Pashley Princess Sovereign: Sturmey Archer 5 speed woes.

[Boopop]

Previously, on "Boopop's dealings with his Pashley":
Purchase and upgrades
New wheels required.

Well I've got the new wheels. It came with this shifter:

Truly awful. I couldn't get it to go in to the lowest gear consistently. I ride this bike at Critical Mass which can ride quite slowly (and rightly so), so the lowest gear is rather crucial. So, I bought it this shifter instead:

Problem solved, for a while at least. Now the lowest gear is slipping again (it started doing it before the new wheels were built too), it's driving me slightly potty. The wheel nuts are tight and so is the adjuster for the shifting. It survived one Critical Mass ride before the lowest gear started to slip again. I've seen some online say 5 speed is just a pain to set up right, and 3 speed is the one that's bombproof. I've seen others suggest the best shifter to use is this. Bizarrely it's only available in the US so I'd have to import it for £50. The similar shifter you can get in the UK only works with rotary hubs, my hub is an X-RD5 rather than an R(otary)X-RD5. Thanks for the info Sheldon Brown, RIP.

What do you all suggest I do, spend another hour or two fiddling in my garage bashing my head against the wall, or buy this shifter? Annoyingly the gear only slips when the bike is off the stand. Even when it's working the lowest gear is quite difficult to get to with the shifter. I expect to get lots of differing opinions, but I thought I'd ask just in case you all decide one way or the other with a strong majority!

Cheers

 

[classic33]

I've used their(SA's) 5-speed hub with the twin levers instead of the single lever. Found it easier set up, and more reliable, than a single trigger shifter.

 

[All uphill]

Previously, on "Boopop's dealings with his Pashley":
Purchase and upgrades
New wheels required.

Well I've got the new wheels. It came with this shifter:
View attachment 785565
Truly awful. I couldn't get it to go in to the lowest gear consistently. I ride this bike at Critical Mass which can ride quite slowly (and rightly so), so the lowest gear is rather crucial. So, I bought it this shifter instead:
View attachment 785566
Problem solved, for a while at least. Now the lowest gear is slipping again (it started doing it before the new wheels were built too), it's driving me slightly potty. The wheel nuts are tight and so is the adjuster for the shifting. It survived one Critical Mass ride before the lowest gear started to slip again. I've seen some online say 5 speed is just a pain to set up right, and 3 speed is the one that's bombproof. I've seen others suggest the best shifter to use is this. Bizarrely it's only available in the US so I'd have to import it for £50. The similar shifter you can get in the UK only works with rotary hubs, my hub is an X-RD5 rather than an R(otary)X-RD5. Thanks for the info Sheldon Brown, RIP.

What do you all suggest I do, spend another hour or two fiddling in my garage bashing my head against the wall, or buy this shifter? Annoyingly the gear only slips when the bike is off the stand. Even when it's working the lowest gear is quite difficult to get to with the shifter. I expect to get lots of differing opinions, but I thought I'd ask just in case you all decide one way or the other with a strong majority!

Cheers

There's a guy on Cycling UK who seems to know more about hubgears than is healthy. I'd suggest visiting their website and doing a search.

 

[Boopop]

Thanks for the opinions and advice. Just went for a short ride to the local Tesco (forgot the paprika on the "big shop" on the cargo bike, oops). At first it didn't do it at all, so I shortened the adjuster thingy. Stopped doing it. Then by the time I got home again, it did it again, so I shortened it some more, not doing it again. Then to make doubly sure, I got the 15mm spanner out and tightened the axle bolts some more. They weren't loose but there was scope to tighten them further. Will see how I get on, I might buy the trigger shifter eventually but I won't be in a rush if it continues to behave.

I love this bike, I love what it represents (sustainable transport for short local journeys), I love its classic style, and I love its dynamo lights that mean I can ride it whenever I like without much thought. Here's a photo with its shiny (literally!) new wheels.

You might wonder why I leave it locked up right outside behind my flat (low footfall communal garden), but that's the sort of thing the Dutch do, and it keeps it my always ready convenient bike to ride 😁

 

[Chris S]

I've used their(SA's) 5-speed hub with the twin levers instead of the single lever. Found it easier set up, and more reliable, than a single trigger shifter.

Was that the old 5-speed with a cable coming out of each side of the hub? The OP has a modern one with one cable.

 

[Boopop]

Was that the old 5-speed with a cable coming out of each side of the hub? The OP has a modern one with one cable.

I'm not quite sure how modern, it seems the RD-RX5 is more recent. Mine just has the single gear selector coming out the centre of the hub anyway.

 

[classic33]

Was that the old 5-speed with a cable coming out of each side of the hub? The OP has a modern one with one cable.

Cable out either side, but the single trigger shifter would have removed one of the cables.

 

[Chris S]

I'm not quite sure how modern, it seems the RD-RX5 is more recent. Mine just has the single gear selector coming out the centre of the hub anyway.

I've seen a steady stream of complaints about these since I took up cycling again in 2010. Somebody in the Sturmey Archer Facebook group was adamant that they work OK if they're correctly adjusted. Section 4 of this PDF tells you how to do it:
https://www.sturmey-archer.com/files/catalog/files/38/MANUAL - 5 SPEED ROTARY HUBS.pdf

 

[Boopop]

I've seen a steady stream of complaints about these since I took up cycling again in 2010. Somebody in the Sturmey Archer Facebook group was adamant that they work OK if they're correctly adjusted. Section 4 of this PDF tells you how to do it:
https://www.sturmey-archer.com/files/catalog/files/38/MANUAL - 5 SPEED ROTARY HUBS.pdf

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I have an X-RD5, the RX-RD5 is newer which is what I mean when I say my hub isn't so modern.

 

[Chris S]

The X-RD5 hub adjustment is different:
https://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/files/view-287.pdf
If you are doing this already and still have problems then you are not alone. The common consensus seems to be that you can have a top gear or a bottom gear but not both

 

[Boopop]

The X-RD5 hub adjustment is different:
https://www.sturmey-archerheritage.com/files/view-287.pdf
If you are doing this already and still have problems then you are not alone. The common consensus seems to be that you can have a top gear or a bottom gear but not both

Thanks, that seems about right. Perhaps before I didn't have the top gear, as I don't often have much reason to use it on such a leisurely bike.

 

[grldtnr]

Thanks, that seems about right. Perhaps before I didn't have the top gear, as I don't often have much reason to use it on such a leisurely bike.

For what it's worth, when I was a postie bike mech , we had these Sturmey 5's fitted , but I found they were unreliable and tricky to keep adjusted, like been quoted, you could select top or bottom ,but not both.
Eventually the post changed over to the Sachs / SRAM Gear which had it's own problems , they used a little red plastic widget to adjust gears, which easily failed, the solution was fit a new widget every time the wheel was taken out, not a good idea that either, as they become unobtainable.

In the end postbikes reverted to 3 spd which was the best soloution, after all Pogacar wasn't riding for team Royal Mail

 

[Chris S]

I assume that was the AW 3-speed? The modern NIG 3-speed has dual pronged pawls that break and a couple of bodges in it to get rid of the neutral gear. One of them, the actuator plate, breaks as well. I've replaced the internals in mine with those from an AW, fortunately they use the same shell.