# Coaster Brakes



## pete33 (Jun 6, 2011)

Now that summer has finally arrived here in Colorado!  The bike I gave my girlfriend for Valentines day has hit the streets!  Only one problem, the brakes aren't the best, anyway to re-build them?  I want to keep this girl around so any help would be greatly welcome!!  The bike is a 1955 Schwinn Spitfire with a springer front end.


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## partsguy (Jun 6, 2011)

Is there excess slack in the hub (wheel wobbly)? I would try just rebuilding it, cleaning all the parts, regrease everything. Of course, if you don't trust yourself with it, there is always the bike shop and I'm sure they'll do it.

I would tell you how to do it-but I'm not sure how to word it. I was kind of self trained...


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## jpromo (Jun 10, 2011)

My first coaster hub teardown was actually when I was overhauling a 1960 Tornado for my girlfriend that I'm hoping will stick around too. It's pretty intuitive once you get it apart; just set the components all on top of each other in the order you removed them and everything else is more of a "that's all there is to a coaster hub?"


 Very similar bikes too!


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## Andrew Gorman (Jun 10, 2011)

If it's a New Departure hub, a new NOS washer stack and retarder spring can make a world of difference.  Use grease on the bearings, motor oil on the discs.


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## pete33 (Jun 10, 2011)

Thanks!  I think I'll give it a shot!


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## jpromo (Jun 12, 2011)

Yeah, mine was a Bendix with the expander shoe. I can't speak for a ND just yet. Hope it works out for you!


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## PCHiggin (Jun 13, 2011)

Andrew Gorman said:


> If it's a New Departure hub, a new NOS washer stack and retarder spring can make a world of difference.  Use grease on the bearings, motor oil on the discs.




Yep,That worked perfect on my '49 Columbia girls 26"er. The disks were cruddy and didn't work good till they were cleaned and oiled.

Pat


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## partsguy (Jun 13, 2011)

jpromo said:


> Yeah, mine was a Bendix with the expander shoe. I can't speak for a ND just yet. Hope it works out for you!




Same here. Never needed to redo a ND-not yet. Just old fashioned grease works fine for me!


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## old hotrod (Jun 13, 2011)

Just a thought here...since you are very fortunate to have someone interested in riding with you, I would look into a modern hub with a 3-7 speed so that she can truly enjoy riding along in comfort...and you can always put it back to stock at a later date...


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## pelletman (Oct 2, 2012)

Is there a good coaster 3 or 5 or 7 speed hub that would work with an 1890's safety?  Skip tooth?


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## jwm (Oct 14, 2012)

Some of the old Bendix brakes just plain don't stop very well. The one on my '56 Starlet was like that. I cleaned, re-greased, and everything, and it still just didn't stop well. I ended up putting a Sturmey Archer three-speed in for my wife. Same with the Bendix on my B6. I've overhauled and re-greased it a couple of times, and I still have to plan way ahead if I want to slow down or stop.

JWM


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