Effective use of a coaster brake? I recently got a basic beater bike for pootling around the neighbourhood. All it has for brakes is a rear Sturmey-Archer AWC coaster brake. Having used almost every other kind of hand-operated brake in over 30 years of cycling, the coaster brake seems very strange:


stopping at a junction doesn't seem to allow any kind of gradual stop; you have to keep both feet on the pedals until the bike stops, then kind of flop off the pedal to put your foot down.
starting up again at junctions requires you to remember to leave your lead pedal at the 2pm position, because you can't back-pedal to get it to where you need it.


I should point out that I'm using this on quiet, mostly flat areas, and am not mixing it in heavy, fast traffic. I have other bikes for such use. I'm also referring to small-e effective, not Forester-style big-E Effective Cycling. 

So how does one ride with a coaster and stay safe and sane?
Stopping is relatively easy - the rearmost foot is pressing back/down on the pedal to operate the brake, the other goes on the ground. If you're used to two feet on the ground when stopped you'll need to practice stopping with one foot first. You probably need to swap anyway, so the foot on the pedals is ready to push down when you move off. It's vaguely annoying but you'll get used to it.

To shuffle the pedals around while stationary you need to be pushing gently as if you're trying to pedal forwards, while rolling the bike backwards. Again, it's annoying. When I ride a bike like this I quickly get a little system organised so that I stop, rotate the pedals forward to disengage the brake and get ready to move off, then roll back a little until the foot that's on the pedal ready to start is in the right position.

I do think you should fit a front brake of some sort just for safety. Braking with the rear wheel is less effective, especially in an emergency stop situation. Even a cheap caliper brake is better than nothing (and often that's all those bikes are set up for).