Three Speed tob tube shifter cables??

Someone said:

Hi all,

Hi Sheldon :=))

Quoted message said:

My BSA (should that be BitSA?) is comming on, i've got the hubs and the
headset moving smoothly, the main items left are the brakes, chain and
the gear shift.

I would really like to use the existing gearshift which is located on
the top tube. I've lost the nice shiny cover which had BSA stamped
into it unfortunately (anyone got a spare?? :=)), but the gubbins all
seem to be there.

That's called a "quadrant" shifter.

Quoted message said:

The 3 speed hub is a BSA and the little dangle chain thingy coming out
of it has a course (ooh err missus!) thread. I do have a little brass
thread converter thingie which converts to a fine (metric??) thread
which is almost but not exactly unlike the internal thread on the SA
(or SA look alike) widget which would then clamp onto the cable - Phew!

What I would like is a cable which would go from the top tube shifter
down to the dangly chain thingy in as few moves as possible.

This is easier than you might expect. The standard Sturmey-Archer
replacement cables currently available work just fine for this
application.

The fitting at the shifter is the same as used by the handlebar-mounted
trigger.

You just throw away the housing and cut the cable shorter.

These cables come with a bolt-on "anchorage" that has the female
threaded fitting to connect to the indicator spindle chain.

You can see pictures at:

http://harriscyclery.com/sturmey-archer-parts.html

If you are in the U.K., it would be silly to order something like this
from the U.S. but I would expect any decent bike shop over there to have
a Sturmey-Archer cable. If you have trouble, try St John Street Cycles,
Bridgewater, Somerset...I'm sure they'll have 'em.

Sheldon "Epicyclic" Brown
Santa Cruz, California
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Sheldon Brown said:

Someone wrote:

Hey, that wasn't someone! That was me!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I would really like to use the existing gearshift which is located on
the top tube. I've lost the nice shiny cover which had BSA stamped
into it unfortunately (anyone got a spare?? :=)), but the gubbins all
seem to be there.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

This is easier than you might expect. The standard Sturmey-Archer
replacement cables currently available work just fine for this
application.

The fitting at the shifter is the same as used by the handlebar-mounted
trigger.

You just throw away the housing and cut the cable shorter.

These cables come with a bolt-on "anchorage" that has the female
threaded fitting to connect to the indicator spindle chain.

You can see pictures at:

http://harriscyclery.com/sturmey-archer-parts.html

Thanks for that Sheldon, but I have one of those already and can't see
any way to attach it to the gubbins in the Quadrant Shifter. It may be
that the BSA ones were different than the SA, or maybe someone has done
some serious buggering about with this one.

I suppose at a pinch, I really ought to be able to drill a couple of
holes in the plate so that the cable goes through but the nipple
doesn't.

I have been trying to contact Cycles of Yesteryear in to get some bits,
I'll try the Co you mentioned too.

Perhaps you might consider having a "Where to buy this stuff if you are
in England" page on your site with Links to some of the specialist
shops over here.

(Perhaps they'd do a link exchange).

I found your site with no bother (and it's great!), but had real
trouble finding suppliers for stuff over here. I am now finding them,
but sadly too late for the tyres (bought some from Halfords which are
the right size, but the tread pattern is more like what I used to have
on the 700cs on my 80's tourer).

Cheers

Zikki.