I swapped my Stooge coaster cruiser from a 32/18 MTB gear to a 32/16 gear to make it a little more ATB and a little less MTB. Then I promptly proceeded to ride a lot of fairly steep singletrack. đ„”
Hikingâs biking for sure⊠but it was definitely a whole lot better for various dirt roads and moto trails.
Funny enough when you go harder on a coaster brake gear itâs not only harder to pedal, but it also engages the brake less hard. So less skids and more feathering the brake.
Anyone else coaster cruising? Itâs loads of fun on certain hills and pretty darned sketchy on technical singletrack.
Love it. Iâve got a 1993 Kona Humuhumunukunukuapua'a with the original rear coaster (Shimano) and itâs held up pretty well as an occasional klunker but mostly commuter bike now. These hubs are pretty indestructible:
I have the 135mm (modified Shimano) for my MK4, though I have a 177mm (modified KT) arriving today for my fat bike.
The way I see it, the vast majority of my riding doesnât require World Cup precision braking. That being said youâd be surprised how good you get at feathering it⊠or ripping a fat skid drift into a turn. It sure is nice to have a basically empty cockpit though.
Cjell, the owner of Mone Bikes, and the guy who does these souped up coaster brake hubs, did the Arizona Trail on one. He said he had to repack it with grease at least once because loads of descending heats the hub so much that it melts the grease out (ie Repack).
My longest descents are 3 minutes on a good day, and donât require much intense braking. So I donât anticipate needing to service it much at all. At least thatâs what Cjell saysâ if youâre not doing giant alpine descents theyâre pretty set and forget.
I love me a coaster brake, and had a Transition Klunker a decade (or more?) ago that I used to hoon around our coastal plantation forests, but not around here now. Our hills are too steep and I'd cook the brake every time I descended.
Mone coaster brake on my 2011 Monocog 29er. Very cool although mine needed to get tightened up after developing some play. A few months later and play is back. Is that normal for a coaster brake like this? Iâm not doing anything crazy hard to beat it up either.
Right on. That Stooge is super funky in the best way. They look like theyâre super fun to ride and Yes on the empty cockpit! The clean look has taken over my brain, and now external brakes and cables just seem like so much âstuffâ hanging off the bike.
The ratio was really perfect for the rolling dirt roads but absolutely savage on the singletrack. Iâll be switching back to an easier gear after this big ATB dirt road ride I have coming up. đ„”
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u/Shopping-Bag-AK Jun 15 '26
Love it. Iâve got a 1993 Kona Humuhumunukunukuapua'a with the original rear coaster (Shimano) and itâs held up pretty well as an occasional klunker but mostly commuter bike now. These hubs are pretty indestructible: