3 speed expert needed

[steady eddy]

My son - for reasons I cannot fathom - rides and old Raleigh Roadster. The three speed seems to have lost a gear. Any experts out there?
I have looked on you tube and dismantling one looks pretty straight forward.
Do bits break/wear inside these hubs or will a good clean and some light oil get everything working again? Lacing a new one into the old rim seems an unnecessary complication. Are spare parts available and if so where from.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Alternatively if any body has a wheel and hub ready to go for one of these archaic machines then I might be happy to buy, especially if you are local to east Norfolk.

[barrym]

Not long to wait. There are a couple of very knowledgeable IHG guys on here. I await their replies with interest too.

[Brucey]

you have absolutely nothing to lose by sploshing some oil inside, so I would suggest you do that first. If there are sticky pawls etc (quite likely if the hub has not been oiled for a while) then this can fix it. Also check that the hub is adjusted correctly and that the cable moves freely; the cable should be full slack in 3rd, almost fully taut in 1st gear (if the control rod will come out more than another 1mm the adjustment is wrong) and second gear is almost never lost (unless 3rd is also absent) unless the adjustment is wrong; in pre-1990 (UK market) AW hubs there is no drive between 3rd and 2nd and this false neutral will appear if the adjustment is wrong.

If the above does not fix it, then I would suggest that you either

a) fix the old internal (and no it is not that difficult) or

b) replace the internal (often known as a 'centre') with another one.

Either way it is useful to have some spare parts. Since this kind of hub appeared in gazillions of different wheels/bikes, just get hold of a wheel with a hub in it (any size will do since you want the hub internals and nothing else) and use that as a source of spare parts. It also helps enormously if you practice on the spare wheel before tackling the one you want to fix.

A bare hub is a useful thing too, but if the ball-ring is not already loose in the hubshell, it is much more difficult to unscrew from a bare hub than it is from a wheel.

Various things can fail inside such hubs. If the low gear (only) is absent then it is almost always the low gear drive pawls on the left side of the hub that are not working. These commonly get sticky in a hub that has not been oiled regularly, and it is also possible for the springs to corrode if water gets inside the hub.

cheers

[breakwellmz]

My son - for reasons I cannot fathom - rides and old Raleigh Roadster. The three speed seems to have lost a gear. Any experts out there?
I have looked on you tube and dismantling one looks pretty straight forward.
Do bits break/wear inside these hubs or will a good clean and some light oil get everything working again? Lacing a new one into the old rim seems an unnecessary complication. Are spare parts available and if so where from.
Any help greatly appreciated.
Alternatively if any body has a wheel and hub ready to go for one of these archaic machines then I might be happy to buy, especially if you are local to east Norfolk.

Which gear?

[robc02]

There is a good video guide to stripping and rebuilding an AW hub here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea6krXSs-lc&feature=youtu.be&list=PL33853DF0E553A334

Diagram here:

https://hadland.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/saaw.pdf

[mjr]

The above is all good advice. I'm in West Norfolk and have almost dismantled a 3 speed hub (didn't remove the pawls because they seemed OK) if you want a second opinion some time. The bike trader in Ashwicken (tiny place) said he has someone who repairs three speeds for him but I've not needed his services yet.

[rjb]

The u tube video on stripping the hub was posted by a forum member GrahamNR17. I believe he may live down your way
I haven't seen any posts from him for some time but someone may know if he is still around. Try searching on "toggle chain tour"
Here you go for starters -http://www.touringcyclistclub.org.uk/Forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=bufomtqu7mus26k5rhqjccq9c0&topic=155.0

[robc02]

The above is all good advice. I'm in West Norfolk and have almost dismantled a 3 speed hub (didn't remove the pawls because they seemed OK) if you want a second opinion some time. The bike trader in Ashwicken (tiny place) said he has someone who repairs three speeds for him but I've not needed his services yet.

Also in Norfolk are Freeman's Cycles (Norwich) and Madgetts (Diss) who both, I believe, sell SA spares and do repairs.

[Suffolker]

The above is all good advice. I'm in West Norfolk and have almost dismantled a 3 speed hub (didn't remove the pawls because they seemed OK) if you want a second opinion some time. The bike trader in Ashwicken (tiny place) said he has someone who repairs three speeds for him but I've not needed his services yet.

Also in Norfolk are Freeman's Cycles (Norwich) and Madgetts (Diss) who both, I believe, sell SA spares and do repairs.

I've used them for various things, and especially Freeman's for IGH bits. Both are "proper" cycle shops.