chain slack.  On normal cruisers, that's done with horizontal dropouts.  The Clem has vertical dropouts.  

2. Cheap coaster brake hubs are not 135mm and the Clem is 135mm O.L.D.

Bill Lindsay

El Cerrito, CA

[Brian Forsee]

I think a coaster clem would be sick!  The Mone hub builds are based on the shimano CBE110 hub. I think for your application an off the shelf CBE110 would do the job just fine. You would however need to space it out to 135mm. The stock axle is likely not long enough so you'd need to install a longer one with spacers/washers on either side to get you to 135mm. If you are replacing the axle, it would be worthwhile to go ahead and use a cromo axle which will be stronger than the stock one. The rest of the typical mods are mostly related to temperature control and grease flow, neither of which are very critical for a low-usage beach cruiser.

Bill's point #1 is something to consider tho. The only way i see around this is a threaded eccentric bottom bracket. Phil wood makes an extra fancy one, Velo orange makes an affordable one. I haven't tried either of those but have tried one by german company TrickStuff!, that has worked well for me. I believe the TrickStuff one is no longer in production.

Sounds like a fun project! 

Brian

[Eric Daume]

Handsome has some coaster wheels for ~$150, but spaced at 110mm:

https://handsomecycles.com/products/handsome-handbuilt-rear-wheel-single-speed-coaster-brake-aluminum-700c-silver

Eric

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[iamkeith]

You may get lucky with a "magic gear" ratio, that doesn't require a tensioner.  This will help:

https://eehouse.org/fixin/formfmu

The chain will eventually stretch and droop though, and that might be exacerbated by the longer-than-normal length.  

A drum brake is probably a better idea though.  You could even get this with a 3-speed igh.

Interested to see what you come up with.  This is why I was so excited when the Roaduno was going to be a single-speed clem.  I wanted to do the same thing for the exact same reason.  I want a "nice" bike to keep at a family condo in Florida, because I go stir crazy otherwise.

[Patrick Moore]

You can get 3 speed IGHs with disc mounts too.

On Tue, Dec 19, 2023 at 11:42 AM iamkeith <keith...@gmail.com> wrote:

...  A drum brake is probably a better idea though.  You could even get this with a 3-speed igh.

[aeroperf]

Interesting discussion.

When we lived in Germany (2002-2003) I picked up a “Top City” “Sundance” bicycle for my wife to ride while shopping.
It has a 7-speed internally-geared rear hub with a rear coaster brake, a front V-brake, and a 7-speed grip shift.  The rear hub is 135mm wide.  

I thought this was some sort of strange beast - it has a flexing frame with shock and spring like what I believe the “soft tail” mountain bikes feature, but it is most definitely a shopping bike.  Racks, lights, basket on the front.

Maybe you can find a “replacement” rear hub, if this is what you’re looking for and we can identify the bicycle a little better.  We still have it.

[Joe from Iowa]

I purchased a wheel from Mone to use on a 135 spaced Surly ECR. He spaced it to 135 for me. Bomber wheel that has held up to a lot of off road use. 

[Cyclofiend Jim]

On Monday, December 18, 2023 at 10:15:35 AM UTC-8 Bill Lindsay wrote:

The show stoppers that I would fear are:

1. A coaster brake requires a no-tensioner way to take up chain slack.  On normal cruisers, that's done with horizontal dropouts.  The Clem has vertical dropouts.  

Fixing chain slack on vertical dropouts is easily addressed with a chain tensioner. 

https://surlybikes.com/parts/singleator

Or if you want a purpose-built wheel, check out the White ENO hub - 
https://www.whiteind.com/product/eno-flip-flop/

If you go the hub route, you would have to leave the handbrakes in place.... 

J

[Bill Lindsay]

Cyclofiend Jim

I think your eyes skipped over the words "coaster brake" (aka a foot-brake rear hub) in this thread.  The original poster wants to put a coaster brake rear wheel on their Clem.  Otherwise, spot-on suggestions.  :-)

BL in EC

[JohnS]

Velo Orange sells an eccentric bottom bracket for hollow tech cranks. Currently out of stock though. Good reviews for the most part, one did say it doesn't take up much slack, maybe one link at most. Probably would work fine with a half link.

https://velo-orange.com/collections/bottom-brackets/products/eccentric-bottom-bracket-bsa

https://www.universalcycles.com/search.php?q=half+link

JohnS

[Mathias Steiner]

I have done this and would probably not do it again -- it takes some awareness and some re-training to go from coaster brake to being able to backpedal freely.  I'm on my third winter on the coaster-brake bike and still have trouble coming to a stop with the right pedal in the "take-off" position. But then I'm not very coordinated.

The upside of the coaster brake, and why I still use it, is the simplicity for winter riding. In rust belt winters, everything corrodes and gets messed up. So there's one less apparatus to worry about, plus the chain won't freeze up like the brake cable could.

I searched high and low for a steel mountain bike with horizontal dropouts. They're like hen's teeth. Specialized bikes up until 1993 or so qualify, so I got a Rockhopper.
My last winter bike was Cannondale hybrid, with horizontal dropouts like all aluminum bikes I've ever seen, and there I used a calculator similar to what @iamkeith is recommending. It gets futzy, and the result won't be gospel, but this type of calculator is  essential to figuring out a chainring/sprocket combination that works. A little trial and error might be necessary. Expect maybe 4-500 miles of wear before the chain elongates enough to become a problem.

Fun fact, after the chain comes off, you got no rear brake. So make sure you have one in front also.

As @Bill Lindsay alluded to above but didn't spell out: Coaster brakes and chain tensioners don't really mix. Whatever slack is in the system needs to be taken up before the braking starts.

Also, by the time you add the tensioner, just get one that shifts ;)

The whole thing seems like trouble; nothing wrong with coaster brakes, just use a frame the works with you, not against you.

cheers -mathias

[jaredwilson]

FWIW another fellow on the group did a 2-speed coaster build with a Susie and has a small write up on it here.

2-Speed Coaster Susie

[Patrick Moore]

FWIW, one has the same pedal-positioning problem with a fixed drivetrain. I quickly learned to unweight the rear and use the still-clipped-in left foot to rotate the crank around for proper left-foot start-off push-down. It's as easy to thus rotate forward as backward. 

Squeeze front brake; push bike forward (ie, down on bar); lift rear wheel; rotate crank to needed position with left foot. Adapt to your pedaling and "main foot" habits.

This method is difficult, though, if you are carrying a heavy rear load but then I just walk the bike forward half a dozen steps. And if you don't use foot retention, you'd have to hook the free foot under the pedal to pull up; I've done that only rarely.

One man's take.

On Thu, Dec 21, 2023 at 1:05 PM jaredwilson <duh...@gmail.com> wrote: