Any love for old English 3 speeds?

[Rattlecan ★]

Some of the most fun I've had with my clothes on has been riding bikes with 3 speed gear hubs. But even more fun than that is opening them up, spreading out all the tiny bits, and putting them back together to work better than ever.

 I recently had a chance to explore a 1950 BSA hub that the owner had tried to overhaul, but bodged the re assembly. This hub is basically a Sturmey Archer X model which dates back to around 1905.

 

 

[donkpow]

I haven't ridden a 3 speed hub since I was 6 years old. The ones I have looked at, the CCC Shimano hubs, aren't worth the time to fix.

[Page Turner]

...I have always been fond of SA 3 speed bikes.  In my life I've owned a Dunelt, a few Raleigh Sports, and a JC HIggins that came with an Austrian made knock off AW hub 

I still have a Raleigh Superbe, and 6 or 8 AW hubs that I was saving to teach a class over at the co-op on overhauling them.  In the 70's, in D.C. they were my main transportation, because nobody stole them. All the thieves wanted a 10 speed.  I also have one old DBS 3 speed with a Fauber crank and a Sachs 3 speed hub with a coaster brake that is a a marvel of function and durability.  I used to park it on campus over at Davis when I needed a bike over there while attending classes. Commuted by shuttle from the Med Center here in Sac, so the paint got a little rough and I repainted it a couple of years ago.  The DBS actually came with alloy rims stock.  The frame is crappy mild steel and very flexy, but perfect for what you do on a 3 speed.

[Rattlecan ★]

My current bike fleet, with one exception, are all IGH equipped. I have everything from a 2 speed kickback to a 14 speed Rohloff, and lots of in between options, including three Alfine 8 speeds,but the one that gets the most mileage is a 1983 Nishiki that I retrofitted with a modern production Sturmey Archer 3 speed. (SRF3)

 I can ride a fair distance in any direction without encountering anything that would qualify as a hill, so ratio range is quite adequate, and the bike is just fun and comfortable. I love it. 

[Page Turner]

...here's a track bike that i wanted to ride legally on the street, but didn't want to drill for brakes.  

So I built up a set of wheels using one of those two speed automatic hubs with a coaster brake.

 

Those hubs are a remarkably handy product.  I hope they keep making them, but fear they will stop.

 

 

 

[donkpow]

Nice build.

[Rattlecan ★]

7 hours ago, No One said:

...here's a track bike that i wanted to ride legally on the street, but didn't want to drill for brakes.  

So I built up a set of wheels using one of those two speed automatic hubs with a coaster brake.

 

Those hubs are a remarkably handy product.  I hope they keep making them, but fear they will stop.

 

 

 

Sram has exited the IGH market altogether. The only choice for a two speed is Sturmey Archer. I have one, with a coaster brake, and it works just fine, but it's a kick back shift whereas the Sram is automatic.

[Page Turner]

 

1 hour ago, Rattlecan said:

Sram has exited the IGH market altogether.

...I guess they couldn't figure out how to make it pay.  I have a P5 hub of theirs that is a beautiful piece of machinery.  I guess parts will be hard to come by.

[Rattlecan ★]

10 hours ago, No One said:

 

...I guess they couldn't figure out how to make it pay.  I have a P5 hub of theirs that is a beautiful piece of machinery.  I guess parts will be hard to come by.

Sram never supported the north american IGH market. The people at Sram didn't even want to talk about them. I owned a bike shop during the period that they launched the iMotion series, and despite my hopes that they would get behind the product, they never did. There was one guy at Sram, his name is Ed, but I can't recall his last name, who was trying to push the concept without success.

 I remember having a conversation with Ed shortly before I traveled to Colorado Springs to attend STU (Sram Technical University) and telling him I was hoping for some maintenance and repair content on the iMotion hubs. He told me to forget about it, and if I knew what was good for me, I shouldn't even bring the subject up with those guys.

 I did anyways just to gauge the reaction, and let me tell ya, it got a reaction, and not a good one.

Might have worked out better if Sunrace would have bought out the Sachs product lines to complement the Sturmey Archer brand.

[Razors Edge ★]

46 minutes ago, Rattlecan said:

Sram never supported the north american IGH market.

Perhaps it is the other way around? The North American (likely the USA) market never supported the IGH?  Profit, profit, profit is the name of the game these days, and if the Euros & Asians are making acceptable and profitable products, it sometimes makes sense to not try to be another brand in a saturated market. The saturation point in the US would be pretty low.

[Razors Edge ★]

I do see potential growth in two areas - the bike share market and the e-bike market.  It looks like SRAM has an e-bike IGH on their site, but not sure when that came to be or how much they are refining it:

[Rattlecan ★]

1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

Perhaps it is the other way around? The North American (likely the USA) market never supported the IGH?  Profit, profit, profit is the name of the game these days, and if the Euros & Asians are making acceptable and profitable products, it sometimes makes sense to not try to be another brand in a saturated market. The saturation point in the US would be pretty low.

Yeah, but Sram didn't even try. At the time that I was dealing with all this, they were still pretty much mountain bike centric, and just beginning to open their eyes to the road bike market. The notion that people might actually be interested in bikes for activities other than all out competition didn't seem to penetrate.

 The course I took in Colorado was mostly on suspensions, which I had little interest in then, and even less now, with a bit of training on drivetrain and brakes thrown in on the side. I took my head mechanic along on the course, and on completion, my shop was listed as a Sram approved service center. But when it came to suspension forks, I just passed it off to my mechanic, I didn't even want to mess with them.

 On the other hand, I will gladly go where few have  gone before into the guts of an IGH.

[Razors Edge ★]

@Rattlecan - where were you in September???

[Rattlecan ★]

1 hour ago, Razors Edge said:

@Rattlecan - where were you in September???

Missed that discussion.

[Razors Edge ★]

6 minutes ago, Rattlecan said:

Missed that discussion. 

It really makes one appreciate those Rohloff hubs, though.  Insane. Like classic clocks or watches.

[Rattlecan ★]

14 minutes ago, Razors Edge said:

It really makes one appreciate those Rohloff hubs, though.  Insane. Like classic clocks or watches.

I made a video explaining how they work. When I need something to keep me busy over the winter, I will dive deeper into it and make a more detailed video.