Three Speed MTB Hub Gear

nickc – Member
But the idea that they are less maintenance, cost less and are less hassle isn’t really true.

So, no I won’t as this is, y’know, up for discussion. Sorry, if that bothers you.

OK, a Sturmey-Archer S-RK3 3 speed hub costs £86[/url]. For £4 more you can get it with a drum brake.

From proven experience it will last over 80 years with simple care and still work perfectly.

Convince me otherwise – with comparable evidence…

I used to go through more derailleurs than brake pads. I refuse to run derailleurs on any of my bikes now and everything is singlespeed or alfine, the exception being the full sussers. My next full susser will be a Zeroed or a millyard assuming that he ever decides to make them commercial.

Either that or I’ll make my own version of the old Brooklyn Machine Works and run it singlespeed.

From proven experience it will last over 80 years with simple care and still work perfectly.

Meanwhile back in the real world….

However, the three speed hubs that are currently available tend not to be particularly well sealed from the elements or up to the loadings of off-road use – a ride around W2 at Afan on a stock three speed hub had the cones undoing themselves and dirt sauntering in to the bearings.

Said the OP.

I’ve run (almost) that same hub for summer mtb and it was great. For some reason mine has regular cassette splines (very short for single cog not a full length freehub body) rather than the sturmey 3 lug mounting (sprocket still held on with a circlip) but otherwise the same. I also ran the regular reliable tube nut rather than the sticky out pulley system. I had though of machining out for seals but never considered the cartridge bearing option – great work.

Have you sent some photos to Sturmey Europe? Around 5 years ago I swapped some good emails with Alan at Sunrace on this very subject (think he was ex-Sturmey England and based in Holland).

I was generally happy but needed bigger range for Alps etc (I mod my singlespeed for summer hols). Nicer pedal feel than Alfine. Internals were good for tandems BITD so OK for mtb torque. Axle breakages were one of my worries (bearings are a long way inboard).

I’ve just read a book on Mikael Pedersen – Pedersen multi speed hubs might also be worth a reappraisal.

I think the OP needs a pat on the back for not stopping convention from him getting what he wants.

I myself ride a lot of singlespeed and have always wanted three gears; up, along and down (and road). I’ve considered the options, but advice (probably from this site) has always put me off for reasons of reliability.

Yes, you can achieve it with a reduced cassette and derailleur, but they are ugly and fragile, yes even modern ones!

Keep us all in the loop as your testing progresses and I’ll have one off you if they look god. I also know a small bicycle friendly Engineering company that would love to help with any kind of larger scale production. Send me a message if you want to talk it through.

You find an alternative that is all those things (cheaper, better, less maintenance and hassle) than a derailleur and folk will be interested, but unless ideas are challenged, and stand up to those challenges, we’re no further forward.

You do know this is STW? There aren’t sufficient niche points in running a mech…

Hi everyone and thank you for your feedback – it’s nice to know that I’m not alone!

I wanted to try the hub for similar reasons to those stated by other – I live a little way from the trails which requires some road sections to access. A single speed would be pretty slow so it’s nice to have an overdrive option. Plus I’m weird enough to quite like a good, steep, technical climb and so didn’t want to miss out on a lower gear as well, plus it just makes longer rides more manageable. It seems to be all that I need.

For info I’m running it with a 32 tooth chainring and the 18 tooth rear sprocket that it comes with. This is below Sturmey Archer’s recommendation of a 2:1 minimum gearing, but it seems to be holding up and Sheldon Brown’s website provides a couple of other examples where this has been tried successfully. Time will tell.

Sturmey Archer list the hub as having an overall gear range of 177%, with the gear steps as both 33%. I just like to think of it as a direct drive (1:1) with an overdrive at 4:3 and an underdrive at 3:4. It seems to be enough to get me everywhere that I need and although the jumps between gears are big compared with a derailleur set-up, I don’t find them so big as to be awkward to change between.

As for efficiency, I find it feels much more positive at the pedal than either my 8 or 11 speed Alfines. There has been a study into the inefficiencies of hub gears relative to derailleurs and the three speeds do pretty well. A lot of hub gears with more than three gears achieve this by essentially combining the guts of multiple three speed hubs together (in VERY simple terms). So a five speed hub is, mechanically, essentially two 3 speeds bolted together. This is one of the reasons for the inefficiencies and spongy feeling you can sometimes get. As for the weight, mine came in at just under 1.1kg without a sprocket, which compares pretty favourably with my Alfines.

Although Sturmey Archer list a 32h version of the hub on their website, I’ve only been able to find 36h examples. Although this hasn’t proved to be the big deal that I thought it might be – I’ve seen a variety of rims from Stans, Mavic, H Plus Son and Velocity all with a 36h option.

nickc – Member
So, without some-one saying BUT… on threads like these, then it becomes an exercise in self-delusion.

You are indeed saying “but” but have pretty much nothing to say that backs that up ref the OP’s hub…and telling epi he’s wrong with no input to that yourself.

You just don’t like hub gears, and you want to ay what little you have to say about it 😐

S-RK3 on my commuter/cx bike for over two years now, no problems whatsoever, no loose cones no other bs and it was only serviced twice so far…

Day One:

I tried to kill it but it’s still going strong

It’s not too complicated either:

The other option if you love your SS but would like a bail-out gear might be S2K, but my only worry is that you may change the gear whilst the cranks are leveled…

nickc – Member
Meanwhile back in the real world….

“However, the three speed hubs that are currently available tend not to be particularly well sealed from the elements or up to the loadings of off-road use – a ride around W2 at Afan on a stock three speed hub had the cones undoing themselves and dirt sauntering in to the bearings.”

Said the OP.

In the real world, tens of millions of Sturmey-Archer hubs have been run in similar conditions without that problem. The roads in the 3 speed hub’s heyday were largely rough and unsurfaced. The way dirt was handled then was to flush it out with oil. The bearings cost pennies to fix if there’s a problem – a handful of new balls and all is well.

The current S-A hub is superior to the old hubs and they were nearly unbreakable, and if they broke, cheaply fixed.

It’s still many times more reliable and durable than any derailleur you can mention, and perfect for the purpose that the people on this thread want it for.

Just for interest, I have no hesitation taking my 80+ year old S-A hub out on dirt. It’s been on most of the tracks around here, including the’Puffer track. I haven’t had any problems, and don’t expect any.

Now can we get back to giving the OP credit for his ingenious modification?

Do not feed the troll, keep this on topic for all of use who love hub gears and modifications

Problem is that one of the draws of SS is simplicity so adding another cable, lever etc,. goes against my ethos!

I run a 15 and 17T on my singlespeed. Manual change by moving the wheel, but if it’s to ride on road or off road, not a problem A Brompton derailleur would be an ideal modification for this, but I haven’t gone down that route.

Hello OP… how did the hub hold up over the winter? Inquiring minds would like to know. Thanks

Update: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/three-speed-mtb-hub-gear-update