Joseph Bender-Zanoni wrote:
>I recently found a '57 Sturmey Archer SW hub that I am evaluating for a
>project, my '38 Schwinn Superior. I have all the original parts for the
>Superior but it came with the worst hub option, a simple coaster brake hub.
>
>Being ignorant except for the AW hub I turned to Sheldon Brown's site and
>learned a little. The Super Wide was only built in '57, has a wide range of
>ratios, unique quiet pawls, is lightweight, efficient and breaks a lot.
>This particular unit seems in great shape and is very silky and precise
>feeling relative to an AW. I was startled to realize that the 3rd gear is
>the one to one ratio rather than the 2nd as in an AW.
That's not correct. 2nd gear is 1 to 1. It's similar to the AW
except for wider range.
>Since my theory when
>using hub gears is to primarily use the one to one gear for effeciency and
>to save wear that means that I would have a third gear around 72 or 75
>inches and first will be below 40 inches. Kind of neat for a kicking around
>and bike path bike.
>
>Does anyone know how truly fragile these are? In other words should I use
>this working example or let it be a museum piece.
It's not that they're fragile, but that they tend to skip, particularly in high gear. I've got one of 'em myself on a "Q ship" Raleigh Sports with a full chaincase and lightweight 27 x 1 wheels. I've got it geared pretty high, so I don't wind up using high gear all that much.
Sheldon "Epicyclic" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| The man who never alters his opinions is like standing water, |
| and breeds reptiles of the mind. --William Blake |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772, 617-244-1040, FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com
Useful articles about bicycles and cycling
http://sheldonbrown.com