Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had ever put an SA 3 speed in a 1970's Super Sport? I know some of the older Paramounts came with SA 3 speeds. Would the spacing work ok?

Edit: OOPS! Meant Schwinn!

Yes, I put a Sturmey Archer AW on my 1971 Super Sport, about 25 years ago. Assuming you are talking about the older SA hubs like what I used, you would need to have the longer of the two axle choices, 6 1/4", and could probably get away with just adding spacers to the axle and not altering the frame, but it would be better to respace the frame. I did respace mine from 120mm to 115mm. You should also have the HMW494 antirotation axle washers made for the wider dropout slots on derailer bikes.

On the other hand if you are using a new SA hub, current specifications on their website say they are available with a 118.8mm OLD which should be close enough to 120 without any modification.

I never heard of a 3-speed Paramount.

Thanks for the reply. I think it is your fillet brazed Redcay(?) that is the inspiration for this thread. I have a line on a Super Sport for about $50 so it seemed like an interesting project. How do you have your bike geared?

A "tourist" version of the Paramount with a 3 or 4 speed SA hub option was offered until sometime around 1965. I've only seen two come up on eBay over the past couple of years which would suggest that they are less common than the racing and touring versions. In one of the Schwinn history books (the title escapes me right now) there is a picture of a bike described as Frank Schwinn's personal Paramount. It is an internal hub version.

Regards,
Alan

I ran my old Bianchi road bike for several years as a coaster brake 3-speed. Both conversions (to 3 speeds and back to 10) were quite easy.

Spacing won't be a problem, but what about brakes (assuming you're using a Sturmey-Archer AW)?
Are you lacing the 3-speed into a 27" hoop? If not, will the calipers reach the rim?

I was thinkg about using a 27 inch rim. I have a nice set of Campy high flange 27" wheels that I would use the front for this bike. I also have a nice set of Campy NR calipers and levers. I also have a set of NOS Schwinn 27' chrome fenders. I am getting a bit ahead of myself as I have not yet gotten the bike!

The Super Sport was my touring bike until I replaced it in 2001 with my PBW Rohloff. It was a wide range hybrid gearing system (this use of the term "hybrid" predates hybrid bikes). I put two cogs on the AW hub, 18 and 21 (half-step), and a 52-48-21 triple in front (quarter-step-plus-granny). The overall range was 514%, 20 to 104 gear inches, 18 usable gears with no overlap. I used this setup, with minor variations, for close to 20 years of touring, including a 7,000 mile USA camping tour in 1987. I made the 21 tooth chainring myself, since there was nothing smaller than 26 available then. I still have the bike, but haven't ridden it for more than 5 years, and have cannibalized some of its parts.

Here's a couple of pictures of that gearing setup:



The rear derailleur is a Huret Challenger, but with the long cage from the original "Schwinn Approved" derailleur that came on the bike. Huret derailleurs had good parts interchangability. The front derailleur is also a Challenger, with cut out cage



The bike was originally the standard Schwinn "lemon" color but I repainted it myself sometime in the late 1970's.

That is badass.

Wow, very cool! I was wondering what year the frame was? The one I am looking at does not have a dedicated deraileur hanger. The deraileur is mounted in the rear drop out with a mounting plate.

I just took another look at my catalogs, and it looks like 1971 was the last year the Super Sport had the forged dropouts with the derailleur hanger. Mine is a '71.

If it doesn't have forged dropouts then there's probably no reason to bother to respace the frame for the SA hub, since stamped dropouts would be significantly thinner. I probably didn't really have to do it on mine, but I was aiming for perfection, with zero dishing of the spokes and 100% thread engagement on the left axle nut.