# Old fashioned bike hubs with two "coaster brake" gears and no wires, what was this called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 14, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989 "2011-07-14T07:44:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989/1 "2011-07-14T07:44:44Z")
My parents used to own two german folding bikes many years ago, that had an internal gear system whereby you simply lightly stepped back on the coaster brake to change gears. The bikes had two gears. The brand of the bikes was “Falter”. I know that many bikes in Germany at the time utilized this system. What was this type of gear system called? It did not resemble the current “internal hub” system because there were no wires or controls on the handlebars for changing gears. Why isn’t this used more currently with the resurgence in single speed bikes? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989/2 "2011-07-14T08:04:01Z")
> **[Retro-direct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retro-direct)** > > Retro-direct is a gearing mechanism used on some bicycles in the early 20th century, which provides a second gear ratio when pedaled backwards. > Retro-direct was developed by French inventor Paul de Martin de Viviés (1833–1911).\[citation needed\] An early two-chain version was patented by in 1869 by Barberon and Meunier. A single-chain version was patented in 1903 by the bicycle manufacturer Hirondelle. Some hobbyists have converted modern bicycles to use retro-direct gearing. > In the single-chain... ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989/3 "2011-07-14T08:28:02Z")
I don’t think that’s the same thing, as someone on the [talk page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Retro-direct) notes. ---
**Author:** ![Moonshiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@Moonshiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshiner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989/4 "2011-07-14T12:38:03Z")
They’re still around. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hub\_gear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hub_gear) They’re a bit heavy compared to a cogset, and difficult to repair, but on commuter/town bikes they work fine. ---
**Author:** ![Moonshiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@Moonshiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshiner)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989/5 "2011-07-14T12:50:43Z")
You’re talking about ‘kickback’ hubs. Bendix made them in the US and Sachs made them in Europe. > **[Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Glossary I - K](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_i-k.html)** > > A glossary of bicycle terms with extensive internal cross referencing. This is spread across 30 different files. ---
**Author:** ![Rusalka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecd19e/32.png) [@Rusalka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rusalka)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989/6 "2011-07-14T22:01:00Z")
Kickback hubs! That’s it! Thank You! I wonder what they’re called in german. These would work well with single speed cruisers, why don’t they make them anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989/7 "2011-07-14T22:34:05Z")
They require a set of planetary gears. With a couple more parts and zero more gears you can have three speeds and charge more. When I was a kid, the neighbor kid had a kickback two speed. It worked well. The main advantage over a three speed was the lack of a cable to be out of adjustment, and to take loose to remove the wheel. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2011, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-fashioned-bike-hubs-with-two-coaster-brake-gears-and-no-wires-what-was-this-called/588989/8 "2011-07-14T23:04:07Z")
> [@Rusalka](#): > > Kickback hubs! That’s it! Thank You! I wonder what they’re called in german. German always seems really easy to translate from English. They are Kikbackenhubens I think.