Unknown territory and seeking advice (hub gears)

[Oldfentiger]

The Elswick frame has landed, kindly sent to me by @Rusty Nails
I’ve already got umpteen steel bikes with conventional gearing, derailleurs etc, so I’m looking to do something different with this one.
I’ve had the hankering for a path racer style bike for a while, so this frame could be a good candidate for it.
I thought about single speed or fixed, but then I’ll struggle to get up the hills where I live.
I like the idea of a single driven sprocket, so wondering whether a Sturmey Archer hub gear would be a good compromise.
I’ve had a look on SJS website and found some SA hubs with coaster brake, which would do away with the need for a lever and cable for the rear brake.

What think you lot then?

 

[biggs682]

Why not just use a normal 3 speed hub ?

 

[midlife]

I've used coaster brakes BITD, OK stopping from low speed but not my cup of tea.....

 

[Oldfentiger]

Thanks chaps - just the sort of feedback I need

The only coaster brake I’ve used was on a moped (NSU Quickly), which was capable of locking the back wheel, so are the Sturmey Archer versions a bit feeble?

 

[Oldfentiger]

So what about the SA gear hub? Any downsides?

 

[Soltydog]

So what about the SA gear hub? Any downsides?

I've considered changing my single speed to a SA 3 speed. SS is ok on the flat round here, unless it's windy (about 360 days a year ) SA would keep the chainline simple & make the bike more useable for commuting etc, however if I lived somewhere rather hilly I'm not sure a SA would offer me enough gears

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

I'm a huge fan of the bog standard Sturmey Archer AW 3-speed hub. For riding in urban traffic with frequent stops, nothing beats the ease of gearchanging including when stationary. However, I would NOT recommend riding a SA hub gear whilst standing up out of the saddle. Why? Well, earlier in the year I picked up an early 70's Puch 3-speed roadster, which has Styria hub gears, a clone of the SA AW design. At first I was plagued with it unexpectedly dropping into neutral under power, when it should have been in the 2nd or "Normal" gear. It was fine in bottom and top. I always ride seated so nothing worse than a loss of power occurred, however if I'd been standing it could have been painful! The problem was solved with very careful adjustment of the gear selector cable and it has been fine ever since, but the possibility of these hubs dropping out of gear is always there if any slack appears in the selector mechanism. If you have a sedate riding style it won't matter but I would not want a sudden neutral event to occur whilst standing on the pedals!

 

[mjr]

SA AW or its modern successors (I've got a modern one too but can't remember the code name, maybe X-RD3) are pretty robust. The downside is the need to balance the range and decide whether you'd rather spin out on some downhills or walk the steepest uphills.

I thought the coaster braked Shimano I had was OK but hard braking on the coaster brake wore the driver. Also, it takes some getting used to not to backpedal, and more so if you were taught wrongly to lift the pedal with your shoe before starting off (I learned not to when riding rat trap pedals that scuffed shoes).

 

[mjr]

I'm a huge fan of the bog standard Sturmey Archer AW 3-speed hub. For riding in urban traffic with frequent stops, nothing beats the ease of gearchanging including when stationary. However, I would NOT recommend riding a SA hub gear whilst standing up out of the saddle. Why? Well, earlier in the year I picked up an early 70's Puch 3-speed roadster, which has Styria hub gears, a clone of the SA AW design. At first I was plagued with it unexpectedly dropping into neutral under power, when it should have been in the 2nd or "Normal" gear. It was fine in bottom and top. I always ride seated so nothing worse than a loss of power occurred, however if I'd been standing it could have been painful! The problem was solved with very careful adjustment of the gear selector cable and it has been fine ever since, but the possibility of these hubs dropping out of gear is always there if any slack appears in the selector mechanism. If you have a sedate riding style it won't matter but I would not want a sudden neutral event to occur whilst standing on the pedals!

The modern SA 3s have a plate that prevents that. The tradeoff is that you shouldn't wheel it backwards in top gear else it can bend the plate, and of course you can't deliberately select neutral by holding the shifter between top and middle.

 

[classic33]

The newer models seem to less reliable and more problmatic than the older SA models.

I use the twin lever version of the 5 speed hub, and find the neutral can be handy when locking the bike up. Made it appear broken.

 

[rogerzilla]

The SRC3 (3 speed + coaster brake) is ok. I commuted on one for 5 years.