Classic & Vintage - is a Sturmey Archer 'PULLEY' essential for routing hub gear cable?

I have a SA four speed hub and a matching trigger, enough new cable and some cable grips,
I'd like to route the cable along the top tube and down the seat stay of my old roadster to the hub;
I see there is a proper pulley available for this bend in the route, is it essential to use/have this fitted?

IF you run casing the entire length and terminate it on the chain stay near the hub, no you don't need a pulley. If you run the partial cable housing, then bare cable the rest of the way you will need a pulley somewhere around the seat post and a fulcrum clip where the housing stops. Harris Cyclery (http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/sturmey-archer-parts.html) has a pretty decent supply of 3 speed stuff. (need to scroll down the page for the pulleys and fulcrums)

Aaron:)

I recall alot of three spds use to use those.

The pulley is definitely the best way to route the gear cable, and I don't believe it will be difficult for you to find the right part if you don't have it. There are various workarounds, such as what Aaron mentioned, but all will involve a fulcrum clip somewhere.

the pulley is best less friction less weight and it is the proper equipment
and they are 5 bucks which is cheaper than the length of housing one would need to do it the other way

There are several sweet work arounds, the new teflon lined low friction cables lend themselves well to the clamping on the chainstays. You can use the universal cable end or you can cut the end off one of the old style cables and solder/braze a small piece of brass tubing on the new cable to keep the old threaded end on it.

Aaron:)

I bypassed the pulley that adorns my new-old PUCH 3-spd. It came stock with a Shimano 3-spd. hub - but I installed a new Sturmey-Archer. It has new cable-housing and I dripped some TriFlow oil into it and attached it to the frame & stay with a couple of zip-ties. Works immaculately.

So using the pulley-method isn't necessary. It's up to you.

SA 4 sp hubs are very sensitive to cable tension and adjustment. Something that has worked for a 3 sp hub may not work for a 4 sp.

SA 4 sp hubs are very sensitive to cable tension and adjustment. Something that has worked for a 3 sp hub may not work for a 4 sp.

Because of that extra sensitivity of S-A 4 speeds (which I definitely can confirm), a full housing setup might work better as it'll eliminate potential cable slippage around the fulcrum stop and pulley wheel. Fwiw, the current S-A 3-speed hubs are shipped with full housing sets.

Neal

My latest creation has a SA5/2 hub and SA stem shifters. Housing runs from the shifters to a Simplex double stop on the down tube. Bare cable to another Simplex double stop and then housing from the stop over the BB to SA clamps about halfway down the chain stays. How well does it work? I don't know yet because I still need to get the wheels built.

I already did one the traditional way.

http://inlinethumb31.webshots.com/18910/2941382850068014369S600x600Q85.jpg (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2941382850068014369VSUXoA)

You can get those pulleys for about $10 or less.

My latest creation has a SA5/2 hub and SA stem shifters. Housing runs from the shifters to a Simplex double stop on the down tube. Bare cable to another Simplex double stop and then housing from the stop over the BB to SA clamps about halfway down the chain stays. How well does it work? I don't know yet because I still need to get the wheels built.

I already did one the traditional way. Do you have a picture of the complete routing on this bike? I'm doing a conversion for my commuter, and I'd like to have braze ons. Looks to me like I can have a cable stop near the head tube and a pivot for the pulley, does this sound correct?

You can get those pulleys for about $10 or less.

Not the metal ones.