I neglected and abused my nexus IGH for over 15 years before it finally started slipping. never once did I oil it.
And now that I’ve failed at rebuilding it three times, I am finally starting to understand why most bike mechanics recommend just replacing ’em.
AutumnVitheMonster on
3 speed hubs are good stuff
slowbike on
Agree. They are bulletproof.
EdZep689 on
Yes! I’m in the process of converting one of my single speed conversions (of mid-80s road bikes) to Nexus 3 speed. I have completed building my own wheel, with a 700c mid-V rim for 32mm tire. Since I had never tried a Nexus 3-speed (but hated Nexus 7-speed), and needed to be sure of how it would go together on a bike, I bought a $100 Detroit Bikes 26-inch city bike to test and learn with. Love it! I was sold on the first ride. Both are rim brake.
Currently waiting on the cog I chose from experimenting: 20t with my 42t chain ring. We have rolling hills. I think this will be a good combo. And, I’ll soon sell the Detroit bike. OH, I swiped the nice Sturmey Archer thumb shifter from that bike, and replaced it with an indexed front derailleur shifter… which is so sweet, I’m tempted to do the same, again.
AND, when I was in the basement of the LBS, I found a clean Nexus 3-speed coaster hub, which I got for $10. I’ll be looking for the right late 80s MTB frame for that.
That’s a good looking bike BTW. What can you tell us about Shinola?
ThimbleSmash on
Been using one for years with a coaster brake. It is my single speed but with some gears for when I throw in the towel fighting nasty coastal headwinds, or need to pull my trailer.
Hell yeah. I made the switch from single speed to one of these when I started getting tendonitis in my knee after 10 years of commuting 👴
They make so much sense!
Polendri on
My vote’s for the Sturmey-Archer S2C, 2-speed kick-shift coaster brake. Same minimal cabling as a fixie bike (just one front brake cable), but with an extra 138% gear and a rear brake.
pine4links on
If I ever had a bike that needed to stay outside that would surely be the choice
DukeOfDownvote on
I had one of these on a bike with old tires that were never good and heavy wheels, so I can’t totally blame it all on the hub, but it felt slow in a draggy way.
Could this be attributed to the coaster brake?
Should I try again with no coaster brake?
Are they actually draggy and I should just stick to derailleurs?
bionicpirate42 on
Got a Shimano 3speed hub on my 60s fairway flyer, love it so much. Started slipping way back tore it down as far as I could without the tool that ain’t even available on ebay anymore, flushed out all the old gunk and reassemble. It runs really good now and I’m much better about regular adding gear oil.
This one did not sell on Saturday at the bike jumble despite Talking it up as the greatest commuter bike for NYC. Durability and fenders to keep mud off your ass. Price is always negotiable
BuildyourOwnGod on
My favorite bike is a shitty k mart one from the 70’s with a 3 speed. æ‚Ÿã‚Š
Horror-Raisin-877 on
Nice fenders. Tell us about that interesting rack please?
The Sturmey archer 3 speed doesn’t get enough love either.
But the downside of both of them is the difficulty of lubrication, both require regreasing, and while Shimano has designed their hub to be easier in this respect, it’s not really something you can do yourself, and not every mechanic knows how to do it.
I’ve been dreaming for years that SA will put the oil port back on their hubs (removed in the 70’s I believe), or that someone like Rohloff will design a fully closed oil bath 3 speed.
Worromot_Oink on
I’ve test ridden lots of 3 speeds at my work. It’s incredibly hard to tell if they can shift properly because all 3 gears feel the same from my experience
WaveIcy294 on
Any ideas for drop bars would be appreciated.
iwannadancesomesalsa on
I’d like to use it someday but I worry that changing a tire or a tube will be pain in the ass
16 Comments
I neglected and abused my nexus IGH for over 15 years before it finally started slipping. never once did I oil it.
And now that I’ve failed at rebuilding it three times, I am finally starting to understand why most bike mechanics recommend just replacing ’em.
3 speed hubs are good stuff
Agree. They are bulletproof.
Yes! I’m in the process of converting one of my single speed conversions (of mid-80s road bikes) to Nexus 3 speed. I have completed building my own wheel, with a 700c mid-V rim for 32mm tire. Since I had never tried a Nexus 3-speed (but hated Nexus 7-speed), and needed to be sure of how it would go together on a bike, I bought a $100 Detroit Bikes 26-inch city bike to test and learn with. Love it! I was sold on the first ride. Both are rim brake.
Currently waiting on the cog I chose from experimenting: 20t with my 42t chain ring. We have rolling hills. I think this will be a good combo. And, I’ll soon sell the Detroit bike. OH, I swiped the nice Sturmey Archer thumb shifter from that bike, and replaced it with an indexed front derailleur shifter… which is so sweet, I’m tempted to do the same, again.
AND, when I was in the basement of the LBS, I found a clean Nexus 3-speed coaster hub, which I got for $10. I’ll be looking for the right late 80s MTB frame for that.
That’s a good looking bike BTW. What can you tell us about Shinola?
Been using one for years with a coaster brake. It is my single speed but with some gears for when I throw in the towel fighting nasty coastal headwinds, or need to pull my trailer.
https://preview.redd.it/q5xhakkdmz1h1.jpeg?width=3305&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1aba7213e0d67cae990ab00556681c8e855342b0
Hell yeah. I made the switch from single speed to one of these when I started getting tendonitis in my knee after 10 years of commuting 👴
They make so much sense!
My vote’s for the Sturmey-Archer S2C, 2-speed kick-shift coaster brake. Same minimal cabling as a fixie bike (just one front brake cable), but with an extra 138% gear and a rear brake.
If I ever had a bike that needed to stay outside that would surely be the choice
I had one of these on a bike with old tires that were never good and heavy wheels, so I can’t totally blame it all on the hub, but it felt slow in a draggy way.
Could this be attributed to the coaster brake?
Should I try again with no coaster brake?
Are they actually draggy and I should just stick to derailleurs?
Got a Shimano 3speed hub on my 60s fairway flyer, love it so much. Started slipping way back tore it down as far as I could without the tool that ain’t even available on ebay anymore, flushed out all the old gunk and reassemble. It runs really good now and I’m much better about regular adding gear oil.
Great bit of simple reliable tech.
https://preview.redd.it/a0h3e2adg02h1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ce8bcaa3b19a95ad137de988f7dfe562795d419
This one did not sell on Saturday at the bike jumble despite Talking it up as the greatest commuter bike for NYC. Durability and fenders to keep mud off your ass. Price is always negotiable
My favorite bike is a shitty k mart one from the 70’s with a 3 speed. æ‚Ÿã‚Š
Nice fenders. Tell us about that interesting rack please?
The Sturmey archer 3 speed doesn’t get enough love either.
But the downside of both of them is the difficulty of lubrication, both require regreasing, and while Shimano has designed their hub to be easier in this respect, it’s not really something you can do yourself, and not every mechanic knows how to do it.
I’ve been dreaming for years that SA will put the oil port back on their hubs (removed in the 70’s I believe), or that someone like Rohloff will design a fully closed oil bath 3 speed.
I’ve test ridden lots of 3 speeds at my work. It’s incredibly hard to tell if they can shift properly because all 3 gears feel the same from my experience
Any ideas for drop bars would be appreciated.
I’d like to use it someday but I worry that changing a tire or a tube will be pain in the ass