Folding Bikes - Brompton Sturmey Archer Hub slips on 1st Gear

Hello All! Today my old Brompton T5 (1999 model) with a 5 speed Sturmey Archer hub slips on the first gear when I pedal it with force even flat ground. Does anyone experienced the same problem with their Brompton? Would that be cause by the internal cog/gear damage or does it simply needs some kind of adjustment? If the hub is really defective, is it still possible to get a replacement for such an outdated hub? On the hub it has the following information "Made In 99-7 England, Sprinter". I heard read someone mentioned the 1st & the 5st gear uses the same cog or part. I then tried to see if the 5th gear slips with force but the 5th gear is good even when I step-up pedaling it. My other M3L does not slip at all. I appreciate your help. Cheers! :saweeet:

Are you running the 2-cable or single-cable sturmey 5 speed?

If 5th works, but 1st doesn't, it means that 1st is not fully engaged. I suspect the return spring is not fully allowing 1st gear to engage. Try pedaling backwards a bit when shifting to 1st and let us know if it helps.

Adjustment?

I don't know the five speeds, but the cable adjustment is critical on all of them, especially the five speeds, I think.

That's your first port of call, anyhow, and by far the easiest to solve.

It is a single-cable 5 speed hub. I could not locate the returning spring. Is it inside or outside the hub? I'd just tried to pedaling backwards when shifting to first gear and it is still slips on the first gear. :(

It looks like your hub is the Sturmey Sprinter 5 speed.

Start by referencing the manual here and verifying that the cable is adjusted properly:

http://www.hadland.me.uk/spr5.pdf

With the Sturmey Archers if the cable adjustment is dead-on and they still slip in low gears, the cones need a little adjusting with a cone wrench. Its risky to adjust the cones, but I found it was the only way to keep my SA 8 speed from slipping. Since yours is not the same model, I'm not sure if its set up exactly the same, but here's how I did it:
First, work up your nerve by drinking a beer or two. Then, with the bike in the highest gear, turn the left hand cone nut to the LEFT (towards the handle bars) in tiny increments. It will be in the right spot when you can just shift out of the highest gear. If its too tight, turn it back to the right a tiny, tiny bit until it can shift down. This stopped my slipping entirely.

With the Sturmey Archers if the cable adjustment is dead-on and they still slip in low gears, the cones need a little adjusting with a cone wrench. Its risky to adjust the cones, but I found it was the only way to keep my SA 8 speed from slipping. Since yours is not the same model, I'm not sure if its set up exactly the same, but here's how I did it:
First, work up your nerve by drinking a beer or two. Then, with the bike in the highest gear, turn the left hand cone nut to the LEFT (towards the handle bars) in tiny increments. It will be in the right spot when you can just shift out of the highest gear. If its too tight, turn it back to the right a tiny, tiny bit until it can shift down. This stopped my slipping entirely.

STOP ---- DON'T Drink the beer.

There is no worse start to any job than drinking beer. I like beer, but it doesn't mix with anything other than sitting about. Whenever I have drunk beer and tried to do a job, I ruin the thing I'm working on.

Beer helps me. But I'm just weird. :lol:

Interesting, I think I'll try it. The cone adjustment, that is. If it doesn't work, have a beer :beer:and try it again. If it doesn't work, have another beer :beer: and repeat as necessary. Simply stop when you can't tell whether the gears are slipping, or don't care any more.

Interesting, I think I'll try it. The cone adjustment, that is. If it doesn't work, have a beer :beer:and try it again. If it doesn't work, have another beer :beer: and repeat as necessary. Simply stop when you can't tell whether the gears are slipping, or don't care any more.

The owner's manual should suggest which beers go with which hubs, but as a general rule of thumb:

SA: Bass, Smithwicks...maybe Guinness.

Shimano: Kirin, Asahi

Older Sachs/SRAM: any unfiltered Hefeweizen.

Newer SRAM: Anchor Steam; Sierra Nevada...sometimes Hefeweizen will still work.

I wonder if the OP can swap out components with the current Sturmey Archer 5 speed?

Try tensioning the cable a little bit. Had the same problem with a SRAM hub. Might be the same solution.