Originally Posted by Wil Davis

That's exactly what you hear with the old Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub-gears† when in the higher gear. From what I remember, direct-drive is the 2nd gear of the 3 and when you're in the 3rd (high) gear, the planet-gear carrier is being driven by the input cog (the one the chain is on), the sun-gear is fixed (to the axle/frame), and the annular-gear (connected to the hub/wheel) is being driven at a higher angular rate than that of the input cog, and the clicking you're hearing is in fact the free-wheel…

(God, I haven't seen the inside of an SA hub since I took one apart about 40 years ago - all the above is from memory…)

- Wil

† hub-gears - such wonderful devices, beautiful, elegant, no external bits to break off - just make sure you add a few drops of sewing-machine-oil (3-in-1) to the little oiler cap (remember those?) regularly…