Braking by back-pedaling

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MikeG

Guru
Location
Suffolk
The first bike I ever rode was around my dad's factory yard, 50 odd years ago, and apart from being much too big for me, the bike braked by pedaling backwards. It had no brake levers. Does anyone else recall this sort of braking? How on earth did it work?
 

gaijintendo

Veteran
Location
Scotchland
Coaster Brakes are what they are called - and I have never tried them!

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/coaster-brakes.html
 

wisdom

Guru
Location
Blackpool
Yes solid tyres and back pedal brake.
It was an Elswick hopper thunderflash
Don' know how it worked I was far too young to know.Front brake was normal rod I think.
 

gaijintendo

Veteran
Location
Scotchland
[QUOTE 5225967, member: 259"]Coaster brakes. Used to be common on hub-geared and single speed bikes. Still fond on some continental "oma" ans "opa" bikes. I hate them personally.[/QUOTE]
Is the hatred lack of trust in them? I am curious because I ride fixed a lot and when I go back to my push bike, freewheeling scares the bejeebus out of me! Is it the same kind of "wrong" feeling?
 
OP
OP
MikeG

MikeG

Guru
Location
Suffolk
Thanks guys. And yeah, it had hub gears.

What I remember most was that braking meant skidding.......which if you are only braking the rear wheel isn't much of a surprise.
 

ianrauk

Tattooed Beat Messiah
Location
Rides Ti2
Ian jnr first pedal bike had a back pedal brake. I thought it would cause him problems but far from it. He became a master of the rear wheel skid.

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ADarkDraconis

Cardinal Member
Location
Ohio, USA
Here they are very common on children's bikes as often their hands are too small or lack the grip strength to use hand levers. I remember when I got my first 'big bike' that it took a lot of getting used to having brake levers on the handlebars. I was about 8 or 9 and none of my friends had hand brakes yet. My daughter is 3 and has her first bike, with coaster brakes, and cannot figure out yet how to strictly pedal forward. She keeps going forward and then deciding to pedal backwards, and putting the brakes on! She'll get it, hopefully!
 

chriswoody

Legendary Member
Location
Northern Germany
I've a Shimano coaster brake on my folder, it's a single speed bike, so the conventional front brake is the only cable on the whole bike. Simplicity at it's purest form. The coaster brake is a bit Marmite, some days I love it, but others I'm cursing it to hell and back. The biggest problem is the inability to back pedal, much like a fixie. However as others have mentioned you can generate some wonderful rear wheel skids and when you finally get the feel of it, it can produce some remarkably good moderated braking.

They work through a simple principle, as you back pedal, the middle of the hub "screws" into two metal plates which spread apart, like petals, and drag against the metal shell of the hub. Fairly simple agricultural mechanics, but effective and long lasting.
 
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