Reviews of "New" S/A 5 speed hubs ??????
 

Does anyone have any hands on experience with the NEW alloy Sunrace versions of the Sturmey Archer 5 speed hubs? What type of shifter or shifters are used? Good, bad or ????

Would like to build up a 5 speed LW with one.

Thanks
Robert

Go for it. Got one on my commuter and I love it. I just tried to upload pictures, but the system wouldn't let me.

Have one on a Dahon. It works pretty well with the rotary shifter. It seems to need adjusting more often than the AW's I've used, but I think that may be a function of the installation. There are two adjusting barrels and lock nuts involved, and that coupled with the folding/unfolding & the aluminum frame seems like an awkward combination.

I like the steps, I like the range, and I like the sounds it makes. It's a cool sound in 5th.

The shifters are shown on their site. There's two and they're both plastic. They may work fine, but I just don't like plastic bicycle parts. I ended up buying a SRF 3 speed hub so I could use the old steel trigger shifter. I love the three speed, by the way.

http://www.sturmey-archer.com/hubs_5spd_XRF5_C.php#

Click "view shifters".

Thanks
 

Appreciate the feedback from all. I would like a little lower and higher gears than my present 3 speeds, but do not care for the plastic shifters either.

Thanks again,
Robert

Gotta agree about the shifters. My preference is for rotary, so that is what I went with. It's a nice enough looking unit, but I have concerns about how long it will last. The actual body of the thing seems sturdy enough, it's just that plasic face and indicator window that concerns me. It is the same design as their 8 speed shifter, and I had the face of one of those fall off a brand new bike on my showroom floor.I don't know if some tire kicker fiddled with it, or what caused it to break, but there it was.
One thing about the rotary shifter over the trigger is that it uses a regular garden variety shift cable rather than one with the special end such as required by the 3 speed trigger. Couldn't say if this is true of the 5 speed trigger.
Here is some pics of my 5 speed commuter

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=6nvaxjb&s=1
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=82wnf5s&s=1
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=87anz94&s=1

I think 55/Rad was able to use a friction downtube shifter with an internally geared hub. Apparently you can do it by feel and it works out ok.