classic33
Leg End Member
3 in 1 is the same oil.
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
And a bit more. The aim is for whatever crud is in there to be carried out by the oil that dribbles out.
Adjustment of three speed Sturmey Archer: https://workingoncycles.blogspot.com/2011/03/raleigh-twenty-sturmey-archer-gear.html
Chris S
Legendary Member
- Location
- Birmingham
Adjust the cable so the neutral (slippy bit) occurs when the trigger is between second and third gear.
If it slips in second gear tighten the cable, if it slips in third gear loosen it.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
...is a bad method and risks your sensitive areas meeting the crossbar if you don't get it quite right and it finds neutral while you're standing on the pedals. That sort of trial-and-error is what derailleur users have to do and people trying on hub gears gives them an unfair reputation for unreliability.
The correct method is in the page already linked: select middle gear and wind the adjuster until the end of the round bit of bar is level with the end of the threaded axle, which you can see through the inspection hole in the axle nut (yellow arrow points at the round bar - it is visible because the cable is set too tight):
Of course, that does rely on having the correct shifting/indicator bar for that axle fitted and not just whatever SA3 bar someone had handy and shoved in to make it work then forgot to buy the correct one.
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SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
There's a temptation to over-complicate things when it comes to lubrication. At the fundamental level, viscosity aside, mineral oil is all much of a muchness, and derives from a base stock which varies slightly depending on where in the world it was pumped out of the ground.
A hundred years ago the origin of the oil was considered important, because certain varieties, such as those from Pennsylvania, were considered to be of superior quality. These days the game changer is the additives that are mixed with the base stock to improve and modify it's characteristics, such as VI improvers (irrelevant in a SA hub gear!), anti-foam agents (also irrelevant) and detergents.
Most of the chemistry is added in order to improve the oil's performance at high temperatures, increase service interval mileages, and hold minute particles of combustion solids in suspension rather than let them build up into lumps.
For a low temperature, lightly loaded application like a Sturmey hub gear, the operating conditions simply aren't severe enough for any of this stuff to matter. It just needs to be oily enough to maintain a film between the metal parts, and not so thick & gooey that it jams the pawls and prevents them from working cleanly.
A hundred years ago the origin of the oil was considered important, because certain varieties, such as those from Pennsylvania, were considered to be of superior quality. These days the game changer is the additives that are mixed with the base stock to improve and modify it's characteristics, such as VI improvers (irrelevant in a SA hub gear!), anti-foam agents (also irrelevant) and detergents.
Most of the chemistry is added in order to improve the oil's performance at high temperatures, increase service interval mileages, and hold minute particles of combustion solids in suspension rather than let them build up into lumps.
For a low temperature, lightly loaded application like a Sturmey hub gear, the operating conditions simply aren't severe enough for any of this stuff to matter. It just needs to be oily enough to maintain a film between the metal parts, and not so thick & gooey that it jams the pawls and prevents them from working cleanly.
Not an issue; we all have to begin somewhere - !
It's a case of adjusting the length of the cable in wee increments, using the wee milled nut & thread near the gearcase. Have a look on YouTube; the method is bound to be there - ! 
oldwheels
Legendary Member
- Location
- Isle of Mull
I had a hub which was not functioning properly and I was advised to fill it as far as possible with WD 40 and leave for a coupe of weeks giving a spin every day or so before tuning on it's side to drain out the WD40. Then use light engine oil but never 3 in 1. it worked for me anyway and flushed out the sticky gung caused by 3 in 1.
Thank you!
Use sae30 oil that is used for 4 stroke lawnmowers, 3in1 dries to a gliue like gum, wd40 is not a lubricant it's a water disperser hence the initials wd
thicker oils glue up the tiny pinions and springs. The best thing you can do is be brave and strip a SA hub and get to learn the guts, it's great fun and you don't need many tools. Once you do that a few times you will appreciate how clever they really are. There are lots of youtube videos. I got brave and bought a spare junk rusty wheel with a SA hub to learn on and now have a shedfull of hubs. Oh the joy
thicker oils glue up the tiny pinions and springs. The best thing you can do is be brave and strip a SA hub and get to learn the guts, it's great fun and you don't need many tools. Once you do that a few times you will appreciate how clever they really are. There are lots of youtube videos. I got brave and bought a spare junk rusty wheel with a SA hub to learn on and now have a shedfull of hubs. Oh the joy
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
I wouldn't strip a SA hub just for the hell of it, especially if you are not a hands-on, mechanically minded type anyway. If a Sturmey is misbehaving the most likely culprits are-:
1) Incorrectly adjusted actuating rod.
2) sticky or frayed gear shift cable.
3) lack of lubrication due to owner neglect.
4) wrong type of lubrication, usually very heavy oils.
All those obvious possible problems can be diagnosed and quite possibly rectified by logical faultfinding, lubrication, or hub flushing followed by re-oiling with a light-ish mineral oil. Only if all the non-invasive methods fail, or the hub has other issues such as rough wheel bearings even after re-oiling, should a SA stripdown be contemplated.
1) Incorrectly adjusted actuating rod.
2) sticky or frayed gear shift cable.
3) lack of lubrication due to owner neglect.
4) wrong type of lubrication, usually very heavy oils.
All those obvious possible problems can be diagnosed and quite possibly rectified by logical faultfinding, lubrication, or hub flushing followed by re-oiling with a light-ish mineral oil. Only if all the non-invasive methods fail, or the hub has other issues such as rough wheel bearings even after re-oiling, should a SA stripdown be contemplated.
classic33
Leg End Member
They're easy enough put back together.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
I'm not saying they aren't but unless the thing is in a pretty dire state, stripping it and reassembling it is not going to make it work any better than it did out of the factory. These hubs are an excellent design and incredibly durable, so the only good reason I can see for a stripdown is component breakage. Cable adjustment or lubrication-related problems can be resolved from outside the hub.
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mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
And even when it's not the common problems, often you don't even need a full strip and just taking the innards out is enough to see and clean the problem.
