Coaster hubs

[Monk_Wally_Honk]

Howdy folks, long time etc etc

Can anyone advise me whether I can easily change my rear hub of my OM Flyer to a coaster hub? And if so, what do I need to look for when buying one.

The rear hub currently is a Sealed Bearing 36H High-Flange Mohawk and I think the bearings inside are knackered as it no longer rolls freely. I was wondering whether to take it to the local bike shack for a repair, attempt it myself, replace the wheel, or replace the hub for a coaster.

Any thoughts and advice?

[VOIVOD]

I doubt your current hub can be converted to a coaster.If you have the confidence then replacing sealed bearings is an easy fix.Most bearings have a serial number stamped and just check that with availability on a bearing supplier like Airevelobearings (I use them and have had zero problems) and shouldn`t cost more than ?10-15.If you choose to go down the coaster hub route,then you`re looking at the cost of the hub + a wheelbuild.

[Picklez]

Some good advise given there.

I'd just add, your choices are quite wide and varied here, it really comes down to how much you want to spend and how adept you are at all things mechanical.

Cheapest option is the one mentioned, if sealed bearings, pull them, find the serial and order some replacements, or get your LBS to do for you.

Moving on from there, you could find a suitable coaster hub and relace the wheel yourself, or again get the LBS to do so. If trying yourself there's a great thread here to help you out if you've not done it yourself before. Quite therapeutic really, just don't rush it. First time out will take you a couple of hours or more to get right, and in reality, if you go wrong you just unlace it and go again. The satisfaction is worth it if you're up for trying.

http://www.gsportbmx.co.uk/custom/wheel_build/wheels.html

Only other think to be mindful of is spoke lengths. If the replacement hub is quite different in size to the current hub you may need to get some of a different length (probably not, but needs mentioning). Again, good link here for working that out, but you'd need to know the dimensions of the replacement hub before you could work that out:

https://bikeschool.com/resources/spoke-calculator

Final option is to try and find a ready build replacement wheel, but that could prove expensive.

There is more that could be said but for that a little more input would help. Sorry if I'm being dumb, but is this an OG OS Flyer, or a newer repo type version? Are you really after a coaster (for pedal back braking & coasting) or just a free coaster type hub etc.

HTH's a little. 

[Monk_Wally_Honk]

Thanks fellas, It is a 2015 model, not OG and I really am after a coaster brake, and thought it would be fun to give it a go, I've not used one since about 1981 and I like the look of a bike with no brakes.

I'm up for a bit of fiddling about fitting it myself, but never done it before. Noticed a few old Suntours for sale for about ?50-?80 and remember them being OK. Also seen some new shimano ones that look ok too. There's also some much cheaper ones around (Velo etc) which I presume will be no-good.

I'll probably um and ah for a month before doing anything anyway!