Sturmy Archer Gearing

On 31 May 2004 06:40:14 -0700, [email hidden] (Quorlia) may have

Quoted message said:

I've just bought a bike with Sturmy Archer gears (for $10 Canadian).
It seems solid enough but I have a couple of questions about the gears
as I outgrew my last bike to have Sturmy Archer gears when I was 10.

Firstly, what maintenance do they require?

For the internal workings of the hub itself, a little motor oil
through the oil port now and then, if one is present. If there's no
oil port, the hub uses grease, and must be disassembled to fully
lubricate...but read on. I've typically oiled mine once or twice a
year. If there's no oil port, I've oiled them by laying the bike down
on it's left side and dripping some oil into the selector chain hole.
I've freed up ones that had sat unused for 10 years by dint of nothing
more exotic than that, but I'd caution that the axle bearings also
need attention now and then, and they must be greased the
old-fashioned way.

Quoted message said:

Presumably the gear cable
can stretch and needs to be replaced from time to time.

Infrequent adjustment may be needed, but if the jamnut on the end of
the selector chain is kept tight, this system generally requires far
less attention than a der cable.

Quoted message said:

Do they
require oil/grease?

No more than any other cable, less than some. If not parked in the
rain, they are remarkably trouble-free in my experience. Use a little
light oil inside the cable housing, light oil on the trigger works if
it's one of the older all-metal units, and perhaps a drop of oil on
the center of the pulley at the base of the seat tube if there's one
present. I put thousands of miles on a Sturmey-Archer in days long
past, with no more maintenance than this and no problems at all.

Quoted message said:

My technical skills are limited to oiling the
chain and mending punctures so I'm rather hoping that this will be a
low maintenance bike!

It should be. American children seldom manage to destroy these short
of taking them apart; that speaks volumes for their durability.

Quoted message said:

Secondly, the bike clunks (once per pedal turn). I seem to recall
that you do get a clunk from Sturmy Archer gears. Is this the case or
is this indicative of something more serious?

The gears should not clunk, and if it's once per deal turn, then it's
clearly not due to an internal fault in the hub since that makes a
different number of revs than the cranks. Check the cranks to make
sure they're tight on the bottom bracket bearing shaft, and check the
lockrings on that bearing to make sure it's not loose. If those are
both OK, it's possible that it may be in one of the pedals, a tooth
may be bent on the chainring, the bottom bracket bearing may be worn
out or damaged, or if the bike has a one-piece crank, it may be that
the chainring's a bit loose (unlikely).

--
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Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

"Werehatrack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On 31 May 2004 06:40:14 -0700, [email hidden] (Quorlia) may have

Quoted message said:

I've just bought a bike with Sturmy Archer gears (for $10 Canadian).
It seems solid enough but I have a couple of questions about the gears
as I outgrew my last bike to have Sturmy Archer gears when I was 10.

Firstly, what maintenance do they require?

For the internal workings of the hub itself, a little motor oil
through the oil port now and then, if one is present. If there's no
oil port, the hub uses grease, and must be disassembled to fully
lubricate...but read on. I've typically oiled mine once or twice a
year. If there's no oil port, I've oiled them by laying the bike down
on it's left side and dripping some oil into the selector chain hole.
I've freed up ones that had sat unused for 10 years by dint of nothing
more exotic than that, but I'd caution that the axle bearings also
need attention now and then, and they must be greased the
old-fashioned way.

Quoted message said:

Presumably the gear cable
can stretch and needs to be replaced from time to time.

Infrequent adjustment may be needed, but if the jamnut on the end of
the selector chain is kept tight, this system generally requires far
less attention than a der cable.

Quoted message said:

Do they
require oil/grease?

No more than any other cable, less than some. If not parked in the
rain, they are remarkably trouble-free in my experience. Use a little
light oil inside the cable housing, light oil on the trigger works if
it's one of the older all-metal units, and perhaps a drop of oil on
the center of the pulley at the base of the seat tube if there's one
present. I put thousands of miles on a Sturmey-Archer in days long
past, with no more maintenance than this and no problems at all.

Quoted message said:

My technical skills are limited to oiling the
chain and mending punctures so I'm rather hoping that this will be a
low maintenance bike!

It should be. American children seldom manage to destroy these short
of taking them apart; that speaks volumes for their durability.

Quoted message said:

Secondly, the bike clunks (once per pedal turn). I seem to recall
that you do get a clunk from Sturmy Archer gears. Is this the case or
is this indicative of something more serious?

The gears should not clunk, and if it's once per deal turn, then it's
clearly not due to an internal fault in the hub since that makes a
different number of revs than the cranks. Check the cranks to make
sure they're tight on the bottom bracket bearing shaft, and check the
lockrings on that bearing to make sure it's not loose. If those are
both OK, it's possible that it may be in one of the pedals, a tooth
may be bent on the chainring, the bottom bracket bearing may be worn
out or damaged, or if the bike has a one-piece crank, it may be that
the chainring's a bit loose (unlikely).

To continue to add to your good advice, if the crank is cottered I would add a
loose/worn cotter pin to the list of suspects. Actually, I would put that at
the top of the list of suspects.
--
Mark South: World Citizen, Net Denizen

Quorlia said:

I've just bought a bike with Sturmy Archer gears (for $10 Canadian).
It seems solid enough but I have a couple of questions about the gears
as I outgrew my last bike to have Sturmy Archer gears when I was 10.

Firstly, what maintenance do they require? Presumably the gear cable
can stretch and needs to be replaced from time to time. Do they
require oil/grease? My technical skills are limited to oiling the
chain and mending punctures so I'm rather hoping that this will be a
low maintenance bike!

Secondly, the bike clunks (once per pedal turn). I seem to recall
that you do get a clunk from Sturmy Archer gears. Is this the case or
is this indicative of something more serious?

The clunk noise is more likely from a loose crank arm wedge
pin ("cotter pin"😉. Those may be quickly set at an LBS with
both a Var press and a doddering old greybeard who knows how
to use it. Most LBS can't, so telephone before arriving with
a loose steel crank.

Yes a periodic drop of oil on moving parts and inside the
gearbox (manual:"a drop per fortnight"😉 is good.

Disconnect the gear wire to ensure it isn't kinked or
coiled. If it is, the hub's spring will be insufficient to
pull it home to high gear and you'll be frustrated in your
inability to get a decent adjustment.

The cable should be fully slack in high gear and fully tight
in low. With the lever in "1", pulling on the gear wire
should not bring the indicator any further out of the hub.
If it does move in that test, tighten the adjuster until it
does not, than recheck to see that it fully returns in high
gear.

Because SA hubs have a neutral space between second and
high, poor adjustment or a damaged cable can be unsafe. Do
indeed ensure that the cable moves easily, is undamaged and
is adjusted properly before riding.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

A Muzi wrote:

KirstyH (as Quorlia) said:

Quoted message said:

Secondly, the bike clunks (once per pedal turn). I seem to recall
that you do get a clunk from Sturmy Archer gears. Is this the case or
is this indicative of something more serious?

The clunk noise is more likely from a loose crank arm wedge pin ("cotter
pin"😉. Those may be quickly set at an LBS with both a Var press and a
doddering old greybeard who knows how to use it. Most LBS can't, so
telephone before arriving with a loose steel crank.

Ok. I've had a chance to get out and ride it properly now. The actual
clunk is caused by the cog that the pedals attach to hitting the frame.
There is a bit of paint missing and a flattening on the frame
indicating that perhaps the previous owner has attempted a fix!

I have no idea what the various bits of the bike are called. I used to
think a bottom bracket was a particularily ingenious style of racing
saddle ;-) Guessing here - is this crank arm wedge pin/cotter pin the
thing which attaches the shaft of the pedal (is that the crank?) to the cog?

Quoted message said:

Yes a periodic drop of oil on moving parts and inside the gearbox
(manual:"a drop per fortnight"😉 is good.

Yes, it has an oil cap. How does it come off? (I know this sounds like
a stupid question but I spent a good ten minutes wondering how to remove
the oil cap on my car before realising that I had to lift AND turn AT
THE SAME TIME ;-)

Quoted message said:

Disconnect the gear wire to ensure it isn't kinked or coiled. If it is,
the hub's spring will be insufficient to pull it home to high gear and
you'll be frustrated in your inability to get a decent adjustment.

Uh oh..... This sounds like difficult stuff. I can just about mend a
puncture (actually last time I tried a rear puncture I ended up
lubricating a tame cyclist friend with several pints in order to get it
all back together again ;-) Can you recommend a book/website where I
can see nice babyish pictures?

Quoted message said:

The cable should be fully slack in high gear and fully tight in low.
With the lever in "1", pulling on the gear wire should not bring the
indicator any further out of the hub. If it does move in that test,
tighten the adjuster until it does not, than recheck to see that it
fully returns in high gear.

This sounds simple (but then it always does with bikes ;-).

Quoted message said:

Because SA hubs have a neutral space between second and high, poor
adjustment or a damaged cable can be unsafe. Do indeed ensure that the
cable moves easily, is undamaged and is adjusted properly before riding.

Yes. Found that already. Only seems to find neutral on slopes if I
press too hard on the pedals and there aren't many slopes where I'm
intending to ride it.

Kirsty (Quorlia, but at home now)

On Thu, 03 Jun 2004 09:34:06 -0400, KirstyH <[email hidden]> may

have said:

A Muzi wrote:

KirstyH (as Quorlia) said:

Quoted message said:

Secondly, the bike clunks (once per pedal turn). I seem to recall
that you do get a clunk from Sturmy Archer gears. Is this the case or
is this indicative of something more serious?

The clunk noise is more likely from a loose crank arm wedge pin ("cotter
pin"😉. Those may be quickly set at an LBS with both a Var press and a
doddering old greybeard who knows how to use it. Most LBS can't, so
telephone before arriving with a loose steel crank.

Ok. I've had a chance to get out and ride it properly now. The actual
clunk is caused by the cog that the pedals attach to hitting the frame.
There is a bit of paint missing and a flattening on the frame
indicating that perhaps the previous owner has attempted a fix!

The tube that runs from the cranks back to the rear hub is called a
chain stay. There's usually a clearance dent or bend in that tube
where the chainring (aka sprocket, the big toothy thing that's with
the right crank) goes past it.

A bike terms glossary is available at www.sheldonbrown.com, as is a
wealth of other information. There is also a lot of good advice at
the Park Tools site, www.parktool.com in their Repair Help section.

Quoted message said:

I have no idea what the various bits of the bike are called. I used to
think a bottom bracket was a particularily ingenious style of racing
saddle ;-) Guessing here - is this crank arm wedge pin/cotter pin the
thing which attaches the shaft of the pedal (is that the crank?) to the cog?

The arm that the pedal is screwed into is a crank. The crank attaches
to the shaft ("bottom bracket"😉 either via a nut or bolt on the end of
the shaft, or via a pin with a nut on it that goes through the crank
and wedges against the bottom bracket's shaft. That wedgy pin is
called a cotter, and if your cranks have them then the one on the
chainring side is probably loose. If the crank's wobbling enough that
the chainring can hit the chainstay, you may have a challenge getting
it to tighten up to where that doesn't happen, and you'll almost
certainly need to replace the cotter, perhaps some other bits as well.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Yes a periodic drop of oil on moving parts and inside the gearbox
(manual:"a drop per fortnight"😉 is good.

Yes, it has an oil cap. How does it come off? (I know this sounds like
a stupid question but I spent a good ten minutes wondering how to remove
the oil cap on my car before realising that I had to lift AND turn AT
THE SAME TIME ;-)

There are two kinds. One is a rubber plug that you pry out. the
other is a little spring-loaded flip-cap which you simply lift with a
finger while sticking the snout of your oil can into the hole.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Disconnect the gear wire to ensure it isn't kinked or coiled. If it is,
the hub's spring will be insufficient to pull it home to high gear and
you'll be frustrated in your inability to get a decent adjustment.

Uh oh..... This sounds like difficult stuff. I can just about mend a
puncture (actually last time I tried a rear puncture I ended up
lubricating a tame cyclist friend with several pints in order to get it
all back together again ;-) Can you recommend a book/website where I
can see nice babyish pictures?

Erm. Can't think of a site like that right off, though someone else
may know of one. May I suggest, instead, a trip to the local library
to see if perhaps they have some reading material on the subject?

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The cable should be fully slack in high gear and fully tight in low.
With the lever in "1", pulling on the gear wire should not bring the
indicator any further out of the hub. If it does move in that test,
tighten the adjuster until it does not, than recheck to see that it
fully returns in high gear.

This sounds simple (but then it always does with bikes ;-).

In truth, it really *is* simple in this case.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Because SA hubs have a neutral space between second and high, poor
adjustment or a damaged cable can be unsafe. Do indeed ensure that the
cable moves easily, is undamaged and is adjusted properly before riding.

Yes. Found that already. Only seems to find neutral on slopes if I
press too hard on the pedals and there aren't many slopes where I'm
intending to ride it.

This does indicate that the cable is misadjusted and/or in need of
attention, though; you shouldn't have that problem at all.

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.