Three-speed bikes?

Steeker

I really wanted to buy that RedLine myself but they did not have one at the bike show and none of the bike shops around Toronto had one ,, it would be a super cool bike , you should buy it

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hillibillybiker

I've got a Hercules Balmoral 3 speed and absolutely love it, I bought it as a reliable back up cycle,in case my mountain bike has problems and I use it more often than the mtb now.
I'm 40 yrs old and therefore grew up with 3 speeders,loved them then and love em now.I think it's the fuss free riding experience and total reliability that makes them so appealing to us.

hbb

garage sale GT

You're in luck, Sturmey moved to Taiwan and their new product is great. You can get a brand new 3 speed for $60 (Jensonusa.com, just the hub). I have tried a new Taiwan Sturmey 8-speed because the price was too good to pass up even though it was on a silly "comfort bike". It was smooth, low drag, and had a hand operated drum brake, way better than a coaster brake. (Cadillac AV-8, $300 @ amazon.com)

Their site shows they still make the AW, but I don't think I've ever seen one advertised for sale by a distributor; the 3 speeds I've seen lately are aluminum.

Bikepartsusa advertised a 26x1-3/8 wheelset with 3 speed CB Sturmey, but it seems to be something they carry on again and off again.

I actually bought a part for an old Sturmey-Archer from harriscyclery.com, Sheldon Brown's shop.

Last, you guys who love the reliability must have Sturmey-Archer or Atom or Fichtel&Sachs. The early Shimanos don't seem too strong. Mine pitted up in a year of commuting, another broke the pawls, another snapped the axle, etc. They weren't built for heavy use.

Hasukawa

I currently have a SS road bike, but want to build a new mtb. I see it's the new hip thing to rock SS mtb's, but I think that kind of defeats the purpose of a mtb. Trek is bringing out some over engineered ss mtb called the 69er this summer, so I gues it's the thing among the yuppies now. What I want to do is throw a 3-speed Sturmy Archer internal hub on a mtb frame, that way I can still climb and cruise but not have to deal with a messed up drive chain. I'm not worried about a little extra weight on a mtb.

garage sale GT

You may wind up trashing your hub pretty quick; Shimano and other sources say not to off road those things.

SRAM.com used to talk about the P5 "CARGO" version of their P5, built extra heavy for delivery bikes, but I never saw one for sale. Maybe they were for Europe. They're not on the site any more.

I've been pedaling around on a 3-speed Next Monterey Bay which goes for $109.00 at Wal-Mart. Sheldon Brown says the new Shimano Nexus 3-speeds are OK, and that's from a Sturmey Archer fan.

Hasukawa

Hey thanks for the insight, maybe I should write Sheldon and see what he thinks I should do for trail riding.

garage sale GT

Both Shimano and Sturmey three speeds are 120mm wide, I believe. You would need to respace an MTB frame.

Besides serious MTB'ing, they're probably fine for trails and paths-how could they not be if the ride is no rougher than your average street or sidewalk?

p38lightning

I'd love to find one that fits me (I ride a 60CM frame) I think the whole concept is great. I have great memories of my Sturmy Archer equipped Royal Hunter "English Racer" which I got as a birthday present in about 1956. This bike opened the door to me in a social sense , as I could now range out and meet my friends from school on weekends at THE candy store up on the towns main drag. I rode it for about 10 years until my folks sold our house for an apartment where ther was no room to keep it.

I've suggested on other theads to those who are interested in shaft drives because of low maintenance, and reliability, that the three speed hub with an enclosed chain had you "covered" 50 years ago!

Bicas a local public bicycle recycling and education program has 2 milk crates full of Sturmy Archer hubs, just waiting to be resurected into wheels. I look at them with envy every time I go there.

Keep it up all of you, and one day if the price and size are right I'm going to join all of you. That day will be a re-union with a dear old friend.

meb

That's surprising since there's several mountain bikes using the Shimano hubs.

The ultra durable Rohloffs were designed as a mountain bike hub.

garage sale GT

That's just what shimano.com said, though they didn't say what the weak link was.

I just repacked a modern 3 speed Nexus C/B after an impulsive relubing with stuff that turned out to be too light for the C/B. One potential problem is that the cap covering the C/B end of the hub is loose fitting because it is designed to rotate a few degrees and expose a grease port. Mud and grit could get in there easily from what I saw, if you really mudded the bike. Otherwise the hub looked plenty strong and had no signs of wear or pitting.

Without knowing for sure, I feel you are likely thinking of trail bikes or commuters rather than "real" mtbs.

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Nukuhiva

I lucked into a 1967 Hercules at the local Goodwill ($ 19.95), ordered a few parts from the website you'll find browsing Sheldon Brown's pages, and after a little tinkering, Polly (no, I don't normally name my bikes, long story...) works just fine.

Shifting (grip twist) is a little eccentric, but that's because it's English.......
Has chrome fenders in pretty good shape, I'm planning on restoring the lettering, and will have to think about some sort of seat cover, because the 'cushy' seat isn't nearly as comfortable as it looks......
Maybe a Brooks with the really fat springs would be appropriate.
There's only one store in town that has the right size tires, but they are cheaper than anything I've found on the web, and the tires that came with it look almost new anyway.
That's the good thing about buying used bikes in America, nobody rides theirs, so they're usually in pretty good condition even if 40+ years old.......

garage sale GT

I had some thrift shop 3-speeds before I learned a lot about bikes. I regret not having them serviced a bit. The bearings can crap out if they are misadjusted and the wheels can bend if the spokes have loosened. Sometimes the oil creeps out of the grease and leaves only the thickener in the hub, and it's so thick that when the bearings smush it out of the way it stays smushed out of the way.

The easiest thing to do about the lube would be to drip oil into the hubs through the seam by the axle.

If the wheels wobble even a little bit when not turning, the bearings need adjustment. If they wobble when they are turning, your rims are bent, but the bearings may also be loose at the same time.

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hdavidh

Perhaps one of you could help me please? I have a shimano 3 spd that I laced to a nice old gentleman rim but the coaster brake only works in 3rd gear. It "works" in 2nd and 1st but only after pedalling backwards a few revolutions... I took it apart and greased it prior to this happening. It was working fine but dried out when got it. Should I have just oiled it instead of the grease?

Thanks. Great thread. Here it is mounted on a wonderfully light Miyata frame:

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