chucky

So I thought I was buying this drum hub (Sturmey Archer X-FD) and it turns out I only bought the hub shell. Now I still need the hub and I don't know what to do with the shell.

Can anyone tell me why they sell hub shells separately? I'm not sure if I should:
A) Buy the complete hub and keep the shell as a spare.
B) Buy the complete hub and return the shell.
C) Buy the internals and install them in the shell.

Torchy McFlux

I'd pick B.

Sometimes a shell will break at the flange due to being in an accident or whatever, but it's not a common thing at all.
Piecing together a hub one part at a time is the most expensive way with the biggest amount of hassle.

chucky

I should also mention I purchased the shell from England. I live in the US, so returning the shell will be a fairly expensive proposition. I know you're thinking I must be a dumb dumb, but it's not my fault I swear. After having two orders for this hub canceled from different US retailers I was getting pretty desperate and it just didn't occur to me that there could be a different part with the same model number as the complete hub.

As far as piecing together the hub, I was thinking this might be a good opportunity to upgrade the bearings.

bikinfool

B sounds like a good way to go, although if C made financial sense and you don't mind assembling it isn't so bad, then there's A and you could use the spare as a condiment shaker until needed for hub duties....a la Chris King https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...s.php?id=33279

Mr IGH

Newer versions are sealed, my XFD from '84 is shielded.
There's XFDs on ebay from a guy in Milwalkee, I purchased a XFDD from him a few months ago:
https://cgi.ebay.com/Sturmey-Archer-X...item5638aa8ca8

for a few bucks more you can have a front generator too:
https://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Sturmey-Arch...item5638aa941d

here's an XFDD in stack at Universal:
https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...&category=3680

I see this hub's price is going up, I could of had an XFDD last summer for $65, now when it's available it's more like $75~$85. Same thing happen to the SRAM i-Light hub.

chucky

Yeah, I'm kicking myself because no sooner do I place a wrong order from overseas than they're suddenly in stock everywhere (after being unavailable for several months).

I think I'm just going to return the shell I bought since there doesn't really seem to be much use for it. I mean, who the hell would try to reuse the internals after catastrophically destroying the shell? Oh well, live and learn.