# Very nasty Sturmey noises ....



## bonk man (18 May 2010)

1st gear on my 4 speed FW hub has started making a very unpleasant noise... 

Last week whilst stomping up a steep hill [ 1 in 5 or so ] it slipped, then slipped some more, not the disengaging type slippage.. it was accompanied by horrible teeth crunching and grinding sounds... Is it dead? 

I took it apart and couldn't find anything amiss, very slight wear on some gear edges but really difficult to discern tbh. 
It is being used on a Moulton with 52 chain ring and 16 tooth sprocket. Too much torque? Ha ha .. I can't usually break bike bits through my feeble efforts. 

There is a bit of sloppiness in the whole unit though, but I think they came out of the factory like that  

I have sourced a recon replacement but obviously don't want to just chuck the old one in the scrap bin if it can be rescued .. 

So any ideas ? 

Steve.


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## hubgearfreak (19 May 2010)

whilst sheldon calls the SW seldom works, i call the FW ******g worthless. 

still, if you've got new internals, save the old one, it's not too much space to occupy. if you want reliable, see in an AW will fit in

good luck


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## bonk man (20 May 2010)

Yeah, I know an AW fits, there is one in there now...

Just received the new FW internals so will swap em over today, might have some mountains to climb on Saturday so will need that low gear


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## bonk man (27 May 2010)

garrrrrrrrrrr... umph.... much grinding of teeth... mine this time ..

Fitted the new 4 speed, no problems...  hooray..

Could I find the lever...? Could I **** ... 

Found one 4 speed lever that has a weak spring and jumps out of 1st gear, but the good one I had has disappeared into the shed somewhere, very frustrating. 

I took the dodgy one to bits but have now snapped the offending weak spring while putting a bit of a bend into it 

So a bit of fleabay shopping I reckon.... as I say garrrrrrrrrrrrr.


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## hubgearfreak (27 May 2010)

bonk man said:


> Could I find the lever...? Could I **** ...



that's strange. at one time i had quite a few 3s, 4s and 3or4s. but i recently cleaned out my garage and found none. perhaps there's like a tooth fairy that comes and takes them?

anyway, i hope the one you get from ebay is in good fettle


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