HSean

I got this newer cruising bicycle, I like the look of it but did not like the goofed single speed coaster brake hub, but I had a bunch of old archer 3 speed hubs.

So I had no clue what I was doing of if it would work but here it be.

Don't chew me out, I figured i'd post this to show it can be done so if anyone ever wanted to make a 3 speed mountain bike? lol or what now.

choteau

Looks good and why not?

Jeff Wills

Sure it'll work, but what are you going to use for brakes? Surely not that!

Panthers007

+2

It's great that you flew in the face of conventional ideas and built-up a 3spd SA hub for a mountain-bike! Good show! I, too, try to break the mold when building up custom bikes. Either for my self, or for other daring individuals.

Sixty Fiver

Nice.

I have built up SA three speed hubs into 26 inch mtb wheels for commuting and winter riding and they work beautifully as the oil lubricated hub stays clean and with synthetic oil can be run at very low temps with virtually no power / efficiency loss.

But... their axles cannot handle the abuse mountain biking lays down and can be easily bent.

Raleigh once offered a strengthened axle for SA hubs with their BMX bikes but they were not popular... I would love to get one or six of these.

Sixty Fiver

One more thing... the spacing on old SA hubs is 114 mm.

Frame adjustment are going to required.

HSean

Indeed, I was aware of the frame issue. I think i'll build more of these. I wanna use them for city driving. I ride my 3 speed right now and it does a good job do i'm sure this will also. plus we have a bike dump here and they have every part I could possibly need. I also did this because I wanted one for longtail bike.

Rabid Koala

I see a problem here. The spokes aren't laced at the at the outermost point of crossing. Sheldon explains this far better than I could. Note how the red and blue spoke have to touch and provide tension against one another:

King of Kadence

Rabid Koala is correct. Yes you should cross the spokes. The first wheels I cobbled together without knowing anything about wheel building I did the same way, with spoke popping results. Crossed spokes share loading and unloading together which makes a stronger wheel. Another trick building SA hubs is using washers on the spoke heads because the SA hub has a very thin flange. There's another recent thread here on that subject, somewhere.

Here's a set of 26" wheels I built for an old cruiser.

cycleheimer

Sounds pretty sensible, if you put the right components together. I kind of recall seeing a 3-speed Schwinn commuter bicycle at a store about a year ago. It was a "mountain bike" style commuter. I think it came with a rear rack, chain guard and fenders.

garage sale GT

I did some trail riding on a 3 speed cruiser I purchased new from Wal-mart. It had a c/b Nexus. Only one side of the axle is flat but it's more flat than a Sturmey. I weigh 215 but it held up fine.

Then I fatigued the spokes from using the hub brake. You're right, relacing is no big deal.

I would say the axle is only a worry if you get real aggressive or use too much pressure in the tires.