For F**k's sake! I love riding my new 3-speed (with the old 3-speed) but how the hell am I supposed to fix flats if there's a 50% chance of stripping the axle nuts every time I put the wheel back in?

This is the second time out of maybe four or five times tightening the wheel, ever, except this time it's the nut on the other side (non drive side). I have the anti-rotation washers, I liberally greased the threads, I was very careful to thread the nut on straight and I was still paranoid after the first time. I used one hand around a 6" box wrench with my fingers on the stays. Am I just grossly overestimating what 25 Nm of torque feels like or am I doing something else wrong? Surely there are only so many of these nuts out there at reasonable prices and availability.

*In a toss up between this forum and Bicycle Mechanics, I chose this one. Maybe the wrong one, but [shrug].

I feel your pain man....Those threads are a bit on the flimsy side.

Unfortunately I have no advise to offer other than use less oomph than you assume is necessary.

I done the same damn thing a while back.....oh Sturmey Archer. You suck sometimes.

Once you get the bike set up you could try and fix the next flat with out taking the wheel off, just weasel out the tube from the tyre.

Is one required to remove the back wheel to repair a flat? Yeah, I always have, too. But considering your special circumstances maybe you could release the non drive side of the tire off the rim and sneak the tube out enough to patch it. Just an idea.

Prettyshaddy has the right idea. Unless the tires are real contrary. Most of the time you can just remove one side of the tire in the area of the leak and reach in and snake the tube out, patch it, and reassemble. I guess U might want to put some air in after re-assembly. After you do it a couple of times it takes about 5 min. to fix a flat. If you don't have fenders it is real easy. Some tires don't even require tire tools but it is easier if you do have them.

That's usually my plan (although I've never done it). This time, though, I thought the cords were damaged and that I'd have to swap tires anyway.

Off to the co-op for another replacement I go.

I recently found that my Raleigh Mountie (with S.A. coaster brake) has neither metric NOR SAE threads!

The metric nuts are close, but are a "B" fit. (and likely to strip with the smallest amount of torque)
Fortunately, I have the nuts to hold the wheels on, I just needed an outer nut to secure the fender struts.
(so they are finger tight only)

So, are SA threads Whitworth or what???

I believe that is correct. This might be the OP's problem, get some SA nuts? I'll ask the LBS, one of the owners is a SA fanatic.

I think Sturmey Archer actually used that same language in an advertisement.

I've also had this happen a few times, I have alot of spare 3 speed parts i've collected, never know when ya need something, I have a 7 speed hub that wont catch in gear, I dred taking it apart.

Yeah, whitworth, plus Raleighs are 26TPI rather than 24TPI (or is it 24 instead of 26, either way it's a pain). The best thing I've figured out to do is keep a pile of old Raleighs in the basement.

Not Whitworth (at least I don't think they are) But they are 26tpi vs whatever the standard is. The ONLY thing that fits on Raleigh axles without problems are Raleigh Nuts. They are still available from a variety of places. Now that I think about it the nuts may actually be whitworth, but the threads are still Raleigh's standard.

Aaron

It happens to me as well, for a while I just thought That I was really strong, so I backed off on the torque, but then it started shifting the hub in the dropouts on big hills or hard takeoffs.

We are just lucky that its the nut and not usualy the axle(knock on wood). I grab every junk SA three speed I can for parts, so thats how I deal with it. carry a spare.

And on patching a flat with out dismounting the wheel, its a pain if your fenders are close. I never can find the hole without taking the whole tube out. But thats usualy how I do it.

I just came across this thread in which someone says that the axles aren't actually threaded in 13/32 Whitworth, but are 26 tpi with a 60 degree thread profile. Not that it matters.

What's the new SA stuff like? Does anybody know if the current production uses the proprietary thread as well?

Oh yeah, It's Raleighs that have the wierd thread, not SA. Well, kind of not wierd.

Yeah, Sturmey axle nuts can be a real pain. The non-drive side nut is a LOT easier to strip the threads on than the drive-side, so the best "upgrade" to the old Sturmey hubs is to put drive-side nuts on both sides. This of course means you have to have them in the first place.

The new three speed is great! Yes, it uses the same nuts. Shifters too.



Use SA nuts on both sides of your SA hub and don't overtorque them.

Does anyone know how they eliminated the neutral range between 2nd and 3rd? I'm curious. Did they actually alter the design or did they simply tighten the tolerances?

I've never had a problem with the axle nuts on any of my Raleigh or clone bikes. just be careful, I usually keep the indicator chain lock nut where the barrel should be. I've changed my share of rear tires and tubes as the flat is always the rear. This sounds like a lack of patience. Harris has the axle nuts as far as I know and axles too.

God bless my Shimano...Never ever had a problem with leaning on the wrench.

It's not lack of patience in my case. I've threaded each nut on and off at least three times with finger strength before even touching a wrench to try and make sure they were threaded on accurately. Plenty of grease.

Either I'm tightening the nuts more than I think I am (certainly no tighter than I tighten normal 15 mm axle nuts, and I'm only tightening them as much as I dare in order to keep the wheel from slipping), the axle threads are slightly damaged or (most likely) the nuts I'm using are alread too old to be trusted. The hub came with two nuts plus the barrel that goes on the drive side (it's separate from the actual drive-side nut, in this case) and all three nuts that I've had so far have been well used enough to have the edges rounded off.

Maybe I just need to find some better nuts. I'll see if I can find some one-piece drive side nuts for it.

One of these came with my SRF3 hub. I haven't used it yet. Apparently, 13/32" is the thread size.

https://smartbikeparts.com/search_details.php?itm=HU2220

Stripped another one. What did they make these things out of, cheese?

Luckily I picked up one more than I needed, so I should be set for commuting as long as they're tight enough at the moment. If the wheels slips and I have to reset my chain tension my hopes won't be high.

I'm giving up on these old nuts. I'm gonna find some way of ordering new, unused ones before I exhaust this town's supply.

Care to see a cheese container filled with stripped left-hand SA nuts?

-Kurt