Greetings,

I'm building a new bike that takes it's inspiration from the old English 3 speeds but with modern components--anything from the last 20 years. The frame is a 1984-ish lugged Schwinn MTB. I want a relatively modern internally geared hub. The only problem is that the shifter mechanisms for anything above a 5 speed seem to be bulky and generally awful looking. I also don't care for grip shifters or bar-end knobs. Aesthetics are a consideration and my biggest obstacle. I'm also trying to avoid plastic components.

My question to all Shimano, SRAM, S/A users is have any of you taken a modern internally geared hub (5+ speeds) and put an older style friction or index shifter on it? The obvious problems I foresee are not enough cable travel and/or the indexes not lining up.

This is what I had in mind to try.


I know this was possible with the old Sturmey Archer AW's. I believe Sheldon attached a Shimano bar end shifter to one.

Could this work and why can't it?