SA hubs n' shifters

[thehazmatguy]

In another thread I mentioned I wanted to pull my wheels apart for some painting. While I've got the wheel apart I am thinking about installing a Sturmey-Archer multi-speed hub.

My question is mainly about shifters. If I go with a 3 or 4 speed hub I would like to use one of the Schwinn or Suntour stick shifters. Are there any compatibility issues? As long as you use a 3 speed shifter with a 3 speed hub are you covered, or is there more to the story?

When I was a kid I briefly had a Schwinn with the SA 3 speed hub with the thumb shifter. As I remember I abused it fairly well and it held up. If I pick up a hub on eBay or something, should I figure it's going to be good... or should I figure on a rebuild? Are there specific questions I should ask to verify function?

Some great info I found is here: http://sheldonbrown.com/sturmey-archer.html

This is the kind of stuff I was considering:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

or maybe

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

or if money was no object:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %3AIT&rd=1

 

[MadMick]

Its really important that a Sturmey hub is accurately 'indexed' to the shifter. The gears run in an oil bath which means that theyll run forever if correctly adjusted and have the oil changed every decade but a badly adjusted hub will wear out prematurely. Unless the shift lever is specifically designed to operate a SA hub I doubt that the cable pull/ gear spacing will be correct. Running a non compliant shifter will make it difficult if not impossible to index and may cause the hub to wear out.

I read in a report on the recent Fridrichstaffen cycle show that Sturmey Archer are launching a range of products aimed at manufacturers of Cruisers which includes extra wide 3spd hubs and stick shifters.

The standard bar mounted 3spd trigger shifter, aside from the graphics hasnt changed in design for sixty years. The plastic cover comes off without affecting the performance and is so simple in construction that its very easy to modify. I recently modified a trigger by attaching a dice valve cap with epoxy. Easy, simple and effective.

 

[xddorox]

MadMick is right. SA3 shifters are not compatible with non Sturmey Archer shifters. The indexing is very precise and will not work with a shifter made for something else like a Shimano 3 speed.

 

[Clothespin n]

and I heard the same..
never mix a 333 Shimano shifter with a Sturmey.

I asked a well educated bike friend/tech and he said I was lookin for trouble if I mixed em up.

What I do is find a schittie old 3 speed bike for sale or at the dump
and I use the Hub / shifter on my projects.


HERE'S A GREAT INFO PAGE FROM A LOCAL WEBSITE TO ME

click here for some awesome 3 speed options and info
peace,
Kev.

 

[JoeyMac]

I was searching the How To forum for questions about shifters which I might just post in a new thread. But I found this thread and had to post my setup. I just got this '67 Western Flyer with a SA 3-speed, and it came with a Bendix stick shifter installed... is this a mistake? Should I remove the shifter and install an official SA shifter? Let me know if I am going to kill the hub by keeping the shifter.