Experience with Sachs Torpedo 3-speed hub?

[ParkRNDL]

I'm watching a Fleabay auction for a Torpedo 3-speed coaster hub... anybody have any experience with them? are they any good?

thanks in advance...

--rick

 

[mastershake916]

I'm watching a Fleabay auction for a Torpedo 3-speed coaster hub... anybody have any experience with them? are they any good?

thanks in advance...

--rick

I did some research once, I remember a big long history somewhere that said that the ones with the red shifters were the best.

In the late 1950s, the best post-war threespeed was born, the new Torpedo
with the red shifter. When I was young, everybody had it. There was no bike
shop without spare parts for it. It was stronger and more reliable than any
planetary gears hub in current production. Sachs was able to sell these for
an amazingly long time with the cheap junk bikes of the 1960/70s. In the
last production years, this made funny bikes. In the "great era of
bike-junk", the rear hub would have been able to outlast five bikes. Sachs
could do this for the legendary name, most people who bought junk bikes
still wanted a Torpedo hub.
On bulk rubbish days, there was an easy rule: "If the rear hub of a trashed
bike is a Sachs Torpedo or Renak, take it. If it is Sachs Komet, Sachs Jet,
Sturmey Archer, or Shimano, leave it."

http://yarchive.net/bike/torpedo_hubs.html

 

[ACD]

My Pashley WorkBike has one. I don't have much experience with it yet due to snow but if Pashley uses them they can't be that bad.

Aaron

 

[ParkRNDL]

ok, I was more excited about it when it had 1 bid and was at 99 cents... now that it has 5 bids and is at $25 plus $10 S/H I'm less enthusiastic. :roll: I'm cheap, I guess. I gotta find my stuff at yard sales... bidding against the rest of the free world kills me...

--rick

 

[El-Toro]

The 3-speed Torpedo hubs from Sachs are very very good qualitiy i just found at my grandmothers scrap yard one ( it was lieing about 30 years there in the rain ) and the hub still works extremly good :!: :!: