Thursday, December 3, 2009

Deep V rims with coaster brakes

About a year ago, Johnny in Oakland, California wanted the fixed gear look with deep V rims, but he also wanted coaster brakes. He looked all over and couldn't find anything pre-made, so he built up his own deep V wheel with a coaster brake.

Coasties


People saw him riding around and wanted the same thing, so he started selling his "Coasties" wheels. Over the past year, he's sold about 100 coaster brake wheels around the Bay Area, and since he launched his online presence just three weeks ago, Johnny has fulfilled several orders around the United States and Canada, especially after Urban Velo mentioned them.

Johnny notes, "You can run a big, flat BMX pedal without pedalstrike or straps, allowing more comfy everyday riding and shoe choice." But he also reminds users that "these are Get-around-town wheels, not high tech track wheels."

Johnny counsels at risk youth for his day job. Social work has its emotional stresses, and Johnny's daily bike commute and the mechanical work of lacing wheels are his therapeutic outlets.

It turns out also that Johnny is a total coaster brake nerd. He started telling me about design features of various coaster brakes. "My goal is for the website to be a repository for coaster brake knowledge," he says.

Machined, 33mm "Deep V" double walled rims with 18t cogs and mounting hardware are available in red, white and black for $140 + $25 shipping. Non machined 42mm "Super Deep" wheelsets are $185 + $25 in nude and white.

Visit Coasties for more.

3 comments:

  1. He didn't look hard enough...NYCBikes has been offering Deep V coaster wheels for at least a couple of years.

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  2. GR: Huh, I had no idea either (but I didn't look).

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  3. Just looked -- I like their copy for the 3 speed version: "Bring your fixed gear bike into mid century mod with speeds and a brake. My, who woulda thunk." :-)

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