Coast Bicycle Brake Conversion Question
August 5, 2024 11:39 AM   Subscribe

Garbage picked a junker bike with intention of giving it to my kid as a spare as her regular bike is kept at the grandparents'. Junker bike had a seized front brake but as her regular bike has a coaster brake I would prefer the junker have the same. I'd just like to confirm that my options for this would be:

1) Buy a new wheel with coaster brake components (Cost-prohibitive)
2) Buy a new coaster brake hub/axle and and swap it for the old (Cost-prohibitive, respoking)
3) Put cable brakes on the the junker and hope she adjusts
4) Try and find a salvageable rear wheel that already has a coaster brake
posted by Alvy Ampersand to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (3 answers total)
 
I won't be able to help with your specifics but suspect more info would be of use to those who can. Specifically, how big of a bike / wheel are you talking about? Is your kid a child or an adult?

I had a custom built bike put together 20 years ago and putting a coaster brake on an adult sized bike was a bit of a nightmare.
posted by dobbs at 11:59 AM on August 5, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: I'd rank your choices as

5) Find a junker with a working coaster brake
4) Find a junker coaster wheel
3) Transition to hand brakes
posted by advicepig at 12:05 PM on August 5, 2024 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Yeah, the more I think about it, hand brakes are the way to go. Kid's 10 but only just got out of training wheels so I didn't want to make them deal with another big transition, but it really makes the most sense financially and practically.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:11 PM on August 5, 2024 [1 favorite]


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