Got a bit of a project…… bought a 1981 AW hub. Never been built into a wheel, so as new.
It’s a 28 spoke and approx 116mm OLN. I’m intending to lace it to a rim that I have, and use it in my Pompino. Sore knees need gears!
So my ponderings are:
What gear ratio shall I use. ie. do I gear it to be mainly used in 2nd or 3rd gear?
What maintenance does it need? Drops of oil into hub shell perhaps?
And any one know the dimensions for calculating spoke lengths?
Also, how to change gear? Should I mount one of those ‘orrible shoper-shifters on a seat-stay, or maybe get a bar end shifter?

Thanks in advance

may be worth a look here

I run a S-A 3 speed on my Pompino.

The middle gear is direct drive. I find if you gear that around the 60 – 65″ mark, the other gears work out pretty well, eg if you use 65″ for direct, then low is about 49″ and high is about 87″.

That works out about where you would gear a SS for offroad for low, the traditional gentleman’s road gear ratio for direct, and high is about where you’d want your fixie to be at. Three singlespeeds in one hub 🙂

One proviso, the latest model S-A does not have the irritating false neutral that used to happen on the older models. A 28 hole AW was probably intended for a small wheel bike like a Moulton – you may get enough from a Moulton enthusiast to pay for a new current model seeing as yours is new.

Gearchanging – There’s new shifters available and they are good. I still use the old fashioned handlebar trigger changer and it’s fine – it’s not as if you change gear much. It is important to set your adjustment up by the marks – don’t use the twiddling technique you would use on a derailleur. If the hub plays up, the problem will be more likely to be with the cable (kinked, “stretched”, or needing oil) than with the hub itself.

I keep trying to justify one of these:
3-speed fixed hub – no cables!
http://www.sturmey-archer.com/products/hubs/cid/3/id/47

or one of the these:D
Duomatic Kick Shift 2 speed hub with coaster brake
Two speed hub, coaster brake and no cables!
http://www.sturmey-archer.com/products/hubs/cid/7/id/55

The S3X needs a cable. (I’ve got one)

Thanks for your replies.
Just another thought…. Is there much loss through inefficiency within the hub when in gears 1 and 3?

If so, I guess that reinforces the argument for having gear 2 as the most used one. Like the idea of 3 single speeds in one!!

I have a Rolhoff on another bike and some of the ratios within that seem to suffer a lot of losses.