Ivandarken

I thought the "N" stood for "Normal", as in 2nd gear is the normal gear in between High and Low.

I believe the "dead spot" was the result of poor adjustment of the adjustment screw. Properly adjusted, the middle gear would engage and you wouldn't have that uncomfortable loss of propultion.

Somebody back me up?

Sixty Fiver

The old SA hubs go into neutral when the trigger is between 2nd and 3rd (this is normal), they can skip or freewheel when the pawls are sticky (especially in first gear), and one should avoid standing and hammering with any older 3 speed, especially in 3rd gear unless you feel like tempting fate. Part of this issue could stem from frame flex which can be enough to draw that cable just a little tighter which can throw the bike into neutral.

If it freewheels in 2nd the cable is too loose and if it freewheels in 3rd the cable is too tight.

When they have been properly serviced they can take quite a beating but one should not exceed their design parameters.

The new Sunrace hubs do not have a neutral / dead spot between 2nd and 3rd and are much less prone to skipping under high load as their quality is actually better than latter day Sturmey Archer hubs... the quality difference is usually obvious to anyone who has used 40's and 50's hubs and 70's hubs.

After I have overhauled and tested hubs I am more likely to subject them to higher loads knowing that they are clean and properly lubricated and that all their internal bits are in good condition and for the most part, the SA Aw is a really bulletproof hub that can go for tens of thousands of miles with not much more than regular lubrication.

Ivandarken

Well said. Thanks for the details.

chico1st

I would take you up on this but I already bought my velocity 40h rims

bikamper

Odd thing about the 'neutral' position on some older 3 speed hubs, Fitchel & Sachs had a marked neutral position twixt 2nd and 3rd on their trigger shifter for the 415 and 515 hubs.

In fixed SA AW and FW hubs, the neutral position can be used for coasting or setting pedal position at a stop.

cudak888 

The neutral position is not there to be used. It never has, never was. It's a design flaw, not a feature. Don't refer to it as a feature.

Newbies get hurt after reading these forums and getting the false notion that they can play around with neutral as a "feature." They never get their hubs adjusted right in the first place either, and run around thinking that this is the way some English bloke with a drafting table intended it to be.

-Kurt

garage sale GT

Why not bite the bullet and implement the quality solution? bear with the extra cost and get 40h rims. You'll have a stronger wheel; plus, it will look right for an old Raleigh, rather than looking like every 5th spoke is broken.

People always say you forget the cost long before you forget the quality.

Edit: oh, never mind. I see you already have your rims. Great.

Sixty Fiver

I have never used this position to coast or set my pedals as if it was a feature of the hub there's be one more position on the shifter... it is merely the place in between 2nd and 3rd gear where the gears are not engaged.

With a well set up hub and shifter finding this neutral position can be very hard to do... most SA issues arise when the hub and shifter are not properly set up and serviced or when the fulcrum stops are not secure.

bikamper

Kurt and Sixty Fiver-You missed the word 'fixed' as in 'fixed gear'. When an AW is converted to 2 speed fixed gear, the design flaw neutral position can be used to ones advantage, as I described, for coasting and resetting pedals at a stop. The cable must be minutely adjusted to even attain neutral when the hub has been modified, which can be set up on the SA trigger as 1=low, 2=neutral, 3=direct. Otherwise position 1 and 2 on the SA trigger are low and 3rd is direct.

As to the 'feature' I mentioned, the Fitchel & Sachs 415 and 515 trigger shifter, which is German, DOES have a notched neutral position between 2nd and 3rd. The purpose, I've been told, was to disengage the hub when pushing the bike uphill. Nothing more.

cudak888 

Sorry. Around here, if "fixed gear" isn't paired with the phrase "track bike," it doesn't usually register

Pretty much defeats the purpose of fixed gear, doesn't it? Might as well train oneself to pedal at all times possible on an SS.

-Kurt

bikamper

Understood, could have been more clear on what I wrote.

I enjoy riding fixed almost as much as I like 3 speeds but I'm a lousy climber so I like to be able to get a lower gear without having to flip a wheel. I also have had more than my fair share of knee injuries(only one bike related and I had help from a Mitsubishi Lancer with that one) and the neutral allows for an occasional break when descending. It's also nice to select neutral to stand and get ones butt off the saddle for a few seconds on a long ride.