I wanted to put a Shimano 3 speed on my old bike. My first choice was the version with the shifter cable attaching to the hub inside the frame dropout.


I cannot find this version although I believe that it exists.


Next I looked for a Sram 3 speed only to find that they recently ended production.


Then I figure I will get a Nexus with the rod shifter even though it hangs out of the side of the drop out and I cannot find it with 36 spokes. I can find them in a coaster brake version, but that is not what I want. I have rim brakes.


Am I not looking hard enough or in the right places?

If you want to consider old stuff there's always Sturmey-Archer. I have several on bikes and several others loose; 28H, 32H, 36H and 40H.

Exactly. If You want a reliable 3 speed hub the Sturmey Archer AW is the one to get. It basically allways works and if it doesn't it's really easy to take it apart and fix it yourself. Parts are available and not expensive. I would look for a pre 1984 model. They say those form the 50ies are the best. I'm currently running 7 of those and i'm happy.

If it has to be SRAM i would rather look for an original Sachs Torpedo model 55, 415 or 515. Those seem to be as reliable as the Sturmey Archer AW but i guess it's harder to get replacement parts (at least outside of germany).

Accodring to Sheldon Brown/John Allen the Shimano 3 speeds seem to be rather problematic. They talk about shattered pawls and subsequent destruction of the hub through the shards.

The old Shimano 3 speeds were fine if you don't live in a hilly area, they don't have any problems if the land is flat, like my area.

Glenn

There were problems with Shimano's early 3 speed hubs, but the modern Nexus 3 speed is very robust. However, the shift mechanism mounts outboard of the dropouts which was one of the concerns of the OP.
Sturmey Archer makes a rotary shift version of the 3 speed with shifting mech inboard. I have one here that has never been used. The main issue with that model is that the rotary shift mech takes up almost as much space as a cassette making for a highly dished wheel. This negates one of the main advantages of an IGH.
The new 5 speed rotary shift hub from Sturmey Archer does not have this issue.

the pull chain S-A, has been quite reliable .. I have a plastic cap, protector over that end, now, on the 3 speed on my Brompton..


Got a 9 speed sram on another bike I bought, it has an inside the dropouts shifting connection, & grip shifter..
Much wider axle than the 3 speed...

Thanks for all the replies. I have a older Sturmey Archer that, believe it or not, I was thinking of replacing with the Shimano Nexus. I have three gripes with the old S-A and they are that there is a neutral position, there is a lot of take up when I resume pedaling and I need to run the cable to a pulley.


I tried a Nexus 3 speed on a rental bike and it was pretty good. Perhaps the only good thing about the bike itself. That is another topic.


Good point about the rotary shifter taking up space. It is one of the reasons that I am looking for an IGH. I would prefer to keep dish to a minimum.

Perhaps you might consider the 5 speed SA RX series. It has an inboard shifting mechanism that does not take up as much space as the 3 speed rotary system does. That is because it is integral to the hub, whereas the three speed unit is an external add on. Sturmey-Archer | RX-RF5

Thanks Dan. Good idea. I am a bit surprised at the direction of the responses. I was hoping someone knew where I could get a Nexus 3 speed with 36 holes. I don't know why 32 hole would be available, but not 36.


The response here have been good and I think your responses are convincing me that since I am putting this on an old '70's frame, that I will indeed stick to the old S-A AW with 40 spokes that I already have.