Cycling UK Forum

I got one of these a while back from ebay for dirt cheap.
It s all there except the shifter, I've been looking on ebay and other sites for someone selling a shifter, but they all seem to have stranded cables, this one came with a solid wire cable, looks as though it pushes as well as pulls in the cable.
What sort of thing would I be looking for, and could I adapt something else, I'm handy at making stuff.

I don't really understand what you're saying (I've used Spectro 7's for years). When you say it came without a shifter do you mean the bit that goes on the handlebars or the bit (clickbox) that goes on the hub, or both. The clickbox has a a solid actuating rod about 5cm long that goes into the hollow axle inside a metal sleeve that locates in the clickbox with a red plastic collar. The clickbox connects to the handlebar shifter with a normal bowden cable.

Some pictures of what you've got might help us understand

I have the hub, the click box with 2 pushrods and the shift cable, but not the bit that goes on the handlebars.
My shift cable has a solid centre wire, and there doesnt appear to be much tension pulling the shift cable centre wire back to its home position, so I'm assuming that the shifter pulls the cable out to shift one way and physically shoves it back it to shift the other way.
I'm assuming its a spectro as it has the indentations in the hub shell, and its from the 90's.

I rode with one for some years and always used standard cables inside a SRAM outer. The return spring in the clickbox means that the cable only has to work in tension, and fitting a cable into the clickbox is hard enough: bending a rod in would be a nightmare. Does the red hexagon in the clickbox spring back if rotated?
I have a spare handlebar control and clickbox, old but I think in working order, (see picture) if you'd like them. PM me your address if so.
Edmund

Asinus has got what you need. It sounds like the return spring in your clickbox is kaput. I've no idea how a 'solid' cable would work - if it's flexible enough to go round all the bends in the shifter and round the frame I can't see how it could 'push' enough to accurately compensate for the broken spring.

Thats a generous offer cheers.
However my clickbox is totally different, I'll take a pic when I get home tonite, mine doesnt have an indicator window.
I'm also thinking mine never had a return spring, maybe its an older version, I thought the seller just chucked in any old cable but it does look like the cable was used with the clickbox at some point.

I don't know if it will be of any help, but there is a thread about this hub, started by Brucey and complete with a link to the technical manual for the hub.

I have worked up a conversion for this hub's shifters, using readily available SA parts plus some you have to make. The revised hub uses a pull-chain on the right side, connected to a 3s shifter. This selects L,M,H ratios, much like a 3 speed. On the left, a pushrod is used, to select which sun pinion is locked to the axle. This is attached to another 3s shifter. Because the pushrod is only weakly sprung by the hub, this control uses an external return spring. The shift sequence goes: L1R1. L2R1, L3R1, L3R2, L3R3, L2R3, L1R3 from bottom to top. With both cables slack, the gear now defaults to a getyouhomefriendly 5th. The hub loses two enormous springs, and there isn't a plastic part in sight. All the shifting on the RH side is done via a modified SA AW toggle key, and the LHS pushrod is made using half of a part that is already inside the hub. I have worked out how to add as many sprockets as you like to this hub (btw, I think two, giving 14 gears, is plenty). I also think it should be possible to convert this hub so the planet gears run on less draggy rolling element bearings

I have an older 5speed Sachs penta sport hub that uses a single strand push/pull cable and I'd say it's a nicer more solid change than the newer S7 SRAM hub using multi strand cable pulled back by a spring , both are excellent hubs .

That must be an old version that I'm not familiar with, the change mechanism for later P5's was just like the S7. It will be very hard to find spares for the old version.

Here's my clickbox

Wow! Never seen on like that before. But my experience of Sachs IGH's only began at the start of this century. The clickbox is smaller than the 2 versions I have seen so maybe it doesn't contain a return spring. I'd be reasonably confident that the hub internals haven't changed so a later model clickbox and shifter may well work with it.

MartinC wrote: ↑26 Sep 2024, 9:44pm That must be an old version that I'm not familiar with, the change mechanism for later P5's was just like the S7. It will be very hard to find spares for the old version.

Not sure how old it is , I got it from a cycle jumble many years ,new and still boxed found the correct click box and changer from a chap in Wales who advertised in the CTC mag .
I also have a newer SRAM P5 and yes it's the same multi strand cable and click box as the S7 hub I have .

MartinC wrote: ↑30 Sep 2024, 11:33am.... I'd be reasonably confident that the hub internals haven't changed....

think again, there are at least two different versions, with sightly different internal ratios. It may be possible to swap shifters about though. FWIW I started work on my conversion long before SRAM stopped making spares; that gives you some idea of just how hopeless I think the usual arrangement is.

The seller hadnt used the bicycle since the 90's so it wasnt built this century.
Theres a little spring in there its only for the lo/hi mech.
Dont you approve of this kind of hub brucy?
They seem to fetch a few bob on ebay.