79pmooney

Several reasons. I have never been under the impression they could take the abuse a pure fix gear can. I've known about those hubs since 1977 when Sheldon Brown used to come to the shop I worked at to hang with our mechanic. They were both Sturmey-Archer fans and both had those fix gear hubs. They felt those hubs were good for getting around, but not for serious roadies (specifically riders like me as they knew I rode a fix gear). Second - limited gear choices. My Cycle Oregon setup for Crater Lake had me on gears of 95", 67" and 49". That S-W would put me on 89", 67" and 56". A 14% higher low would have made that 9800' day a lot longer. My Mooney could handle a considerably bigger range easily. And, while designing my Mooney setup was real work, riding it is as pure as fix gears get.

Ben

mouse

I would get ridiculously irritated if I had to stop to change gears. I second just getting a geared bicycle at that point.

trekkie820

Fair enough! As long as you're enjoying it who cares. I get **** for riding my singlespeed mountain bikes all the time

seamuis

bassboy1126

Do those hubs hold up to the abuse that a normal fixed gear bike gets? Can you even skid with that hub without breaking the internal parts? Also how do you shift up and down with that hub?

JohnDThompson 

I've had one since 2011. It has held up fine, but I don't do skids. Sturmey-Archer advises not to skid-stop, as well. But I have ridden several 100 mile rides on it, and it is my designated "bad weather" bike. Shifting is just like any other 3-speed hub: click the lever to the next gear, ease up a bit on the pedals, and it pops into gear.

JohnDThompson 

The S3X hub only went into production in 2008, so I suspect you're referring to the ASC hub, which went out of production around 1960. The ASC internals are entirely different from the S3X internals, as is the gearing. ASC gear ratios are 1:1, 1:0.9, and 1:0.75, while the S3X ratios are 1:1, 1:0.75, and 1:0.625. Personally, I'd actually prefer the ASC ratios. The ASC is a four-planet gearbox, while the S3X is a 3-planet gearbox. The advantage of a 3-planet gearbox, besides simpler internals, is automatic load-balancing between the planet gears (think: 3-leg milk stool versus 4-leg bar stool; no wobbling on the milk stool).

I concur that they're likely not as sturdy as a traditional track hub (I use those as well), but my S3X has held up fine, so far.

trekkie820

Plenty of people. Usually gear/bike snobs at the shop I work at part time.

trekkie820

probably not as strong as a traditional fixed gear hub although I am just guessing. I imagine the reason for Sturmey recommending against skidding has some to do with the cassette cog chewing up the driver and some to do with damaging the internals but again just speculating. Might not be as sturdy but it sure beats swapping cogs at the bottom of a hill

bassboy1126

That sag in that chain though