Coaster Brake Challenge

*WE RIDE RAIN OR SHINE!*

Click here for pics

Click Here for the write up in BIKE Magazine

Click here for write up in Mountain Bike Action.

See what you missed!! (last series)

Purpose: 

To have fun, to race, to sweat, breathe hard, to ride hard, to challenge ones self. This is the anti-race race. Don't kid yourself it's hard, you may crash or puke (or both) but we are down for the fun and camaraderie more than the podium. Well, there is no podium but I think you get the point. 

We will be hosting 4 Sunday races in the month of January. Each race will have a meet point at 7am and race at 8am or so. Most races will be short 1 to 2 hour affairs. Meet points and descriptions of each race will be posted so you know what to expect. If you want you can go check out the courses ahead of time, not that you need to but if your really need to know you can.

This race series is open to all comers. Men, women, kids, we don't discriminate. Come with a smile and leave with a smile (and perhaps an impressive scar.)

Race dates: January 1st, 8th, 15th, & 22nd 

We gather at 7:00 AM and should hit the trail by 8:00 AM

Course #1

The Bunny Run.

Spectators: 7

Meat Pylons: 5

Meet Point.

Starbucks 6516 Platt Ave West Hills CA, 91307

7 AM, leave at 8 for course. 

8 laps, each lap is around a mile or so. Single track and double track, a short but punctuated climb (ouch!) some technical sections. Loop style, almost nil downhill so it will burn you up nice and good. Did I mention it will be fun? 

Meet Point for #2

Starbucks (yeah you think they sponsor the event, but no, Coffee Bean went to dollar refills for coffee so they can go to hell.)

4776 Commons Way

Calabasas, CA 91302

It's tucked in there, look for the out of place scumbags. 

The New Order:

Spectators: 2

Meat Pylons: 2

About 12 miles of single track with a small amount of surface streets to traverse at the begging and end. You will be given a map as you can get lost. Don't get lost. Mostly single track and some double track trails. A fair amount of climbing so gear for hills. Short but very fast decent to surface street then egg beater it back to the start/finish. Joyous.

Rally #3

Meet Point: 

Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf with bullshit dollar refills

6401 Platt Ave.

West Hills CA, 91367 

7am meet and greet 8am we ride

Course description:

13 miles out and back with exciting loop feature! Begin with a decent then to the bottom of the canyon to do some climbing, some very hard to moderate. A rocky decent to technical single track that dumps you back on a fire road, pedal out of the canyon back to the start. 

Meet point:

7am bitches

Starbucks. 

18100 Chatsworth st #E

Granada Hills CA 91344

We will be driving to the course.

Barf-Athalon! 

Spectators: 8

Meat pylons: 5

Oneish mile loop, easy for the most part, single track, small technical bits, a small climb, places to fall down into a stream bed, rocks to smack your foot on, you know the usual. You can have harder gearing than the last two. I'm sorry a mess of you got lost, no I'm not, anyway..... you can't get lost on this one. However, there is a catch. Each lap you must knock a can down off a table with a slingshot. No can knocked down = no lap completed. You have to do it each lap. If you can't hit a can with a slingshot then you get stuck on lap one etc. I have slingshots, thanks for asking, how nice of you to offer, no you can't bring your own. 10 laps.

        A note on races:

Spectators: 

Some of these races are fun to watch and can be easily accessible for speciation. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being best the ability to spectate will be rated.

Meat Pylons: 

We're not the only ones out there people, so you will need to yield to horses and peds as best you can. The higher the number, the more Meat Pylons you'll have to deal with. Ride safe and be respectful of others. On hot days, expect the number to be lower. It should be hot or cold or both, it changes nothing, your suffering will be the same as the fires of hell, or waiting in line at the DMV. Bring water, you'll need it.

Rules for bikes:

Gearing: 

Single speed only. No internal geared hubs (sturmey-archer, bendix two speed kick backs etc.) no derailleur of any kind (A chain tensioner is fine but not recommended). No external gearing. No gears. No fixed gear. Each race will be different from the last and you may want a different gear ratio for each race and you can have any gear ratio you wish. We have found that 30-36 in the front and 18-22 in the back is the range best suited for this event, see what works best for you.

Drive system:

The rear hub must be a coaster brake. Single speed coaster brake only. No two-speed kick backs, etc (I know what they look like) Some coaster brakes are better than others, do your homework and get a good one. See below for more info. Cranks of any kind may be used as well as pedals.

Braking system:

Coaster brake only on the rear wheel only. No hand brakes of any kind. No secondary braking system of any kind. No drum brakes, no cables, rods, levers, etc of any kind. You pedal forward to go forward and back to stop. Nothing else.

Frame:

Preference for old double bar cruisers but there are no frame restrictions. We have found that cruiser frames and lower end frames with a horizontal dropouts work the best. Frames with a rigid dropout are difficult to get proper chain tension. We recommend the following types of bikes:

Single speed mountain bikes

Pros: take new bike goodies well

Cons: Can be costly, hub spacing is 135mm and coaster brakes are 110mm. It will take some work to get the wheel to fit well.

Cruisers 

Pros: Cheap and look cool too! Already have to correct spacing for a coaster brake.

Cons: Don't take mountain bikes goodies like threadless forks etc. Most have 1 piece cranks. Heavy.

Any 26" bike that has a horizontal drop out. 

Pros: Older Mountain bikes are cheap and plentiful and easily adapt to our purpose. 

Cons: None really, an ideal choice for this event. 

Forks:

Any.

Wheels/tires:

You can have any kind of hoop/tire combo. I suggest a light wheelset that you've laced a coaster brake into. Something rugged is good, I've done each race with cheap alloy cruiser rims, they have held up fine thus far.

Handlebars etc.

Everything else is left up to the individual rider.

Here are some examples of bikes that would work great for this event:

This is a custom job. A bit over the top unless you want to go that way but you can build a purpose built bike like this one or take something else and make it work. The gearing on this bike is 34/19 for now. I'm going to test it out and see if I need to change things. The bike has performed well, the rider, not so well.

Here's my old trusty 1964 Schwinn. It normally has V brakes and a freehub single speed set up but for this race I laced up some old Arayas ala bmx with a Bendix red band. The gearing is 36/20 and I've been able to climb up some pretty steep hills this bad boy. Once you learn some control with the break, you'll seldom skid. You just have to descend slower than you would on a regular bike. I've had this bike for years and beaten the hell out of it, old Schwinns make Ideal platforms for this kind of event. Note the "1 1/8 threadless fork in the frame made for "1 threaded. The bottom bracket clearance is a little low, it's something to look for. This bike does have 180mm cranks however, standard sizes should be no problem. Most of the races are on fire roads so low bb clearance is not a big deal.

This, besides the paint job it the easiest to get going. Old Giant mountain bike frame with bmx drop outs welded onto the frame. Light Chro-mo steel and takes most semi-modern and inexpensive bike bits. 

Which hubs are good? (the tech section)

Not all coaster brake hubs are built alike. You'll need a good one to hang tough in this event. 

Newer hubs:

Shimano, they are ok, best around for a new hub and easily found. They spin really good and stop decent. For easy of accessibility and function, the Shimano hub is a solid choice.

Hi Stop, Falcon, CSC etc. very common hubs found on most newer coaster brake wheels. These tend to get a little sloppy after a few hard braking sessions, repacking them does little to remedy the problem. Not recommended but will work if that's all you have.

Velosteel: Hard to source, costly. Spin like no other. Some can take a track cog, they hold up well. If you can get one, do so.

Old Hubs:

Bendix red band: Decent. Most of these were on kids bikes so they are not the strongest bendix ever made but they are a crowd favorite. Most are in 28 hole, less common in 36.

Bendix Knurled hub: The brake arm will have "1970" or "1976" stamped on the torsion arm. Found on adult bikes, 4 brake pads, very stout and common in 36 hole.

New Departure: An excellent hub if you can find one. 

Perry, commet sachs etc. decent, not really tested one of these to the fullest. 

Morrow: reputedly the best, never even seen one, hard to find and costly.

Note: the cogs on some of theses are not the same as contemporary cogs, you may have to do some modification to make them fit. The biggest cog I've found for an older hub is 20 teeth, newer ones I've seen up to 22. Shimano cogs don't fit Bendix hubs and many of the older hubs have a different mounting set up than a snap-ring. These older hubs are on a general level better than new hubs. I recommend finding one of a little used girls bike as they tend to not be ridden hard or at all. You'll need to clean and repack the hub as the grease will act more like glue than lube once they have set for a time. I use boat trailer bearing grease, it's cheap and works great. 

For more info on coaster brakes:

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

Spacing:

Most coaster brakes are 120mm or 125mm spacing. Most single speed mountain bikes are 130 or 135 mm spacing and contemporary mountain bikes are 135. The axel on your average coaster brake will be too short to fit in these frames, you'll have to swap it out for a longer one and add spacers. This is why an old cruiser or steel mountain bike frame works best. You'll also need a bike with horizontal dropouts so you can get proper chain tension. Contemporary mountain bikes with a fixed dropout will be hard to make work with a single speed, a chain tensioner may not work due to the coaster brake action, I've seen some used to desirable effect. I recommend using something cheap and old for this event. 

Some new bikes out there have coaster brake spacing and a three piece crank, ideal for this event. Marin makes a cruiser and there is another bike called a Madwagon that would work well. Do your homework. 

Also if you need to calculate your gear inches:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Chain line and chain tension:

Chain Line

This is important stuff here, so if you don't know read up. Your chain line must be near straight, and deviation will likely cause your chain to fall off. This is double bad because not only do you loose your drive system, you loose your brakes. This can be "exciting" so make sure when you're putting your bike together you get that chain line nice and straight. Converting bikes with a fixed dropout can prove troublesome in this area. You may need to add spacers or have the wheel over to the drive side more than the other side to get a good chain line. You may need to put a longer axel in your coaster brake hub so it will fit your repurposed bike. 

Chain Tension

Also very important. As you climb you'll put a lot of stress on the frame and if your chain is loose it will come off. If your chain is too tight it will bind on the hub causing drag and potentially backing off the cones in the hub leading to a component failure. Your chain should have 1/8 to 1/4 inch of slack in it once it's on the bike. Frames with horizontal drop-outs work best for keeping the wheel from moving. Eccentric bottom bracket are costly and can fail where lugs and a couple of toothed washers have carried the day for over a hundred years now, why mess with success? Chain tensioners can also be employed. 

I want to join but do not have the stuff to make a bike.

No problem, I'll have good wheelsets for about 70 bucks, you'll need tires tubes etc. and frames, and complete bikes suitable for this event. I can weld BMX dropouts on your steel frame. Let me know ASAP so we can get your rig dialed in before the race. Complete bikes should run in the 85-200 dollar range depending on what you want. Don't want until a few days before to hit me up, I gotta work for a livin' ya know? I have a few loaner bikes, they are first come, first serve, I don't hold them for a racer, get your own bike and hold it as much as you want...

Rules for riders:

No substitutions.

Bring stuff to fix your bike on the trail with you.

Helmet.

No crybabies.

Entry Fee and what you get:

The Entry Fee is $20.00 for all four races, that's 5 bucks a race. You'll have to pay the 20.00 if you make one or all 4 races.

You get a T-shirt. They're different each time. 

You get a Patch.

Perhaps some schwag, we'll see.

Scoring:

Each rider will get a number and you will be scored as thus:

1 point for finishing a race, 0 if you DNF.

1 additional point for a third place finish

2 additional points for a second place finish

3 additional points for a first place finish

Each first place rider (stage winner) will get a trophy made from old bike parts!

At the end of the series the point leader will be the overall champ. Best to show up to each race to increase your odds.

Sign up at:

Atomic Cycles

17322 Saticoy

Van Nuys, CA 91046

818 609-0113

or 

Show up to a race and sign up there!

Final Standings for race #6:

Good job John! 

 

Joe	0,1,1,
Frankie	0,1,0,
Fred	0,0,1,
Alex	0,0,dnf

Last Race Standings. Racer  Points/Place Tick One 1,0,1,0 Chris 1,0,1,1 Russ dnf, dnf, dnf, 1 Roger 1,0,0,0 P.J. 1,1,1,1 John M. 4,4,0,4 (1st) Alex 1,1,0,1 Charlie 1,1,2,1 (5th) Will 2,2,4,1 (2nd) Bo 1,dnf,0,0 Chicken Leather 1,1,1,1 John H. 1,1,0,0 Sam 1,0,1,0 Jack dnf,1,1,1 Ed 1,1,1,0 Dingo 3,3,0,1 (4th) Paul 1,1,3,3 (3rd) Mark dnf,1,0,1 Frank 1,0,0,1 Adam 1,0,0,1 Yvone 0,1,1,0 Mathias 0,0,dnf,0 Ryan 0,0,1,0 Ilan 0,0,1,1 Justino 0,0,1,0 Alex 2 0,0,1,0 Joe 0,0,1,0 Jim C 0,0,dnf,0 Pete 0,0,1,0 Tree 0,0,dnf,0 Dirty 0,0,1,0