Unchained-
They made 3-speed Stingrays in a few different variations. The boy's Stingrays all used an S-2 rim with the 3-spd 28-hole Sturmey Archer AW hub. Some very late ones (75-up) got a 3-spd + coaster hub.
These bikes were available as either trigger shifters or Stik Shifts from 65-73. I have a '66 trigger shift Deluxe 3spd in violet. The wheel I used for it came from a '69 3-speed Stik Shift bike.
There's no reason you can't find or build a wheel to what you need. There are a lot of 3-speed S-7 rims out there from Fairladys or Slik Chiks with 28-hole hubs. One of these hubs can be laced to an S-2 rim and you're in business. You could use one as it is but you'd be limited to S-7 tires, which aren't much fun other than the Gripper Sliks.
I do have a Fairlady wheel and also another AW 28-hole hub currently.
New stainless spokes of just about any size you could need are available. You would normally use the same length for a Sturmey as for a coaster brake hub- they're close in size. I'm sure a spoke 1/8" shorter would work just fine too. What length spokes? I don't know off hand. Someone here can surely identify what would be correct.
If you can lace a wheel yourself, you can save a lot of money and have the equivalent of a religious experience. If you don't want to go that route, any bike shop should easily be able to build this. One difference for a SA vs a 5-speed Krate rear would be that the rim would not be "dished". The spoke lengths left and right would be the same and the hub would be centered in the rim, like a coaster model.
It's possible that someone here or on the Schwinn boards will have one available. No S-2 rim is cheap but it should be possible to find a built up one for $50 or so I'd think. Depends on what turns up, what you have for parts, how patient you are to achieving your goal.
Good luck with it.
--Rob
Unchained said:
I'm building up an orange krate to my liking using appropriate pieces, and am thinking now about the rear wheel. I don't care for derailleurs or gear clusters and greatly prefer internal three speed hubs over that setup. I'm building this bike up with original Schwinn/ Schwinn Approved stuff, and am wondering if it would be possible to build an original krate 20 inch S2 rim up with a Schwinn Approved Sturmey Archer Three speed hub. Was ever an SA three speed internal hub made with the same no. of spoke holes as my rim (I have to go count the spoke holes and see just how many there are- I don't know too much about Krates)? Would this hub and NOS spokes be very hard to come by? ...Or too expensive to be practical? Thanks, and help that could be offered would be great.
