Can modern Sturmey NIG* AW 3 speeds be de-NIG-ed? (*NoIntermediateGear)

[SA_SA_SA]

Can modern Sturmey NIG* AW 3 speeds have this feature removed (ie the neutral reinstated) using only modern (i.e. SunRace/Taiwanese) parts? (*NoIntermediateGear)

[Brucey]

you can install a complete pre-NIG AW internal if you like; it will fit into the current hubshell. But if you instead retain the NIG type driver, sliding clutch, etc I can't see a way of retaining all the gears and having a non-nig characteristic.

FWIW I am working on a hybrid internal, using modified parts from both types of AW. However this will (if it works....) have an NIG characteristic but be as simple as a non-NIG hub is (i.e. with four pawls inside the hub).

cheers

[SA_SA_SA]

...FWIW I am working on a hybrid internal, using modified parts from both types of AW. However this will (if it works....) have an NIG characteristic but be as simple as a non-NIG hub is (i.e. with four pawls inside the hub).

Thanks, very interesting: I always presumed Sunrace would do something like that when they decided on NIG only production rather than merely tinkering with the actuator plate....

[Brucey]

the NIG 3s design we have at present partly arises because that is how they designed the driver and clutch (in Nottingham, circa 1990) with the idea that it should be able to work with a coaster brake as well as have the NIG characteristic. It is quite a bit more complicated than it needs to be if it were to do one or the other of these things rather than both.

Most new 5s and 3s hub designs from 1990 until about 2010 used variants of the same NIG-type driver and clutch. The export versions of AB hubs (for example) were (pre 1999) equipped with NIG 3s internals and various forms of axle and planet cage that turned out not to be strong enough. The current X-RD3 internal uses largely the same parts but includes an improved axle and planet cage.

Someone here mentioned that they have removed the actuator plate entirely from an NIG 3s hub; I have not tried this myself so I don't know if it leaves the hub vulnerable to damage if the bike is wheeled backwards in top gear.

cheers

[Greystoke]

Is your aim to have a NIG AW3 minus the actuator plate that doesn't risk damage on back peddling Brucey? If so I can see the gain as the actuator plate reportedly breaks easily.

[Brucey]

Is your aim to have a NIG AW3 minus the actuator plate that doesn't risk damage on back peddling Brucey? If so I can see the gain as the actuator plate reportedly breaks easily.

yes that is a good part of my objective but there is more it than that (and it isn't quite that simple either). I'll say more if it proves successful; just pie in the sky at the moment really.

cheers