Old 3 speed hubs

[gannet]

I'm assuming there will be someone out there who likes 3 speed hubs ?? Thought I had 3 Sturmeys, but 1 is a Torpedo, which google tells me is by Sachs. These would be from the 60's. Any enthusiasts out there?

[ldrcycles]

I wouldn't say i like them per se as they don't really suit my riding preferences, but internal gear hubs are cool .

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And my 3spd machine (modern Nexus hub at the moment).

[HappyHumber]

Where did you source that Nexus, ldr? Been wanting to put one of those modern 3p jobbies in my Postie bikes back wheel... give it (me) a bit more range for shopping runs.

[ldrcycles]

It was a tip find . The rim it was laced to was cactus but with a strip down and regrease the hub was good as gold. On that note, i was very apprehensive about getting everything back together but with concentration and patience it was fairly straightforward.

[HappyHumber]

You jammy bugger!

I've had a chance to ride a Nexus 3sp on a nice quality beach cruiser that was unwanted competition prize I sold on behalf of a friend. That convinced me on the idea of getting one for the Postie bike; but they don't seem to be a particularly common item on the usual favourite online e-tail sites. The couple of places I've found them don't seem to elaborate what's included in terms of the shifting hardware. I must be due to give my preferred Bricks & Mortar LBS some business again.

whups.. sorry, threadjack. We're talking new 3speed hubs

[Thoglette]

Any enthusiasts out there?

I'm not sure I'm enthusiastic but I have a Sturmey AW on my "shopping" bike.

[stwaen]

I don't have an old 3 speed hub, but I do have a Sturmey Archer S3X hub on one of my bikes. I think three speed IGHs are great. That's the minimum number of gears I will accept now. Originally I used a single speed bike as my casual ride. I couldn't justify mashing up every incline after I moved to a hilly area, so I got a new wheel built with the S3X.

This is my commuter bike (sans mudguards). I like how easy it is to maintain. These things are rock solid. Although the Internet tells me this particular hub is a bit weak for people riding fixed gear. But I don't do that.

[WyvernRH]

Well. I am pretty ken on Sturmey's (and other hub gears) Much underrated IMHO.
I have a couple of bike with nice Sturmey Archer hubs,
My Holdsworth (possibly) Hurricane from the early 50's with a '52 alloy case FM


And my 40's Sun-Wasp with a '56 alloy case AW


I also have a load (like lots..) of Sturmey spare parts (mainly AW internals) and several AW 3 speed dynohub rear hubs in various condition if anybody is interested.

Cheers
Richard

[ironhanglider]

I don't have an old 3 speed hub, but I do have a Sturmey Archer S3X hub on one of my bikes. I think three speed IGHs are great. That's the minimum number of gears I will accept now. Originally I used a single speed bike as my casual ride. I couldn't justify mashing up every incline after I moved to a hilly area, so I got a new wheel built with the S3X.

This is my commuter bike (sans mudguards). I like how easy it is to maintain. These things are rock solid. Although the Internet tells me this particular hub is a bit weak for people riding fixed gear. But I don't do that.

How do you not ride a fixed gear with a S3X hub? Not strong enough for skids perhaps?

I've fantasised with the idea of running a S3X hub and a drum brake front on my track bike to have a bike that I could both race on as well as ride to and from.

Nice commuter though.

Cheers,

Cameron

[landyacht]

I recently saved a sturmey 3 speed on a ladies peugeot but havent been able to find a 40 spoke rim to fit it to . It would be great on a 26" town bike
last week we saved an indi 500 with a complete working nexus 3 spd, so that will have to do the job
like the postie bike owners I find the gearing just right.
PS I do have a 24" postie bike Front wheel( centre of brake hub missing) if anybody wants to pick up for free in Perth
that would clear a nice little space in the wheel rack

[WyvernRH]

I recently saved a sturmey 3 speed on a ladies peugeot but havent been able to find a 40 spoke rim to fit it to .

You can lace a 36h rim to a 40h hub you know.

Richard

[ldrcycles]

I recently saved a sturmey 3 speed on a ladies peugeot but havent been able to find a 40 spoke rim to fit it to .

You can lace a 36h rim to a 40h hub you know.

Richard

All of a sudden that 40h AW i have in the parts box isn't useless . Cheers Richard!

[stwaen]

How do you not ride a fixed gear with a S3X hub? Not strong enough for skids perhaps?

I would have bought a normal SA 3 speed hub if my bike didn't have a 120mm OLD. I don't ride fixed gear bikes because I like to coast. I couldn't stand being forced to pedal non-stop.

Before I bought the hub I remember reading some reviews where people were complaining about breaking the hub doing skids. That will put a lot of stress on the gears no matter what. Riding the way I do, the hub has worked flawlessly.

[landyacht]

I recently saved a sturmey 3 speed on a ladies peugeot but havent been able to find a 40 spoke rim to fit it to .

You can lace a 36h rim to a 40h hub you know.

Richard

tell me more ,tell me more,cant have too many wheels, what have I missed

[hiflange]

Sheldon tells how
You're not alone in wishing there were some more 40 hole rim options out there. I wonder what it would take to get a bunch of H+Son HB 14's done in 40h?

[WyvernRH]

You can lace a 36h rim to a 40h hub you know. Richard

tell me more ,tell me more,cant have too many wheels, what have I missed

It is not hard, there are 20 holes on each side of the hub, you only want to use 16 so assuming a 'standard' 3 or 4 cross pattern you just don't put a spoke in every 5th hole.
If you are using a fancy spoke pattern like Crows Foot or whatever you can group the empty holes together in pairs but that hurts my brain
Richard

[landyacht]

You can lace a 36h rim to a 40h hub you know. Richard

tell me more ,tell me more,cant have too many wheels, what have I missed

It is not hard, there are 20 holes on each side of the hub, you only want to use 16 so assuming a 'standard' 3 or 4 cross pattern you just don't put a spoke in every 5th hole.
If you are using a fancy spoke pattern like Crows Foot or whatever you can group the empty holes together in pairs but that hurts my brain
Richard

my math brain is assuming you meant 18 and missing every 10th hole?

[utedeej]

Sheldon tells how
You're not alone in wishing there were some more 40 hole rim options out there. I wonder what it would take to get a bunch of H+Son HB 14's done in 40h?

A friend of mine still has some NOS Velocity Aero 40h rims I think. He might be up for selling some if anyone is interested.

[rokwiz]

Still got my old Speedwells 28in wheelset with 3 speed Sturmey in the shed, the original Dunlops are great but the chrome rim brakes are a nightmare.

[Clydesdale Scot]

Still got my old Speedwells 28in wheelset with 3 speed Sturmey in the shed, the original Dunlops are great but the chrome rim brakes are a nightmare.

have you tried Fibrax Raincheater brake blocks on the steel rims?
The leather insert works well on steel rims in the dry, but it would quickly destroy alloy rims.

[Miguel_au]

I have quite a few 3 speed hubs and a couple of 2 speeds, mostly Sturmey, but do have a nice Suntour one

[commando]

I can't get enough of SA 3 speeds. I commuted on one in Toronto for 10 years and it proved perfect. I now use my old Raleigh for fun weekend rides, 2yo daughter in tow on the back, big ass basket on the front to carry all the crap that comes with a kid. I live in the Adelaide Hills so sometimes it's a bit of a struggle, but for the most part the Sturmey AW is perfect. Would love to get one of the old derailler kits that used to be available for them. I think I'm gonna have to find some of the more rare SA hubs and give them a go, even just an alloy shelled AW for my path racer build.

I've fixed up 2 more bikes with SA's for mates and am gathering parts to build another for myself. Once you get to know them they're dead easy to work on and maintain. I've picked up a pile of kids bikes wheels with SA's and used the internals for spares (shells are 20 holes and such). Almost everything on the AW's is interchangeable from the early days (the earliest I've got is 1938) to 90's. I have yet to find a part I couldn't get new.

All this speak of 40 hole hubs made me look at my most recent acquisition, and it's a 36h on a 27" rim. Bit odd for a 1960's hub I thought, all my other SA's are 40h. I'm fixing this one up, maintaining its 'patina', as a pub bike for a mate. It had been sitting around for who knows how long, I just squirted a bit of oil in the hub and gave the cable a quick adjustment, and was riding around in 5 minutes. The old Dunlops are peeling away from the threads but have held air for over a week now.

[landyacht]

You can lace a 36h rim to a 40h hub you know. Richard

tell me more ,tell me more,cant have too many wheels, what have I missed

It is not hard, there are 20 holes on each side of the hub, you only want to use 16 so assuming a 'standard' 3 or 4 cross pattern you just don't put a spoke in every 5th hole.
If you are using a fancy spoke pattern like Crows Foot or whatever you can group the empty holes together in pairs but that hurts my brain
Richard

well richard i tried and tried, but to no avail . on the third attempt. both me and the local bike shed said , just import a double walled riveted rim from the US.
in the meantime , down in Rockingham i picked up a a 27' INDI500 with working 36 hole nexus 3 speed.
i plan to covert my 26" speedway bike to a townie with a detachable . rear cargo frame

[WyvernRH]

well richard i tried and tried, but to no avail . on the third attempt. both me and the local bike shed said , just import a double walled riveted rim from the US.
in the meantime , down in Rockingham i picked up a a 27' INDI500 with working 36 hole nexus 3 speed.
i plan to covert my 26" speedway bike to a townie with a detachable . rear cargo frame

Hmm, not quite sure what the problem is here, the spoke pattern is just slightly 'out' at two points each side of the wheel and you may need a few extra mm on a couple of spokes. I've done this several times, most recently on a 18" BIrdy wheel lacing a 40h hub to a 32h rim (which is where I got the 16 from in my previous post, well spotted!). Given the short spokes this did require a bit of fiddling to work out the correct spoke length - I'm sure some maths whiz could work out a formula but I did it empirically but doing a couple of dummy builds. If getting confused about which holes to skip when lacing the spokes into the hub is a problem I find putting matchsticks thru the holes you want to ignore makes it easier as you have a visual cue.

Richard

[landyacht]

any advice on the frequency and volume of oil into the oil port on my SA . Im building up the bike and its my first 3 speed since 1983