Cycling UK Forum

Over the last few days I’ve been really enjoying the simple pleasure that riding a bike equipped with a three speed SA AW can give. Of course they have their limitations, everything has, but I’m not focusing on negatives but just, rather, the happiness gained in simple cycling.

My particular bike is a drop handlebar Mixte with a box on the rack, the box often has my not light terrier in it and we go off - on quiet roads - to the woods and park. The gearing is set low but, assuming my maths is correct, top gear and a cadence of just over 60 rpm sees me tapping along at nearly 11 mph - though it feels a bit quicker than that. As the lowered gearing enable me to move the dog too I’m happy enough with that rate of progress, but if I raised the gearing (by 15% to 65”) for solo use then my speed (when peddling) would rise to a heady peak of 12 mph along the undulating local lanes.

What’s so joyous? The SA AW is pretty much bullet proof, spares aren’t too hard to find, wherever you take them the wheels stay true, maintenance is quick and easy, gear change is instant, the chain never falls off and gear selection is simple (1st for up-hill, 2nd for starting or still up-hill, and 3rd for nearly flat and into headwinds … keeps me rolling and works for me.)

Is there anyone else out there savouring the simple joys of three speed riding?

Yes. Like you, I find the simple gear selection means I can not think about it and embrace the joy of riding.

Not sure about the lack of maintenance. I had to replace both axle washers on my second three speed. But I guess I had just crashed it into a tree, so some damage is to be expected!

The main thing is I've had to accept the lower top speed and resulting lower range if I want time to look round things on tour and, you know, be a tourist. The longest day I've planned this year is 62 miles, but 35 is far more usual.

Is this an age thing. I too find I'm preferring my 3 speeds in preference to the dedanglers. Although I've recently been introduced to an FW 4 speed which gives a lower bottom gear and is now my preferred mode of transport.

Despite being a recumbent officianado, one of my recumbents has an SRAM 3x7 and both my uprights have SA 3-speed gears, so I am an IGH and especially an SA AW3 fan.

In my spare time I convert old steel MTBs with sliding drop-outs into 3-speed commuter bikes using second hand AW3 hubs and a bit of frame cold-forming. They then become, along with my 3-speed folder and Pashley postie, essentially maintenance free bicycles.

To prove the point, a 91yr young colleague of mine just gifted me the AW3 he used on his commuter bike every day for 20 odd years. On strip down, this 1954 model had no lubrication, a broken pawl spring, pitted cones and a cog with ridiculously spiky teeth but was still functioning perfectly.

What's not to like

PS all my bikes have small chainrings and the largest rear cog obtainable to get the necessary low gearing, who needs to pedal when you're freewheeling at 15mph?

Can you get an AW in 135mm for a mtb frame with out cold setting.

Q. What could be better than a Sturmey Archer three speed ?
A. Two Sturmey Archer three speeds in the same hub.

I am of course, talking about the S5-2 five speed.
I acquired one ready installed in the rear end of a Dawes Galaxy that I bought from this forum ( thank you Bob).
It is quite delightful to use; those triggers are still the best gear changer that SA have ever produced and are in some
ways better than modern derailleur indexing.
As others have, I've geared low - a 22T rear sprocket driven by a 36T chainwheel furnishes a nice range of ratios -
with a couple of 'climbing gears' for modest inclines and two reasonably 'high' gears for just tapping along on the
level. For descents, I'm quite happy to let gravity do the work. What's the hurry !

crossy wrote: ↑7 Jul 2023, 8:13am Can you get an AW in 135mm for a mtb frame with out cold setting.

I had thought that they weren’t available to suit 135mm drop-outs but it appears that they are:
https://www.sturmey-archer.com/files/ca ... %20C30.pdf

Whether rebuild of an existing hub with the extra long axle is possible I do not know, perhaps that’s something for a separate thread.

Stradageek wrote: ↑7 Jul 2023, 7:31am PS all my bikes have small chainrings and the largest rear cog obtainable to get the necessary low gearing, who needs to pedal when you're freewheeling at 15mph?

Quite. Perspectives vary but to me it seems that not a lot of people understand that - mind, to be fair, it took me years to discover that truth.

mjr wrote: ↑7 Jul 2023, 12:27am The main thing is I've had to accept the lower top speed and resulting lower range if I want time to look round things on tour and, you know, be a tourist. The longest day I've planned this year is 62 miles, but 35 is far more usual.

Yes, ticking along on say a 65” gear is a good pace for enjoying the the sights of the journey. My favourite way to travel, a nice steady and moderate pace and stopping to see the sights when you want to … reasons why I don’t do much with club rides include.

As for distance, well as a young man I recall cycling with an old guy on fixed gear and winter club rides with him were in excess of 60 miles. With that old guy in mind I concluded that you could, if so minded, go a long way in a day on an SA AW. What’s important though, be it commuting or touring, is to enjoy the journey and a well arranged three speed set-up can really help with that.

The tick tick of the typical Sturmey Archer hub will forever be associated in my mind with bowling along on a traditional bicycle - perhaps humankind's finest achievement, along with cheese, of course... oh and beer - and bread. And wine.

I have a 6 speed brompton - with a 3 speed SA hub, and a 2 x gear derailleur type shifter. Whenever i have had issues with gears its because the derailleur needed cleaning or adjusting. The hub gears have been bomb proof. never really got on with the old style shifter though, and upgraded to a more modern trigger type shifter when brompton introduced them.

When I retired my bike purchase was a 3 speed Brompton. Soon I replaced the chainring for a 44T (giving 12% lower gearing) and during lockdown when servicing it a 14T sprocket replaced the original 13T further reducing the gearing to suit my aging legs. This bike has been a delight and the one I ride most in retirement. Including pootling along the lanes of Dorset and Cumbria my 4th gear is to walk. Its great for enjoying the scenery and traveling at an easy pace (average about 10mph without the hills).

I find no distraction from riding bikes with many gears, but when I ride one with a SA 3sp there is somehow more time to contemplate surroundings - and not because of slower progress. Perhaps it's partly the bicycle as well, built for an age when people bought them primarily for transport rather than recreation. They're engineered to do a job rather than impress the casual onlooker.

Roy A wrote: ↑7 Jul 2023, 12:41pm my 4th gear is to walk.

The famous "two foot gear"!

mjr wrote: ↑7 Jul 2023, 1:53pm

Roy A wrote: ↑7 Jul 2023, 12:41pm my 4th gear is to walk.

The famous "two foot gear"!

Funnily enough I used the “24 inch gear” a couple of times this morning … and on one occasion was so happily lost in my thoughts and the beauty of the surrounding countryside that I didn’t think to re-mount my bike once the hill was gone .

No more flogging up hills for me; get off, walk a while, stretch your legs and just enjoy what’s around you. It ain’t rocket science .

Carlton green wrote: ↑7 Jul 2023, 2:07pm It ain’t rocket science .

But it is The Hub of the Universe .

https://www.traditionalcycleshop.co.uk/ ... e-universe

my Moulton 4 speed fw and 3 speed kingpin and twenty are set up with gears which span on average 34-62 inches. My10 yo grandson often rides the Raleigh 20 when visiting and the gears suit him very nicely too.