Old School vs New School - Which BMX Freecoaster is Better?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ส.ค. 2024
- In todays video Phu Vu from Epic BMX (@_epicbmx) breaks down the differences between the old school Nankai Alloy Bamboo Freecoaster Hub vs the modern freecoasters (BSD Planetary, Demolition Rotator, Federal, and KHE freecoasters. He also presents the original internals from a coaster brake hub.
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The original freecoaster was a Suntour coaster brake with the ACS freecoaster adapter kit. You had two screws that you twisted to switch between freewheel and coaster.
Then we figured out if you just take out the 3 brake pads, it made it a freecoaster (but with lots of play before engagement). This was happening in the mid to late 80’s. (I still have a few).
In the early 90’s we figured out the unbrake piece. Basically just a washer inside to limit the amount of play.
The Nankia hub came out later in the 90’s based of the same Suntour design.
The issues with the original versions was that the hub would move a bit and it would go back into freewheel mode and the cranks would engage. 99% of the people who rode these were flat landers so setting you cranks was very important.
We switched to free balling the bearings because this would lessen the change of the hub slipping out and the cranks moving. The cage bearing system just wasn’t as smooth.
The other fault of the old ones was the spring inside the clutch would just wear out.
Thanks for the amazing info!
I've got to try that, great way to keep something original with the hidden update making it rideable. (I'm 51 I grew up with coaster brakes and my 1st bike had coaster wheels for about 5 minutes before my dad took them off and shoved me down driveway, riding ever since.
Yup i remember all that. There were kits that replaced the pads with a spring, freewheel unit with the screws you spoke of and then the rl edge basically everything had play and or inconsistent re-engagement and a ton of drag. I had taska and odyssey hazard fc that sometimes would take 2 full turns to engage. Khe fixed the engagement but still has a lot of drag and is heavy. Cassette style fc have fixed issues with drag and are way less maintenance. Freecoasters definitely were not for street till the khe
Yep! There’s an ad with Woody Itson flatland riding in a sweater 😂. Also, in the early 80’s I had a Schwinn with a coaster brake. I brought to a shop that did the “unbrake” conversion to turn my rear hub into a freecoaster. That was probably in 1984.
What up my boys!! (And gals!)🎉
What’s upppp love the vids man been watching for years
Alfgang
WTF, did you say "when you see all the crack heads out there"
Good Friday morning everybody!!!!
Mind blowing facts out of Phu
Love your content… very informative. What I like most about your channel is that your not a “bike snob,” you just love BMX bikes and the passion shows. I haven’t owned a BMX bike in 36 years but I loved that bike, as kids they were our freedom, nothing but good memories.
Phu around 2006 Nankai did upgrade to a aluminum shell, 9T driver and they also had a 14mm hollow axle version called the "Bamboo".
Nankai stopped making freecoasters around 2009. A former engineer from Nankai started a new company called NYB and now makes freecoasters with the same original design.
Is NYB still available? I haven't seen any for sale anywhere. Not even the specialized flatland stores like Fuel. Maybe Japan has old stock.
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@@DaleC. pretty much all of the BMX shops in Japan have them in stock but outside Japan I don't think you find any.
I rode foot brake coasters as a kid, a few band name coasters from Primo and Hoffman as a teenager and more recently nearing 40, a WTP Helix. After all that, I've moved on to Planetary tech via the BSD Revolution and doubt I'll be going back.
Alfredo do you pay Phu? He is the star of the show after all.
Phu knows a lot about bikes that's cool
Ive been riding hard AF for years on my 99 standard sta 500 with triple wall Sun rims and dk hubs with a cassette on back, oversized profile cranks, oversized blackjack 44 tooth sprocket, a 315 fat chain, standard forks and headset and HARO pro street bars... I Love this tank!
Learn something new every upload. Thanks Phu and the crew :)
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whats up i hope you read this comment.
thanks for making these videos i appreciate you guys.
please talk about old cassette hub drivers vs new cassette drivers.
old cassette hub drivers like profile ss, profile mini, and the primo mix cassette drivers. they all have drivers with bearings.
98% of the new cassette hub drivers todays all use a bearingless driver. although it may take awhile. once that material begins to wear down on the inside of the driver this will cause the driver to engage the hub at a angle. destroying the wedges inside of the hub and driver pawls. being that the driver is at a angle it will also destroy youre chain causing the plates to separate over time.
the odyssey c5 hub is a great example of good product today. but it can actually be way better like on par with profile and still retain the same price point. another honorable mention here would be the shadow symbol hub. i just wish it came with a heat treated axle.
cassette hubs dont need to weigh 16ozs. they should weigh as much as a freecoaster 20 to 27ozs. with a solid heat treated chromoly axle and a option to buy a hollow.
the reason why drivers with bearings are better is because they're serviceable. just replace the 3 to 4 bearings and youre good to go.
bearingless drivers on the other hand. if you dont replace the entire driver in time you'll end up replacing the entire hub.
i understand why they went this path. its basically making the rear hub apart of bearings, chains,tires,pedals,grips,break pads,and break cables
basically they would rather you to buy a whole new hub or wheel every time. instead of replacing the bearings.
to simplify this to a rider that doesn't know these bearingless drivers are designed to fail over time.
its ok for innovations to happen but what happens when innovation becomes the complete opposite? is it really innovating anymore?
you dont need to continue to innovate something thats already super good. once something hits a peak its best to keep replicating that product. a great example of this is bearings.
now a hub like the magneto thats true innovation. although its not needed i appreciate stuff like that its a beautiful thing.
take care
He is 100% correct. As soon as I saw that hub I was about to pick up the phone and call about it. I need that for a build lol
Too funny
i remember back in the mid 90s i had a KHE premium lagger in metallic green the head tube badge looked like a Heineken beer can logo , but i remember it had a freecoaster it was brand new to me, i think it was khe,s own hub i could be wrong, great video lads 👏
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I made my first one in 1982 on my Diamond Back Viper. You can also do it with Bendix.
I thought we all did that. I did that as a kid because we didn’t have the money to buy a free wheel or a hole new wheel with a free wheel hub. For me i did that in early 70’s
That’s amazing!
I know of very old school free coaster that had a very small knob were you could turn it & go in between free coaster and cassette so you had the best of both worlds & if I,m not mistaken , the knob was either in between the real sprocket & the hub or it was located on the hub & I think it was 2 knobs .
Thats a really cool old freecoaster!:) ❤
You guys already know this is gonna be good 😂
Sweet info.
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Coasted through the vid pretty quick…could’ve easily been longer with master Phus rambles. Keep the BMX content varied and consistent 💪
Dude can you do a video on all there is to know about brake pads. Inquiring minds want to know.
Check out our Tech Thursday playlist to see a few videos we’ve done on brakes and brake pads
I love the nankai free coaster, aluminum shell version. It's simple and easy to replace internals and most of all, able adjust the cone nuts nice and snug. Im a flatlander and snapped an axle inside my nankai free coaster, no problem. Swapped in a new one with ease.
Had a Nankai and never had any issues with it but I definitely bent the axle with my heft!
Haha 3/8”s did that to the best of them
@@AlfredoMancuso in the mid 90's Standard made the "Unbrake" (the piece that converted coaster hubs into freecoasters). They also made a Coaster hub shell, 1-piece machined 48 holes in chrome and they also had upgraded heat-treated axles in 4140 cromoly.
Nankais were definitely not around in the 80's. I had the original "Graveyard Backslide Hub" that eventually became the Nankai hub, and if memory serves, that was around 94 when it dropped (shortly after Richard Z. passed away). From that hub, I ran Nankai FCs all the way up until the last version of the hub, the NYB freecoasters, which came stock with an alloy shell if I remember correctly. The NYB is still in my garage hanging on a wall in need of a rebuild, but the main reason I stopped running that style of FC was just exhaustion of having to deal with all the adjustment nuts to try and remove the play but still have the hub spin smoothly, and the lack of axle options. The Nankais were great for their time, but I'll take my BSD Revolution hub over them any day of the week nowadays. =)
Hello nice videos love your channel can you show us some japanese kuwahara bmxs in your future videos....thank you much respect to you all
I have NanKai on my 1993 standard Lengthy. Top dog back then. Before the NanKai guys converted Suntour coasters to feee coasters. I believe peregrine made kits
Awesome vid
I don't think nanki was around till mid 90s and before there was taska. As rl edge was the first production freecoaster in like 87 prior to that it was a mod to a real coaster brake
Taska was never good because of the c clip to lock the cog on. Always bent and disengaged .
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I heard KHE got the design from Odyssey
I don’t think that’s accurate
The very original idea was in BMX Plus in the early 80’s, i seen it and did it to my coaster brake back wheel, as you said all i had to do was remove the pads but you also had to put a washer in front of the spring so it would engage, but it was more to turn your bike from back pedal brake to hand brake, i did it when i was about 11 around 1982. But it still ended up a freecoaster.
That’s so sick! Kids these days won’t know what it’s like to read things in magazines and stare at the photos to understand how to imitate what they were showcasing
The real og free coaster is the converted Suntour coasterbrake hub. I've had the nang-file and the nankai bamboo and they were sooo good, I could sit down to take a dump with my wheel in my hand and be done adjusting and regreasing the bearings before I had to wipe my butt. Just that simple and reliable. Never any new parts needed.
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Newer freecoaster is the best for me rant moonwalker v2 coaster for life
Planetary coasters are absolutely more reliable than ball spring clutch coasters. Much easier to work on, way less issues in the first place…. Also they are much lighter and you have much faster engagement, so a freecoaster that allows you to use pedal pressure. I just can’t see how (not only because you didn’t show us, lol) that old hub could compare to a free night or bad planetary.
What's up 🤘😎
Without the bearing cage you can fit in more bearings, which is good, but it takes a bit more effort (and grease)
I did that to my Walmart huffy bike when I was a kid. Cuz I wanted to be cool like my neighbor who had a diamondback. My bike wasn't as cool, even with the rattle can chrome job. I could jump higher though.
have any experience with far east cycles freecoaster? looks nicely made but wondering how is the strength and quality. And it looks like a good option they make ti versions that are up to 30% lighter than their steel versions.
That's the one to get right now. You know
I have one it's great no issues 2years in.
Are you guys have a online shop ?
I think the best fc is the wtp hybrid. Because of the design. Simple and works like cassette when engaging.
Still rocking the freewheel on my TJ Lavin Specialized fatboy lol
No way!! TJs a legend!
@@AlfredoMancuso weighs a ton but it gets the job done.
Is that the yellow 415 frame?
@@nightriderbmxshop6768 Goldish yellowish? yes it is
@@hootiemike3091 I had one too 🕺
If you look at the hubs pros ride they all ride hubs with small flanges thats because they are faster hubs profile mini odyssey cassette animal colony they all have small flange these freecoasters usually have much bigger flanges i have one and they dont feel good
nankai the best. No crap
I had a Nakai. I couldn't stand the slack.
7:32 why dont they just make one that is 14 all the way through , you just answered your own question at 5:07 what could break ? nothing eventually have to replace and lube bearings and thats it so these compaines cant keep selling you hubs once you get one it will last and thats a bad bussines model , planned obsolescence is inevitable in every industry not just bmx take cars graphics cards phones everything
That Nankai is trash! The end of the shell would crack around the outside perimeter. OG Suntour were much better.
oh come on, sealed bearing are sold for almost nothing and anywhere, no reason to use those loose ball bearings cmon
my dad was doing this shit before you most of you were born messing with the old schwinn’s from the 80’s
Fu you're old . Remember the old Campanella or how u spell. Hubs. They were loose ball and spun better than TNT s. Am I wrong
I’ll remind him next week!