Anyone used one of these regularly, for a long period of time?

It's not hard to find reports from people who grabbed one for a weekend and their initial impressions all tend to be similar, but as we all know, 12 months down the track, impressions sometimes (often?) change.

My personal background is this.
I live in Adelaide and most of my riding is commuting with the occaisional weekend jaunt. Living in the southern suburbs, every ride requires some hill climbing - in my case, riding up the Expressway Hill, a beastie that isn't friendly to geared bikes, let alone single speed. I've been riding fixed exclusively for over 12 months now (been riding fixed for about 5 years). When I went fixed exclusively, that hill was well out of my limit but I reasonned that with time and effort, my legs would get stronger, my endurance would improve and it'd eventually become rideable.

It hasn't happened ... well, my legs are massive compared to what they used to be and the looks of fear and admiration I've had from other cyclists are balm to an ageing cyclists heart BUT, the best I can manage with regular riding, is being forced off the bike for about 200m at the steepest part of the Expressway Hill. If I let my fitness lapse, as has happened with the recent wet weather, it's worse. I'm in my mid 50's with a few medical issues so it's possible I'm not going to do a lot better. I could just fit a very low gear on the offside of the hub for climbing, but the stuffing around with flipping a wheel doesn't seem worth it for such a short need (even the full climb is only 3km long out of a 16km commute).

Basically, my riding needs are juuuuusssst outside my capabilities.

For what it's worth, I'm riding 70 gear inches and apart from the steepest part of that damned hill, it's perfect. I don't mind belting down hills and reguarly top 55km/hr (haven't hit 60 yet but I'm close) - holding those cadences for a km is a real blast and well worth the low gearing.

But, getting off and walking when going up is a pain in the arse, Soooo ... the old bugga's thoughts have turned to the S3X. I'm also suspecting that the lack of climbing ability is stopping me from considering other rides.

Instant solution, fit an S3X.

My main bike is a custom Hillbrick that I plan to ride until I die of severe old age. She's not set up for cables under the bottom bracket because at that time, I didn't specify them. Not a problem for a long term conversion but I don't want to muck things up for an experiment that may not work long term. She's been designed and built as a 'do everything' bike (sports bike to workhorse) so adding the S3X fits the style.

But, how do these hubs work long term?

Have they proven to be reliable?
Does the initial enthusiasm for them fade?
Do long term users find themselves sitting in one gear and never changing?

Any thoughts or comments, particularly if they're relevant to the above discussion, would be appreciated.

Richard

I know someone who bought one and sold it less than a year later. He then bought a road bike.

No problems with it as far as reliability goes. He wasn't using it aggressively--not much skidding going on here. I'm guessing the whole novelty of it did fade, since he replaced it with a road bike. That said, it's not because having the gears wasn't useful. He just put it this way: "if you want gears, get a road bike."

I've got a road bike and don't ride it because I prefer fixed gear (my Hillbrick looks like a road bike with that funny thing hanging off the rear hub). I appreciate the thought though because it's one that's occured to me a few times - I'd rather get my current bike working for me. Ain't it great that we're all different?

550 feet vertical in 2.1 miles while fixed is pretty legit. try five less gear inches.

Thanks. That's what's been suggested on Fixed Gear Australia and I'm kicking myself a little.

I've got a 20 tooth on the offside of my hub, but that brings me down to 63gi which is a bit low for everything else. A 19 tooth (which I have to buy dammit) gives me 66 gi which is probably rideable for normal use, certainly worth a try.

Fitting a freewheel springs to mind but leaves you having the pfaff around flipping the wheel. Has anyone used quick releases on their fixed gear? I've got one on my single speed and find that getting a decent chain tension is a pain in the proverbial.

I think you hit the nail on the head--it's not for everyone. Sounds like you've already made up your mind.

Not so much made up my mind as found a cheap(er) suggestion. Getting an S3X for the wet weather bike (the old Europa) now makes more sense as it'll allow me to compare the lower gearing on the Hillbrick with the geared hub on the Europa.

i ride 66GI all day every day, forever and ever, back and forth, etc, bbq
perfect (IMO) for a hilly environment

Thanks for that. I had my misgivings based on 'the numbers' but of course, the only number that counts is the one from the saddle.

66.6 gear inches here.

Anyone else noticed that bike forums are a GREAT way of avoiding (or failing to do) the housework?

Yeah, I need to HTFU ... and lower my gearing **rolls eyes**

Seriously, I want to race down to the lbs and buy a 19 tooth cog ... only it's a public holiday and they're not open ... and they're 'normal' bike shops and so don't carry track cogs in stock - they're not hard to get, you just won't get one over the counter in most shops. Good thing I'm on holidays this week.

i've got 4 19t cogs (wtf)
im gonna flush one down the toilet, im sure it'll find its way to the other side of the world?

See, I actually really like the gear inch I run (73.6) hence no desire for the S3X hub.

frush it to vancoober preease

I know a guy that has been riding one of these hubs for over a year and loves it. He rides most days and climbs a lot. That is not quite long term but seems to be doing well so far.

Well just like external gears, the s3x needs maintenance too... nobody said they're not "set and forget" after all...

Let's see, at the moment, my brakes need maintenance, my chain needs maintenance, my tyres need maintenance, I also keep an watching brief on pedals, headset, bearings of all sorts, bar tape, etc. The choice to ride fixed is not, in my case anyway, anything to do with a 'lack of maintenance'? If it was, I'd be smarter getting a Nexus hub. No, riding fixed for me is all about the way it rides, the control it gives me and the more varied skill set required (compared to something with a freewheel). If it wasn't for that, I would have simply kept the Europa as my fixed bike and asked Paul Hillbrick to build me a geared bike to replace my current one. I'm not one of those who sees gears as somehow excluded from fixed gear - the S3X combines the two and if there's something else out there, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Hmm, that bottom bracket gadget with two gears that you change by whacking a knob with your heel springs to mind. Anyone know anything about them? Like their name?

I was just pointing out that most s3x failures were due to lack of preventative maintenance.
If you are as you claim, than a s3x should be no problem for you.

Sorry, my post was more terse than I intended - too much housework, I always get grumpy when I'm wielding a vacuum cleaner. Sorry for any offence I gave.

Any ideas on what those maintenance issues are?

Now that I've thought of it, I'm also interested in that gadget in the bottom bracket, though I think it needed a larger bottom bracket and had to go into a specially made frame.

Don't sweat it.
From what I researched, we were considering one for my wife before she decided to go all the way with fixed, the main issue behind these failures among these hubs were heat build up due to a lack of preventative maintenance; resulting in the seizure of the planetary gearing insides, rendering the hub into a traditional track hub during prolonged or strenuous use. Another related problem we saw is the lack of instructions from the maker on how to overhaul these hubs or even check or lube the internals, they assume you'll take it to the dealer you bought it from for a "major" service/ overhaul, but how would you know to take it in before it's too late? You don't.

Dealer? There isn't one here. I've got to buy over the internet.

That's another problem, people who do not live near a dealer and the company exclusively distributing repair manuals/ etc. are left in the dark unless you contact sturmey archer (they're owned by the Chinese now?); good luck getting spare parts...

It is extremely unlikely that you will be able to get your hands on one of these at this point, but here's the video.

Yeah, that's the beast. Neat concept and I like the belt drive too.