Garth wonders about weight issues. Many years ago, I acquired (and cannot find anywhere, although I suspect it will someday resurface) a Sturmey-Archer hub with an aluminum body. I remember it being dated late 50's or early 60's. It was a beautiful piece, and markedly lighter (or at least it seemed so) than its steel- shelled siblings.
Also, didn't SA make a 5-speed for a brief moment in time or am I delusional?
A shop I used to work at--Marblehead Cycle--had a brisk business in SA rebuilding. I remember learning how to enter that daunting universe of planetary gears--so elegant. The old money in Marblehead road classic Raleighs, and--unless the hubs got gooped up with 3-in- one oil, the only service they ever really needed was new pawl springs, and very occasionally pawls.
Another flash-from-the-past: who else out there went to Schwinn School? Three days of taking stuff apart and putting it back together. I had a leg up because I had already done coaster brakes and internally geared hubs (did not endear me to the boys ;-)
Jackie "I want my aluminum SA hub!" O'Sullivan