Sturmey Archer Epicyclic gearing

[@Anthony-tb5vg]

In the 1980s I found an old Schwinn bicycle that I restored to the best of my limited ability back then. The bicycle had a Sturmey Archer three speed hub connected to a single speed drive train. While working at a hardware store that also did bicycle repair, I found a three gear external sprocket that was made for my Sturmy Archer three speed hub. I then changed the single chainring crank to a double chainring crank set. Then I fitted this beast of a bicycle with rear and front derailleurs, time trial aluminum alloy Cinelli handlebars with Modolo Kronos brake levers and road her until one night while giving my friends on BMX bikes about a 3 to 5 block headstart, I caught and passed all of them before the finish line. Then when I got to the finish which was Woodhaven Blvd., some asswipe female driver decided to make a right hand turn without using her turn signal. Needless to say I crashed into the dumbasses car and unfortunately wrecked my three speed Schwinn that was converted into a 12 speed. I sure do miss that bike, I nicknamed her "the Tank"!!!!

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

that reminds me of when I was nonchalantly tooling down a neighborhood side street - this lady stopped her car, got out and yelled at me. How dare I pedal the wrong way down the street! I didn't say a word but I did think - as soon as you turn the ignition you are killing the planet. I rode a British 3 speed bicycle for 10 years every day in Minnesota extreme cold winter salt - NO maintenance needed! I was completely anti-mechanical the whole time. I then went on a 250 mile "bike-about" at the end - along the Mississippi river. Only later did I realize all of these was possible due to the internal hub gear!! thanks so much. I probably spent $20 for the bicycle and I was in awesome physical health. Wow so you advertise 10,000 miles no maintenance and I went 36,500 miles with no maintenance in extreme weather conditions!

[@pauladams4951]

Thanks for this video. I grasped most of it, and I'm going to watch it again until I really understand it. These hubs are absolutely brilliant. The fact that they're so reliable and bulletproof speaks to their engineering and quality. Simple and elegant. I've owned and used several, and I want to understand them more.

[@Mike_to_the_k]

I have a bicycle from the Netherlands that has a Sturmey archer 3 speed on it. Date stamped 1960. I've never serviced it. Just added some atf and I've ridden hundreds of miles at this point with no issues.

[@malcolmhodgson7540]

Always wanted to know this. And now I half understand it. Maybe another 57 years of life I will fully understand it. But by then I don’t think I will care anymore! :-)

[@kencattell8601]

That's two of us then!!

[@kyungjunyang1930]

The other one is here. 😀

[@lena19191]

I just went back to drinking again …

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

I rode a British 3 speed bicycle for 10 years every day in Minnesota extreme cold winter salt - NO maintenance needed! I was completely anti-mechanical the whole time. I then went on a 250 mile "bike-about" at the end - along the Mississippi river. Only later did I realize all of these was possible due to the internal hub gear!! thanks so much. I probably spent $20 for the bicycle and I was in awesome physical health. Wow so you advertise 10,000 miles no maintenance and I went 36,500 miles with no maintenance in extreme weather conditions!

[@pixiesmate]

I remember as a 12 year old earning extra pocket money restoring bikes that had been dumped. I dismantled 4 hub gears before I finally understood how to repair and reassemble them. I got known locally as the person to see for bike repairs.

[@stevenwoods8317]

Can you fix mine 😂

[@kamilpotato3764]

I got a problem with my 1980's SA 3 gear hub. It doesn't engage idle when walking bike(pedals are spinning). When pedalling I can feel force transmitted to pedals when I stop. I've have replaced chain, oiled hub, replace pin chain. Still no results. Bit hesitant to open it up.

[@yagzefedemirel3934]

@@kamilpotato3764 Here is your answer after two years. You need to open it up. You have got problems with the ratcheting pawls or something is jamming the mechanism to act as 1 unit which makes your hub turn the pedals. There is also a slight chance that debris is gumming up the gap between the hub and the sprocket. If this slight chance is correct you can repair it by simply cleaning the gap but you will probably have to take the chain off for this and at that point why not service the hub too? If you don't feel confident you can visit the local bike shop, it is their job.

[@t2stu]

I won't lie, I still baffles me. But as a piece of engineering, it's beautiful.

[@endtimeawakening5557]

Yep, Planetary Gears baffled me as well when I first saw them. I saw an excavator on a reality TV show break down years ago, and I watched them open up the 3-stage drive unit... and I was hooked! I then found the 14-Speed Rohloff Speedhub, and had to know how it worked. It showed me just how little I really knew about mechanical engineering...

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

that's why getting a car transmission overhaul costs $4K - including installation. Yet a 3 speed internal hub gear bicycle can only cost $20 used with no maintenance needed for 36,500 miles!! I proved it over ten years commuting in Minneapolis.

[@amateur3verything]

i just did my first 3 speed tear down and that combined with this video helped me understand how they work so much, thank you for uploading this!!

[@mariozermeno2649]

i have a 1961 and 1970 SA hubs on 2 different bikes and i love them very reliable in my book

[@harryguy76]

I have seen the go for crazy money on Ebay for just the hub...and all the parts to go with them are just as much...one was 300 for a 50ies model 3 speed..went to the dump a week later and found 3 of them but not old ones...Anyone looking for one or parts just go to the dump around spring cleaning time..

[@brianallen9810]

Shades of the future, that fat tire bicycle in the beginning isn't a joke anymore.

[@andyclark1173]

Very clever to think this technology was around in 1902

[@doronron7323]

That was as clear as a dark thing in a dark room, after dark.

[@harryguy76]

And the older ones are more durable then the new stuff out today...figures.I got chrome parts 30 to 40 years old that still look new while a year old bike left outside is completely rusted...they don't make anything like they use to..

[@ladamyre1]

Most anything chromed left outside will rust quickly. It has to do with electroplating and UV radiation. I'm a retired ASE master tech and I've seen 30 year-old simple chrome plating on pushrod ends that have never seen the light of day and they're pristine. But UV radiation will break the valence bonds between the chrome atoms and the nickel atoms underneath (all steel and iron must be nickel plated before they can be chrome plated) and soon the water will begin to rust the nickel and iron underneath it. Car makers, back when they had chrome plated steel bumpers and trim, used to put on three layers of chrome plating and still they would rust after about five years: tiny spots here and there, hardly noticeable until the water began to tunnel through the steel underneath. I'm sure you've seen the result.

[@AlienLivesMatter]

Nickel plated most likely. My Sturmey Archer S2 has hairline fractures around the case near bearing flange

[@yukiko_5051]

So you're saying older stuff could break the law of nature?

[@crankbv1]

Most geared cycles in the fifties were three speed Sturmey Archer so they are anything but new.

[@4bmain1969427]

Thank you Sturmey-Archer for my 3 Speed. May GOD BLESS you!!!

[@tilahungirma]

The Sturmey Archer system is much better than Shimano gear.

[@johnacord5664]

The car automatic transmission is based on the Sturmey Archer planetary design.

[@robkunkel8833]

I watched this video because I was impressed with my “new” 1956 Schwinn Corvette. I wanted to see why. It is a heavy bike and I found that my low gear is almost like a double low on an old car, compared to my 1979 Schwinn Collegiate. Both are 3 speed Sturmy Archer and they look the same. It must be a different gear ratio in the hub. I do like the one that comes Corvette and I think it is better for a heavy, lower to the ground cruising bike.

[@stevenolan3380]

This must have taken an age to create the explanations - great - thank you.

[@KutWrite]

i think I see why when in "Neutral" (here 'Normal") gear it would inevitably pop out of gear when pedaling hard, resulting in bruising my gonads on the crossbar. I tried adjusting it many times, as did a Schwinn dealer. seemed just a limitation of the design, at least back in 1958. I was glad to finally graduate from that to a motorcycle.

[@jackduffy1817]

Stermy-archer 3 speed hub, 15 years of use, 400 miles a month, The only problem, The small chain from the hub to change the gears begun to fail, Replaced the thinn rod with chain, Problem solved. The 3 speed hub was still in good condition when I passed the bike on.

[@raggedybritches5798]

Now that's bang for your buck!

[@DadSkool]

This was just as interesting as how a plumbus works

[@aaronhoyes1781]

Plumbus.... hahah!!! ?

[@andythesoupdragon]

Just to complicate matters further,I have a 5 speed hub that I built onto a 27" alloy rim,but kept the double chainring & used the rear mech as a tensioner. Needed 3 gear levers though!

[@lezbriddon]

We have cad computers, they had paper and pens and still made this, and here I am and my head hurts thinking about it.

[@voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang885]

yes just as Arrhenius figured out how much the Earth would heat up from CO2 - in the 1890s!!

[@oxforddon2210]

This is the version of events that ignores the crucial contribution of William Reilly. Bowden, Sturmey and Archer used Reilly's invention and called it the Sturmey Archer for reasons of expediency. Look it up!

[@Mick_Holland]

This makes the Antikythera mechanism look like a clockwork toy. 🙂

[@sorenutube]

Migth have been helpfull if the control pin also was seen moving in or out according to gears.

[@jayedwards9118]

The planet sockets to the outer flange wasps flip the tangle flumpets to the outer sprockets via the travel cage of the sun cauliflozzit... right?

[@Anvilshock]

The original machine had a base-plate of prefabulated amulite, surmounted by a malleable logarithmic casing in such a way that the two spurving bearings were in a direct line with the pentametric fan, the latter consisted simply of six hydrocoptic marzelvanes, so fitted to the ambifacient lunar vaneshaft that side fumbling was effectively prevented. The main winding was of the normal lotus-o-delta type placed in panendermic semi-boloid slots in the stator, every seventh conductor being connected by a nonreversible trem'e pipe to the differential girdlespring on the 'up' end of the grammeters.

[@larrysulky7614]

Thanks for that clarification, Anvilshock. Jay Edwards was on the right track, but you really nailed it!

[@josepeixoto3384]

@@Anvilshock and Jay E Better than the original LOL

[@Andrewkafp]

Spot on....

[@Andrewkafp]

You Done graduated from the third grade...

[@fanplant]

That fancy voice didn't explain the sudden neutral between gears that seems to know when you are peddling while standing up. How do they do it, witchcraft?

[@harryguy76]

Did that more then once lmao....one time I managed to fall over the handle bars going pretty fast when it suddenly hit neutral while giving it standing lol...that time learned me not to trust it no matter what.

[@axwomble8776]

Basically there's a gap between the clutch engagement points for 2nd and 3rd - this is because engagement of both gears at once could destroy the hub. (Or so I seem to remember) Careful cable adjustment can prevent it in most cases - I've over 2500 miles on my NOS AW and it has not required a cable adjustment since the first week, neither has it given me a false neutral :)

[@kamilpotato3764]

@Mathias Ljündberg I got a problem with my 1980's SA 3 gear hub. It doesn't engage idle when walking bike(pedals are spinning). When pedalling I can feel force transmitted to pedals when I stop. I've have replaced chain, oiled hub, replace pin chain. Still no results. Bit hesitant to open it up.

[@brianallen9810]

Yeah...the new epicyclical hubs from Taiwan or where ever S.A. got sold to just aren't up to the quality of the original British hubs. They look good but just don't quite work as well. Their front drum brake units and hub generators are excellent though.

[@stevenfuess1602]

I believe Sturney had worked for a Manchester who had a US patent on a fixed gear three speed hub. Years ago I saw the patent drawings years ago I believe it was in the year if 1908.

[@bammbamm12]

I rode a bike that changed gears by merely coasting and backpedaling a tad (not enough to set off the brake). Any idea what they're called? Are they still made?

[@tcc300892]

bammbamm12 I’ve heard them called “kick-shift hubs”. Sturmey Archer make one called the S2C.

[@bammbamm12]

Thanks - I'll check it out!

[@juanzuluaga3388]

Bendix used to make some hubs like that.

[@dickiejoe01]

You did a beautiful and clear job. Thank you for making me understand how it work.

[@johnjeromson3471]

My pashley guvnor has one and it is excellent.

[@erhan6095]

percussion backs me to the 80's... dkshhhh....dkshhhh

[@DJSI3434]

the only modification I would want to make is a slightly bigger ratio, otherwise 11/10 hub.

[@SM-dt1pr]

Would I be right in thinking that you can have a higher top gear, but you would have to have a correspondingly low bottom gear?

[@DJSI3434]

@@SM-dt1pr correct

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Raleigh Chopper used them a lot although I had a five speed derailer.

[@andypreston1524]

Had one on my Grifter...... I killed the gears by shifting them "straight through" as you would with a Derailleur...... 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@AobatrozFilms]

I'd like to build my own 3 speed hub at home.

[@sethjones5250]

what year was this? Seems pretty 80's

[@DavidG2P]

How old is this video? Looks like it is at least 50 years old

[@gatti493]

from what i can make out to simplify , its a complicated way of using the diameter of the central hub ?? so gear 1 can never be any better than the widest point of the hub and top gear (3) is never any better than the smallest gear inside the hub , this is actually very good , the main issue with it is it was always put on already too heavy bikes like Grifter, chopper and bomber , on an aluminium bike this gearing would be great

[@cudak888]

It *would* take Sturmey-Archer to take the pin/roller analogy and absolutely bollocks it up: The "roller" (planetary gear and pin) should NEVER have been moved to the left of the screen when the "floor" was added. Visually, this makes the point appear as if it traveled the exact same distance as before (as it winds up in the same spot on the TV screen as in the previous example), even though it did move further. Problem is, most minds will fixate on the center of the planetary gear as a reference point - not the floor, which becomes a *new* reference point in the second example. The planet cage rotation is also over-complicated in its explanation. The planet cage turns 120 degrees to the pinion's 90 degrees. Done, end of story. It didn't require the narrator to repeat the same concept backwards to the same animation. Don't get me started on the gearing bit that follows, which is *way* too rushed. You could dub the Turbo Encabulator script over this and it'd make as much sense. It's as if the same person who wrote the Dynohub GH6 service manual was involved in making the animations for this video. It's a good thing they didn't try to sell the AW with this video, or nobody would have understood or bought the thing.

[@MrDrvmmer]

Who is here for the music starting at 1:44?

[@matiasleblanc3168]

what's the name of the song? :O

[@GoldenSim27]

the principle is pretty simple , but this video makes it look so over complicated .. bad way to explain , and over complicated drwings and colors everywere

[@vaicolverde]

Thank you so much. Good ideas go through centuries.

[@jussikankinen9409]

So free energy, more power get that goes in

[@tedvictor4918]

The Book of Secrets was copied in 1266 (in Toledo) from an original dating back to the eleventh century by the Andalusian engineer Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi. It is an extraordinarily important manuscript in the field of the history of science, because it represents one of the earliest written and drawn testimonies about com...plex ancient machines and has never before been studied or divulged.

[@papagatorackspanner]

Informative.

[@Anvilshock]

Faster speed, slower rate ... this guy needs to learn his derivatives. Fast and slow are already qualifiers of speed, as are speed and rate. Combining them forms accelerations.

[@robkunkel8833]

1:39 😱Where did this totally dark music come from? I’ve been paying attention … don’t punish me, please.

[@Nlogax]

Who's doing the narrating? Sounds a lot like Dave Lee Travis..

[@andypreston1524]

Probably not DLT... Can't hear any kids in the background..... 🤣🤣🤣

[@MohammedMAziz]

Very unfriendly viocea ND tone

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

1902!!!! genious engineers and futurists. Sadly lacking in this world now.

[@jackalexander9078]

the sturmey archer hub is pretty cool piece of engineering! but come on... u are watching this video using a machine that draws the data instantaneously from half way around the world at the touch of a button, this stuff didnt happen in 1902 so i think there are still plenty of genious engineers and futurists out there, dont worry!

[@koolyman]

So futuristic!

[@sorenutube]

Explanation starts at about 4:20

[@SM-dt1pr]

Is this DLT?

[@ieuandavies4134]

I have a degree in mechanical engineering...and it still all sound like alchemy to me! In other words WTF!!!

[@BassSwirls]

Ahhh. You'll probably know the square root of a tin of beans , but can't use a tin opener. ....Sorry, forgive my mirth, we used to say that about new engineers , fresh out of uni. 😉

[@ieuandavies4134]

I did my degree whilst working on the shop floor. I can not only use the tin opener, I can design a better one and then make it for you, using either hand tools or machine tools....and use both metric and imperial scales. 50 years of experience comes in pretty useful too...

[@BassSwirls]

@@ieuandavies4134 ....Good man. 👍 The lads we go just wanted office jobs. Pushing CAD around . They looked so out of place on the shopfloor . Except most of the lasses. My joke wasn't intended nastily BTW.

[@KolyaNickD]

Same with me - aerospace engineering. Finally got it with that bit at 4,14..

[@swarnikmhatre5851]

i like it

[@dalcidiogomes8395]

tenho tres destes, sonho de criança.

[@integrationofmanandmachine4714]

wow very complicated thank god derailleur was invented

[@dom2479]

i have a ignacio with 2speed, great

[@jacksonsmith634]

The most unreliable hub I think is the tcw and s3c the tcw won’t stay in 1st & 2 nd gear

[@worddunlap]

If they were made in the UK I would buy them...SHAME!

[@chrisbliss2034]

Not true! Read The Sturmy Archer story by T. Harland. The true inventor designer was a man called William Reilly--- messrs. Sturmy and Archer cheated him out of his design and went on to be wealthy and famous. Reilly died in poverty in England in the '50s. Shame on them!

[@airconlover]

my braaaaaain

[@tronvex]

I want that fat tire

[@mardiffv.8775]

Buy yourself a Fat Bike. It is fun, you go to places like loose sand, snow, dirt and gravel. I own 2 Fat bikes (1 Fat bike and 1 Fat Trike).

[@DJSI3434]

Z64 ring, z28 sun, z18 planets

[@terry4144]

my brain hurts

[@TanveerAhmed-gl5jk]

This sturmy archie is a nightmare. May b good when new for a year or two. Than good by.

[@MegaJackpot180]

i have 6 hubs on 6 bikes all over 50 yrs old no probs what so ever

[@budiehuawei8046]

Knowing internal gear cause buy action pro parrot last week.

[@whazzat8015]

Big parts missing. Just like an SA hub

[@KONAMAN100]

man engineering for sure

[@darranhanlon8709]

this looks old?? I have heard that sturmey archer are now made in china and are very unreliable?

[@DANIEL-ls5ku]

Darran hanlon don't believe everything you hear, a good old research still helps..

[@alex46141]

Sturmey Archer hubs are now made by Sunlite or Sunrace.. I'm not exactly sure. I'm also not sure of what country they're made in either, it's somewhere like China or Taiwan but definitely the margin for error isn't what it used to be in the 70's. I'm still a fan of these hubs and I'm very glad they are making the 3-speed fixed hubs again.

[@Schenectadont]

They are made in Taiwan. The quality certainly isn't lower than it was when they were made in England, and may be better.

[@vladimirstartsev2421]

The quality is even better. They use new machines and tools. I used made in Taiwan SA XRF-8 in the mountains. Far outside normal torgue limit. No problems at all. Try this with new Shimano hubs. And you can disassembly avery SA hub w/o problem and replace the weared out parts.

[@pintofkimberley]

@@vladimirstartsev2421 They use the same machines that were on Triumph road. When they bought the rights, they bought all the drawings and process machinery. Currently they're making the version that was first used in 1958.

[@TheGalichenko]

Познавательно! Жаль что один хер, никуя не понял!

[@microwaveoven2]

This vid reached 333k views. God speed S.A. AW

[@RobertHarrisMIB]

Yeah that wasn't confusing at all. you lost me at this becomes the floor or becomes whatever dude this sucked

[@georgebutcher007]

:-)

[@iuriiilin6567]

Bicycle RUSSIA - the BEST!!!

[@kamoteacrushida7523]

I have one if them 🙏🙏🙏

[@billhenley2322]

Thumbs down on this explanation - way too complicated

[@BuyedInChina]

Жаль английский не знаю, а субтитров нет =(

[@enosunim]

Куплено в Китае, все же и так понятно )))

[@Pushyhog]

I love S.A.. Bitch-shit, i can’t understand all that shit, just sell something of quality.

[@NwoDispatcher]

white people are gods

[@peteacher52]

Spoilt by goofy obtrusive "music" having no relation to the engineering of a 3-speed bike hub.