Originally Posted by
brotherdan
I think that original 3 speed fixed hub remained in some limited production for decades until the 1960s or 1970s according to an article I read some time ago. The new version is totally reengineered, from what I understand, and is not a copy of the old hub.
The ASC hub was only produced until the mid 50s, IIRC. But you're right; the S3X is a completely different beast. The ASC hub had two sets of four planet gears, while the S3X uses two sets of three planet gears for better load balancing like the SW hub. The gear ratios are different as well; the ASC was 0.75/0.9/1.0 while the S3X is 0.625/0.75/1.0