Sturmey Archer 2 speed kickback hub operation

[Wildcat]

This video shows how the SA kickback hub operates. The two speeds are direct drive like a one speed, and the second gear is 138% higher. You switch between gears using your pedals. A slight rearward motion will shift the gears.

On this hub, it has a coaster brake. So pedaling all the way back is your brakes. They make a freewheel version also. There's a downside. when you pedal back for brakes, you shift gears also. So if you were in low and hit the brakes, you would now be in high gear. From a stop, you would have to start out, then shift back to low gear. The hub must be turning to shift. An advantage is no shift cable or shifter to adjust.

If you ride this one hub all the time, shifting becomes second nature, and is easy to coordinate.

 

[Wylly]

I’m glad you brought this up. My first foray (several months ago) into classic 50’s & 60’s coaster brake “cruisers” was a 63 Typhoon with red band kick back hub bought on eBay. The bike was in good shape but the hub wouldn’t shift. I talked to the only bike shop in my town and got nowhere, so I took the plunge and popped the thing apart. With some YouTube videos and data from this site I managed to replace the 2 broken bits (the wimpy-... index spring and one of the coupler springs) and get the bad boy back together; it worked!
I really like it so I bought another red band hub and a yellow band to use on some other project down the road.
I hate cables and wires on my bikes; these hubs seem an elegant solution to the klunky steel uphill problem.

 

[Wildcat]

I also had a Bendix yellow band that worked great. I used it on a converted Varsity.

Those are the same as the SA but have a low and direct instead of a high gear. Ther Bendix blue band has direct and a higher gear and worked well on 20" muscle bikes back in the day. There's a company called Eagle making reproductions last I heard.

One other 2 speed with no cables is the SRAM Automatix. It has a direct and higher gear but shifts on it's own at a certain speed, no kickback. I have one of those in the freewheel version and like it also.

 

[Wylly]

I’m not familiar with the SA hubs. I’m going to look into it. Have you rebuilt or messed with the bendix hubs? What’s up with the flimsy index spring? Apparently it’s the weak spot in the device. I think all three of the bendix products use the same doo-dad.

 

[JA331]

I have 2 SA kickback hubs and love them. They spin quite freely compared to the old Bendix units. The Bendix also has a rough feel in low gear. I tried one and it is currently residing in a box.

26/11 gearing 2 speed SA

44/19 2 speed SA

 

[Wylly]

Yeah when I first got the Bendix functioning I thought there was still something wrong because of the weird growling in low gear.
I’m going to find an SA and try it out