coaster brake
noun1
A special rear hub for a bicycle that functions as a brake when the user pedals backwards, and which allows the bicycle to roll without forcing the pedals to turn.
- Billy slammed on his coaster brakes and said "anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake?"1973, Bruce Springsteen, “Spirit in the Night”, in Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.:
- The coaster brake is one of the three types of braking mechanism developed to slow down and stop a bike safely and efficiently. This mechanism quickly gained in popularity in the USA, Germany and the Netherlands in the 1890s and is still used for upright and children's bicycles.2017, Suze Clemitson, A History of Cycling in 100 Objects, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 54: