sturmey 8 speed hub

[jackthelad]

was wondring if anyone has the 8 speed hub, and how good it was,pros and cons any help appreciated

 

[Brommyboy]

One thing about the SA8 is that the 1:1 is bottom gear. With a 27" wheel, your lowest gear will be quite high. For small wheeled bikes, it is a better proposition.

 

[mickle]

Not getting themselves a good rep for reliability. Our 5spd equipped Workcycles Kr8 failed inside, losing half of its gears at any given moment in exchange for a handful of instant neutrals. I need to be careful what I say - one failure of one hub isn't enough to damn a brand but I'm hearing little enthusiasm for SA within the industry.

 

[jackthelad]

Hi guys thanks for the replies I looked on you tube and there was videos of the 8 speed which was noicey in 4th gear,so was wondering if the hub had been sorted since.Looking to buy 2 bromptons soon for the wife and myself and want to get it right first time.How are the 6 speed hubs are they quite reliable.I quite fancy the extra gears but woud go to 3 speed if there was issues with the 6 speed hub.Quite like the lightness of the 2 speed but thought there was not enough gears for longer runsabove 20 miles

 

[Sca1ey]

The Brompton 6 speed has a 3 speed hub combined with a 2 speed derailleur.

 

[Pale Rider]

As Scaley says, if you are buying Bromptons the most number of gears you can have is six, achieved by a three-speed hub, two sprockets and a derailleur.

Of more importance will be your choice of range, Brompton offer low, standard and high gear ranges - all that's changed is the front sprocket.

I bought standard, but found it too high, so changed to low.

Even with the low range, spinning up 6th gear takes some doing and produces a speed which I reckon is more than fast enough for travelling on a Brompton.

 

[TheDoctor]

I'd second that^^.
My standard 6-speed Brommie (2010 model with the wide-range hub) has gears of 33" to 99"
99" is waaaaay too high - I've had it at 37 mph (down a ruddy big hill!) and I wasn't spinning out.

 

[Sca1ey]

Agreed also; I bought my 3 speed with the 50T front ring but have replaced it with the 42T(?) as it was too high.

 

[jackthelad]

guys thanks for the replies,so if going new is it get the 6 speed with the -12%, what does this relate to in normal bike gears any help apppreciated

 

[TheDoctor]

Well the standard gearing is this :-
Gear 1: 33.0 gear inches (2.63 metres along the ground)
Gear 2: 40.5 gear inches (3.23 metres travel)
Gear 3: 51.5 gear inches (4.11 metres travel)
Gear 4: 63.5 gear inches (5.06 metres travel)
Gear 5: 81.0 gear inches (6.45 metres travel)
Gear 6: 99.5 gear inches (7.94 metres travel)

Now, with 12% lowered gearing, the bottom gear is 29.5". That's pretty low - not far off 1:1 on a normal bike with 27" or 700c wheels. That'll get you up most things - I did Horseshoe Pass on that sort of gearing, and that's one in five on the steepest bit. Basically, if you can't do the hill on the bike, you'll be no slower walking, and it'll be a change if nothing else. Top will be 89", and you'll be able to spin that up to about 30 mph. More than that and you may as well freewheel.

 

[Brommyboy]

The Brompton low gearing on the BWR 6-speed is achieved by using a 44T chain ring instead of the normal 50T. Another way of dealing with this is to fit a chain set with replaceable rings and use either a 42T or 40T depending on how hilly your area is. The chain length may need adjusting. My formula for this gives 96 links for 40T and 98 for 42T or 44T.