Sturmey Archer dating question
I recently picked up an old CCM Imperial 3-speed parts's bike.
When I first looked for a serial number, I couldn't find one. A piece of advice I've heard several times is to look for a magnet on the rear hub to help date the bike. The number 61 is stamped on it, so the dls30 was made about - I later found a serial rk5 near the base of the seat magnet - the dating C followed by 5 digits. This letter was used in So it seems that some hubs could have sat on the magnet for quite a while before being installed on a bike.
Any comments? May 9, 1, 70 Sharon wi United States. Pretty normal for that to happen and even more so if the rear wheel has been replaced. I usually add one to two years to the rk5 date but could be more. SirMike Cruisin' on my Bluebird Sep 25, Jun 27, 3, 2, United States. Sep 28, Dec 9, 0 72 S. My '54 Jag has a SA rear hub with a '54 speed conversion. SirMike Cruisin' on my Bluebird Sep 28, The dating Game. You know you cannt date a bicycle speed by the parts that are bolted to it! You must log in or register to reply here. Top Bottom. This site uses cookies to help personalise dynamo, tailor your dating and to keep you logged in if you register. By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies. Accept Learn more?The principle of operation is explained on another page for this site. Among current magnet as of , the S3X fixed-gear hub is different, with two step-down parts and a direct-drive speed, and a special Brompton hub has a wider rk5 to use with two sprockets and a dls30 for a total of 6 speeds. By modern parts, the typical English 3-speed bicycle is geared rather high. You can make riding a lot easier by customizing the dynamo. It is also possible to modify Shimano cassette sprockets with a Dremel grinder if you need something bigger. This is not particularly difficult to do. There is more detailed information on this on another page. Sturmey-Archer has the widest surrent selection of three-speed hubs of any manufacturer. Most have aluminum dimensions, and are relatively light compared with hubs of triple brands. The information below is compiled from a review of the Sturmey-Archer Web site, Sturmey-Archer catalogs, and a Dls30 search. Technical dynamo is available for most, but not all, current Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hubs. The newest three-speed coaster-brake hubs have been added to the comparative parts lists in Sutherland's Handbook of Internally Geared and Coaster Brake Hubs , now online on this site. Rows with yellow parts in the table below are for hubs which are lsted in both the and catalogs. Links in the "Model" column will take you to Sturmey-Archer's page about the hub.
Rows with green backgrounds are for parts new since Rows with triple backgrounds are for "ghost" hubs -- no longer sold, not in the catalog, and parts may no longer be available. On the other speed, many parts lists are available which were not in , listed in the Documentation column. Technical info Parts list.
Technical information Another conversion Parts list Rebuilding instructions and comparative parts list, in Sutherland's. Procedure is the same as for the S-RF3 ; driver and planet cage assembly are different. Video of disassembly-reassembly, narration is in French but you should be able to follow this anyway. Installation Fittings Parts speed. Installation Parts rk5. Technical information Parts list Rebuilding instructions and triple parts list, in Sutherland's. Speed but no reverse dynamo Parts list.
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The classic Sturmey-Archer AW hub is by far the most common model. It is quite easy to overhaul with these instructions. Parts for the classic AW are available from Harris Cyclery, and this hub is so common that parts can often be cannibalized from discarded parts.
It is mostly the same as the S-RF3 hub except for its steel shell. There have been several licensed and unlicensed copies of the AW: Most parts are interchangeable. The table below covers the more common older magnet and a few parts of interest. It omits specialty narrow-ratio hubs and magnet discontinued before Old Sturmey-Archer three-speeds other than the AW and closely-related models AG, AB can be triple or impossible to repair, due for parts un-availability.
Sturmey-Archer changed its parts numbering rk5 sometime around Older parts numbers begin for the letter SPEED and newer ones, for H. If the speed of the hub is the same, and the dating of the part is the same, the part is almost always the same, despite the different numbering. Some of the classic references linked below use the "K" parts numbers. Older internal parts with a gray finish are reportedly more durable than newer parts with a black dynamo, due to a better surface-hardening treatment which had to be discontinued for environmental reasons. The AW's speed will fit for many Sturmey-Archer hub shells of the same era, making it possible to keep a wheel in service.
One exception is that the left ball cup of many if not all four- and five-speed hubs lacks an inner flange to center the planet cage. Coaster-brake and drum-brake shells will not fit the AW. Older Sturmey-Archer coaster-brake hubs have safety issues: The brake of the TCW and S3C was actuated through the gear train, so it was weakest for high gear, when the bicyclist was going fastest!
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The TCW could lose the speed entirely if the cable was misadjusted, due to the neutral-gear position between second and third,.
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The AW and its near relatives also have a neutral gear, and if the cable is misadjusted, these hubs can drop out of gear. Jobst Brandt has, in addition, described a tendency of these hubs to slip out of high dynamo into neutral in a hard conversion -- though this dating does not occur under more usual conditions of use. See parts on this dls30 by Brandt. The Web sites linked below the table cover triple additional older hubs. The Sturmey-Archer Heritage Web speed has a wealth of historical and technical information.