Sturmey Archer 8-speed hub

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?G=FCnther?= Schwarz]

Has anybody reading this group first-hand experience with these new
8-speed hubs (X-RF8, X-RD8, X-RK8)? They are quite exotic on the
continent, but might be useful for me in order to realize wide-range
gearing with relatively small steps on a small-wheeled bicycle (406)
without a long-cage MTB-derailleur putting the chain very close to the
ground.
Points of interest for me are:
- Does the X-RF8 fit 135mm dropouts? Sturmey-Archer specifies the hub
with 124mm over-locknut dimension, but I expect the axle to be
sufficiently long to fit in the frame with the help of some spacers.
- Does it shift easily and is the quality comparable to Sachs/SRAM and
Shimano geared hubs?
- Will it be easy to combine the hub with a rear derailleur used as a
chain tensioner for the chainset? From the photos in the manual it
seems that all cables enter left to the right dropout which indicates
that this combination should be fine.
Please do not recommend me a speedhub as an alternative. As I would have
to combine this hub with multiple chainrings also it seems to me to be
of little additional value considering the much bigger expense. I would
rather go for the SRAM Dual Drive instead which works nicely on one of
my other bikes and which allows for rather extreme gearing with even
smaller steps below 10% for most gears. While costs and weight are
comparable the Sturmey-Archer hub might well be the cleaner and neater
solution without the hazzle to service multiple sprockets.

TIA

Günther

 

[C.J.Patten]

Had you considered a Rohloff 14-speed hub?

 

[Peter Headland]

>>Please do not recommend me a speedhub as an alternative.

>Had you considered a Rohloff 14-speed hub?

Rohloff = Speedhub...

--
Ptere Headland

 

[Nigel Cliffe]

Günther Schwarz wrote:
> Has anybody reading this group first-hand experience with these new
> 8-speed hubs (X-RF8, X-RD8, X-RK8)? They are quite exotic on the
> continent, but might be useful for me in order to realize wide-range
> gearing with relatively small steps on a small-wheeled bicycle (406)
> without a long-cage MTB-derailleur putting the chain very close to the
> ground.
> Points of interest for me are:
> - Does the X-RF8 fit 135mm dropouts? Sturmey-Archer specifies the hub
> with 124mm over-locknut dimension, but I expect the axle to be
> sufficiently long to fit in the frame with the help of some spacers.
> - Does it shift easily and is the quality comparable to Sachs/SRAM and
> Shimano geared hubs?
> - Will it be easy to combine the hub with a rear derailleur used as a
> chain tensioner for the chainset? From the photos in the manual it
> seems that all cables enter left to the right dropout which indicates
> that this combination should be fine.

I don't have personal experience of the hub.

The CTC* magazine has reviewed two Sturmey eight speed hubs. The first got a
fairly luke-warm reception, as being a bit inefficient and "dragging". The
second, which was apparently a revised model, got a much better writeup, and
was recommended as as good a quality of operation as the Sachs (which the
reviewer appears to regard as the benchmark in affordable hub gear systems).

You could consider an email to the CTC for further comments, the technical
expert may respond further.

The editor of Velovision** recently posted an article about dismantling an
early Sturmey 8-speed which had failed, and his (better) experiences with
the replacement items.


*CTC = www.ctc.org.uk
**Velovision =
http://www.velovision.co.uk/cgi-bin/show_comments.pl?storynum=715



Personally, I don't like the idea of a hub gear and a tensioner, but that's
just me.



- Ngiel


--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

 

[Gippledocks]

Nigel Cliffe wrote:
> The CTC* magazine has reviewed two Sturmey eight speed hubs. The first got a
> fairly luke-warm reception, as being a bit inefficient and "dragging". The
> second, which was apparently a revised model, got a much better writeup, and
> was recommended as as good a quality of operation as the Sachs (which the
> reviewer appears to regard as the benchmark in affordable hub gear systems).
>
> You could consider an email to the CTC for further comments, the technical
> expert may respond further.

I saw the same review. Maybe it's the cynical way I read it rather than
what was written but the reviewer seemed in no way convinced that the
second (better) hub was not simply a specially selected and / or fettled
example of the same product as first reviewed. Plus I think that the
model numbers haven't changed, so (even if current production is
superior) how would one avoid being palmed off with the old inferior
version?

Richard

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?G=FCnther?= Schwarz]

Nigel Cliffe wrote:

> Günther Schwarz wrote:
>> Has anybody reading this group first-hand experience with these new
>> 8-speed hubs (X-RF8, X-RD8, X-RK8)? They are quite exotic on the
>> continent, but might be useful for me in order to realize wide-range
>> gearing with relatively small steps on a small-wheeled bicycle (406)
>> without a long-cage MTB-derailleur putting the chain very close to
>> the ground.

> I don't have personal experience of the hub.

I hoped that it might be more common in the UK than on the continent.
But obviously production is still on a very low level.

> The CTC* magazine has reviewed two Sturmey eight speed hubs. The first
> got a fairly luke-warm reception, as being a bit inefficient and
> "dragging". The second, which was apparently a revised model, got a
> much better writeup, and
> was recommended as as good a quality of operation as the Sachs (which
> the reviewer appears to regard as the benchmark in affordable hub gear
> systems).
>
> You could consider an email to the CTC for further comments, the
> technical expert may respond further.

That might be well worth doing. I also found some references for the hub
on the German Brompton owners website (Bromptonauten). These
fold-unfold people are always very interested in geared hubs.

> The editor of Velovision** recently posted an article about
> dismantling an early Sturmey 8-speed which had failed, and his
> (better) experiences with the replacement items.

The performance of such a hub will to a large extend depend on the
quality control within the production process. It seems that the
company needs some time to fix initial problems. It is good to know
that they are working on it. But of course this makes buying such a
device a little adventurous. I wonder if it is stamped with a serial
number.

> *CTC = www.ctc.org.uk
> **Velovision =
> http://www.velovision.co.uk/cgi-bin/show_comments.pl?storynum=715

That is very interesting and instructive. The planetary gears are
remarkably compact:
<http://www.velovision.co.uk/storyimages/2005/sturmey/DSCN7253.JPG>

> Personally, I don't like the idea of a hub gear and a tensioner, but
> that's just me.

If I could do without a tensioner, that would be preferable indeed. But
it will be hard to reach seriously low and fast gearing (something like
1.6m up to well beyond 9m) without such a thing [1].

Günther

[1] In theory a Speedhub could do the trick in combination with a
Schlumpf crankset. But I would rather get another nice road bike if I
wanted to spend that much.

 

[C.J.Patten]

Ah. Didn't know.

What's the issue with the Rohloff? (was considering one down the
road...figured all of the internally geared hubs were created equal...)

C.


"Peter Headland" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>>>Please do not recommend me a speedhub as an alternative.
>
>>Had you considered a Rohloff 14-speed hub?
>
> Rohloff = Speedhub...
>
> --
> Ptere Headland
>

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?G=FCnther?= Schwarz]

C.J.Patten wrote:

> What's the issue with the Rohloff?

Nothing apparently. Most owners seem to be very happy and satisfied with
them. I just missed a capital "S" in my posting.

Günther

 

[Clive George]

"Günther Schwarz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> C.J.Patten wrote:
>
>> What's the issue with the Rohloff?
>
> Nothing apparently. Most owners seem to be very happy and satisfied with
> them. I just missed a capital "S" in my posting.

There is one issue involving the large pile of folding stuff required to
obtain one...

cheers,
clive

 

[Tosspot]

Clive George wrote:

> "Günther Schwarz" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>C.J.Patten wrote:
>>
>>
>>>What's the issue with the Rohloff?
>>
>>Nothing apparently. Most owners seem to be very happy and satisfied with
>>them. I just missed a capital "S" in my posting.
>
>
> There is one issue involving the large pile of folding stuff required to
> obtain one...

'Tis true. But Bike Bling always costs wonga. Find someone with one
and try the old cihagm.