John Barron wrote:
In order to raise cash for a new frame that Chris Kvale is building for me, I am selling off one of the gems of my collection on eBay- a 1954 NOS Sturmey Archer ASC 3 speed fixed gear hub item# 2164134882
It is absolutely luscious, and I'd love to buy it, but think that it would be unfair for one of us to have two of these... (even if it were under the radar screen of the family financial censor). Besides that, John's has a couple of interesting points:
First, it has a splined driver, allowing easy sprocket interchangeability. I'm not sure when this was introduced on the "standard" hubs, but it is shown that way in the S/A catalog I have, which has a 1956 price sheet bound in. My 1950 ASC came with the older threaded driver, but the splined driver is a slip-in replacement. Splined cogs are pretty abundant still (Of course, the older threaded drivers used the same threading as freewheels, so they were the basis for the Cyclo "3x2," "3x3" and similar conversions. Sheldon Brown treats these on his site).
Second, that catalogue marks the following recently discontinued models:
ASC 3-speed fixed gear AC 3-speed close ratio (6.6% up and 7.7% down, for time trials) FC 4-speed close ratio (9.1% up, 10% and 25% down, for masses start (road) races) AW 3-speed wide ratio AG 3-speed wide ratio w. 6v Dynohub
Not only is John's ASC beautiful, but it is very near the end of production of this very specialized model.
Harvey Sachs McLean Va where I'm just about to take a spin on the grubby old Paramount with the ASC...