The original version of the S5 hub works fine. The problem points to watch are the original, plastic shifters and the original thin metal bell crank. If you get one with the improved bell crank and pushrod, that's a good start. An improved shifter set up would be a friction shifter non-drive and a 3-speed thumb shifter on the drive side. The original S5 is a little trickier to work on than the 3-speed AW, but it's not overly difficult either.
Just comparing the hubs alone, the S5 gives substantially more range than the AW does. But being coupled to a bike that is otherwise the same (apart from the hub, the Sprite is functionally the same as the Sports), that waters down your gains from the hub. The Sprite is a bit livelier, but you're not getting the most out of it on that bike.
Where an S5 would really come into its own would be on something like an old Lenton or Clubman. The lighter bike could really get going with the tall top gear, and could really bite into the hills with the low bottom gear.
They also can do well on a DL-1 where the extra range is appreciated on a heavy bike.
The S5 was a hub that came after its time. Sturmey Archer was faced with cost-cutting and failed projects like the SW and TCW that should have instead been spent bringing the S5 to market. The S5 should have come out right after the FW did, being derived from the FW. A 5-speed hub coming out in the 1940s or early 50s would have been a revelation to riders and a premium component at that time. But hindsight is 20/20.
Last edited by SirMike1983; 11-07-23 at 10:02 PM.