5 speed Sturmey Archer thumbshifter on Pashleys

[lady melchet]

Hi

I hope the following information may be useful for Pashley owners with 5 speed Sturmey Archer gears. I recently bought a 2009 Pashley Princess Sovereign secondhand in superb condition. however the gears were a real pain despite frequent adjustment. The gears would slip or just not go into the right gear when changing. I eventually lost 4th completely Finally the thumbshifter a SA SLS 5 N totally disintergrated! It was made of plastic.

I searched the internet and discovered the all metal SA SLS 50-T. Not sure which to fit, I rang the technical department at Pashley who were very helpful. They conceded that the SA SLS 5N fitted on thier bikes up to late 2010 had been problematic and suggested I get the the SA SLS 50-T fitted as this was the shifter they were now fitting. They also stated it was more in keeping with the retro style of the bike.


I went ahead with their suggestion (after checking that the hub on the rear wheel was compatable) and the differance in the use of the gears is amazing. The gears slip easily into the appropriate gear quickly and efficiently using the thumbshifter and I can now ride the bike with complete confidence especially on hills!

So I quess if you own a Pashley with the SA SLS 5 N thumbshifter and are finding the gears problematic can I suggest you try the SA SLS 50-T! It cost me £28 to have the change made at my local bike shop (parts and labour) Worth every penny!

Hope this is helpful to other pashley owners!

 

[style over speed]

I've had that hub too with some shifting issues though not as bad as yours, was the shifter the one with a red plastic button? i found the screw under the red button worked loose easily, and more importantly the hub was very dependent on good chain tension to shift properly.

I'd keep a close eye on the chain and if your shifting starts going bad again, check the chain hasn't slackened a touch. Don't forget the chain should be replaced every year or two anyway (I'd assumed, wrongly, that under a chaincase it would last forever!)

I've since updated to a new model which has the W version of the 5 speed hub with a grey button on the shifter, and its miles better … much smoother, almost a Rohloff feel to it… needed a 100 miles or so to wear in though (initially I thought it was worse than the old one

)