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77-829: The National Cyclists' Union selected teams for world championships and regulated circuit and track racing in England and Wales. It was a founder member of the International Cycling Association , forerunner of the Union Cycliste Internationale , the world governing body. During and after the Second World War, the NCU became involved in a dispute with a rival body, the British League of Racing Cyclists , which defied

154-583: A capacitor or rectifier to smooth the AC current output from the Dynohub. Rated output was reached at around 20 km/h (12 mph), a rotational speed of approximately 160 rpm. The name dynamo implies DC output, but as usual with bicycle dynamos (known as generators in North America), output was in fact alternating current . Dynohubs were offered as front hubs and as rear geared hubs. The AG

231-606: A circuit race at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey . This and Donington Park in the north Midlands remained the sole venues for massed start racing on mainland Britain until 1942, along with the Snaefell Mountain Course on the neighbouring Isle of Man . The trial led to a series of races at Brooklands, organised by the Charlotteville cycling club under Bill Mills, a professional rider who founded

308-433: A close ratio 2 speed was introduced, this was called TC and offered a 13.46% reduction below direct drive. Hubs manufactured in the 1930s have a date stamp given as a number at the end of the model designation, this can be seen on examples of all of the hubs mentioned in this section, as well as some A and F family hubs. A 1936 TC hub would, for example, be marked TC6, TC 6 or TC-6. Sturmey-Archer's most widely known product

385-548: A common definition of amateurism and to organise world championships its role was taken over by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) in 1900. The ethos at the end of the 19th century and the increasing influence of the Olympic Games made amateurism an issue in many sports. It was especially relevant in cycle racing because riders had begun travelling internationally to compete in track, or velodrome , races. Riders from one country would complain that they were at

462-423: A common shaft to engage the gear ring and sun gear separately, while the close-ratio three-speeds, and hubs with four or more speeds, use multiple planetary geartrains. Depending on the specific hub these may be in series with each other, or with one or the other set being selectable at any given time by locking a particular sun gear to the axle. In 1921, the K hub was introduced as an updated and improved version of

539-534: A cycling organisation, instead initially focusing on production of technical literature distributed to highways boards and surveyors to promote improved construction and maintenance methods. In the early years of the 20th century, however, the RIA gradually became primarily a motoring lobby organisation, under honorary secretary William Rees Jeffreys . The British weekly, The Bicycle , said: The NCU erected road signs warning cyclists of steep descents and other hazards. It

616-554: A disadvantage to those from another, that they were riding against what they considered to be professionals. The world's dominant cycling association was the National Cyclists' Union (NCU) in Britain . The historian Jim McGurn said: The NCU's championships were considered the unofficial championships of the world. It was because the sport needed world championships independent of any national body that Henry Sturmey of

693-519: A dozen pianos, a house, land, furniture and "enough silver plates, medals and jewellery to stock a jewellery store." That summer he took the British mile, five-mile, 25-mile and 50-mile championships, all on the track. Next year he came back with two Raleigh bikes, his name in Raleigh advertising, and - the NCU suspected - Raleigh money in his wallet as well. The NCU banned Zimmerman from Britain. But

770-551: A four-speed close ratio model AF was released, intended as a close ratio 3 speed with an additional low gear for hills, this was discontinued in 1941 and succeeded by the near identical FC hub in 1947. 1939 also saw the introduction of the FM four speed medium ratio hub, which was mechanically very similar to the AF and FC. Post-war, in 1946, the FW four speed wide ratio hub was introduced and spawned

847-637: A further weakness in the ICA appeared when the League of American Wheelmen and the associations of other countries took no notice: there was no insistence in the rules that all member countries had to recognise the decisions of others. The first world championships were held in Chicago , the winners receiving a gold medal and all participants a silver medal. The distance from the centre of world cycling in Europe limited

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924-411: A higher gear, while Normal and High gears use the same pawls, requiring an alternative solution. The K hub spawned a Tricoaster version with back pedal brake, designated KC, in 1921 and both close ratio (KS), and medium ratio (KSW) variants in 1932 and 1933 respectively. With the introduction of 90mm drum brakes LBF/BF/BFC and LBR/BR/BRC in 1931, the first Sturmey-Archer 3-speed drum brake was introduced,

1001-447: A new range of duomatic 2-speed hubs, re-using the S2 name from the late 1960s, these hubs – designated S2 (freewheel), S2C (backpedal brake), and S2K (6 bolt disc brake) – share their general engineering principles with the original S2, but do not share any internal components. They offer a direct gear and an overdrive of 38%, a significant improvement for usability over the 'underdrive' gear of

1078-535: A new two-speed hub with a backpedal shifting action similar to the Fichtel and Sachs 'Torpedo Zwei Gang Duomatic'. The S2 – Sturmey-Archer's first 2-speed hub since the demise of the T series in 1941 and the last two speed they would make in the UK – featured a direct drive and a 28.6% gear reduction. While its lack of need for a gear cable might have led to the S2 being a popular choice for small wheeled and folding bicycles,

1155-420: A trademark. The GH6 version produced a rated output of 6 V, 0.33 A (2 W) from a 20-pole ring magnet with a stator having a continuous winding. Original headlamp bulbs are 6 V, 0.25 A (1.5 W) (e.g., CRY5) and a rear bulb of 6 V 0.04A (0.24W) (e.g., CRY8). This is different from a modern standard bicycle dynamo, though replacements can still be obtained. Common substitutions are

1232-467: A two piece, left hand indicating design between 1954 and mid-1958, requiring a plain drilling in the axle key and a fully drilled through axle, and a less common threaded axle key, for use with a standard AW type right hand indicating design, introduced at around the same time as the re-marketing of the AW in the late summer of 1958 and permitting the use of a partially solid axle. Sturmey-Archer had intended for

1309-409: A very wide overall range. The majority of Sturmey-Archer gear hubs can be converted to hybrid gearing by fitting a rear derailleur to the bike and finding a suitable method of attaching more than one sprocket to the hub driver. For the 'three spline' driver, an additional sprocket may be added in place of the spacers so long as care is taken to ensure the gap between the sprockets is not so great that

1386-416: Is still available, and branded AW). According to Schraner and Brandt, an aluminium alloy shell reduced spoke breakage due to aluminium being softer allowing the spoke to seat into the flange and disperse the stress at the bend in the spoke over a wider area. The company produced front hub brakes to match such as the 70mm X-FD model, featuring sealed cartridge bearings. [1] In 2010 Sturmey-Archer launched

1463-547: Is the AW wide-ratio three-speed hub gear, introduced in 1938 (though patented in 1936) and still in production in a substantially modified form as of 2018. It is the sole survivor of a much larger range of "A" model three-speed hubs, including the AG Dynohub, AB 90mm drum brake hub, AM (medium ratio for "club" riders), the AC and AR (close ratio racing hubs for time trialists) and the ASC (a unique three-speed fixed gear ). In 1939

1540-586: The British League of Racing Cyclists as a rival. The NCU and the BLRC ( British League of Racing Cyclists ) remained rivals for 17 years, a position which split British cycling. The BLRC's position was that racing on the road was not illegal, that it did not obstruct other travellers, and that it gave riders from England and Wales the experience to compete internationally. The NCU had entrusted its wartime administration to an emergency committee which did not have power to change major rules. The journalist John Dennis said

1617-630: The Sturmey-Archer gear company proposed an International Cyclists Association in 1892. He approached other countries' cycling national associations through the NCU. The founding meeting was in London in November 1892, with representatives of the NCU and organisations in France, Germany, Holland, Italy and Canada. Not all were the main bodies in their home country. The largest French organisation,

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1694-669: The Union Cycliste Internationale . The NCU defined amateurism in English races and banned the American sprinter, Arthur Augustus Zimmerman when he appeared to be sponsored by the Raleigh Bicycle Company . It insisted the organisers of the first Bordeaux-Paris met its own ideals before allowing British riders to take part. When George Pilkington Mills won, the NCU would not recognise the victory, or consider Mills still an amateur, until he proved he had no help from

1771-541: The 2006 introduction of the X-FDD front hub, which combines a 6v, 0.4 A (2.4 W) or 0.5 A (3 W) dynamo with a 70 mm drum brake . The XRF8, XRD8, XRR8, and XRK8 8-speed hubs entered series production in 2007. Sun Race Sturmey-Archer have modified the design and manufacture in many respects; compared to the old AW hub, the current three-speed equivalent (SRF3) now has an aluminium alloy shell for lighter weight (a painted-steel shelled 'Steelite' version

1848-597: The AW series of large-flange hubs which were intended for discontinuation upon the SW's introduction (AW hubs were still being produced in 1956, and may have continued throughout the SW's run, despite being absent from catalogues). Compared to the AW's 25% reduction in first gear, direct-drive second gear, and 33.33% overdrive 3rd gear, the SW offered slightly wider gearing, referred to by Brian Hayes as "super-wide" gearing, with 27.7% reduction for first gear, direct-drive second, and taller 38.4% overdrive third gear. Riders appreciate

1925-597: The British because the few international events to which they sent riders, notably the Olympic and world championship road races, had been run as individual time trials . It was as a 100-mile [162 km] time-trial, in Shropshire , that Britain organised the world championship road race in 1922. Then in 1933 the UCI decided that championships would be massed-start events. The NCU organised its 1933 world championship trial as

2002-875: The Cambridge University Cycling Club, and also a member of the Cyclists' Touring Club 's national council). Its purpose was to defend cyclists and to organise and regulate bicycle racing in Great Britain . In July 1878, Cobb, as its first president, led the Bicycle Union's lobbying of the Local Government Board , one of the official bodies managing British highways, and also actively campaigned for highway improvements in Cambridge. The Bicycle Union merged with

2079-572: The FG Dynohub and FB 90mm drum brake hub. the FG would come to characterise the output of the heyday of Raleigh Superbe model bicycles, while the relative longevity of the FW can be largely attributed to its deployment on high end Moulton Bicycles through the 1960s until its discontinuation in 1970. The FW led to the development of a series of internally similar 'S5' five-speed models, and by 1994, Sturmey-Archer were producing seven-speed hubs. Production

2156-700: The KB. The KB was joined in 1934 by the KT 111mm tandem drum brake, part of a family of 111mm drum brakes alongside the BFT and BRT front and rear drum brakes (BR type drum brakes are not gear hubs and are instead threaded for fixed sprockets or freewheels). The KT lasted only four years, being replaced by the AT (AW based 111mm drum brake) in 1938 when the K was replaced by the AW. The AT, BFT and BRT all went out of production because of hostilities in 1941 and never re-entered production. Despite

2233-502: The NCU still believed that racing on the road threatened all cycling and did not want to make any change while so many members were out of the country, fighting in the war. The two sides maintained their positions when peace came in 1945 and for many years each banned the members of the other. The rivalry ended in 1959 when the two merged to form the British Cycling Federation . The National Cyclists' Union leased

2310-500: The NCU's rules that massed-start races should be held on public roads only when they were closed to other traffic. The struggle between the two lasted for a decade, after which they merged to become the British Cycling Federation . The Bicycle Union was formally established at a meeting in the Guildhall Tavern, London, on 16 February 1878, instigated by Gerard Francis Cobb (a Cambridge University music tutor, president of

2387-403: The SW and AW (until the mid 1990s) have this neutral position. The gear ring dogs would ratchet around the clutch using the ramps and springs if the hub was trying to engage Normal and High gear at the same time, though allowing this to happen through slow shifting can cause excessive clutch wear and render the hub inoperable. In Low gear, this isn't a problem as the low gear pawls can be overrun by

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2464-609: The SW to completely replace the AW hub, and had designed a complete family of SW series hubs. The SB was intended to replace the AB/ABC 3 speed hub with 90mm drum brake, and the SG was intended to replace the AG Three speed 'Dyno-Three' Dynohub. Both the SB and SG would have used a modified set of SW internals with a shortened planet cage to facilitate the additional functionality on the left side of

2541-631: The Tricycle Association in 1882 and was renamed the National Cyclists' Union in 1883. It continued to campaign for highway improvements, successfully pursuing an 1885 legal action, with support from highway engineer Thomas Codrington , regarding the road between Birmingham and Halesowen . In October 1886, the CTC and NCU pooled resources and formed the Roads Improvement Association . This did not present itself as

2618-512: The Union Vélocipèdique Française, sent observers but was not allowed to take part because the NCU had broken off relationships with it over the question of amateurism. Scottish Cyclist reported: The meeting agreed that any country could belong to the ICA "providing they enforce a strict amateur rule", resolved to hold a world championship on the track at one mile, 10 km and, with pacers, 100 km. "If possible,"

2695-469: The Union Vélocipèdique Française, sent observers but was not allowed to take part because the NCU had broken off relationships with it over the question of amateurism. Countries objected to having one vote when Britain, with England, Scotland and Ireland each voting, had three. France was due to promote the world championships in Paris in 1900. It refused to accept the NCU's position and, after failing to have

2772-529: The Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (A. E. Kemplen), German Cyclists Union (Heinrich Kleyer), Dutch Cyclists Union (Franz Netcher), Italian Cyclists Union (G. Bonetti), Belgian Cyclists Union (A. Choisy), Canadian Cyclists Association (Dr P. E. Doolittle). Trouble was already in store because the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques was not the French national body. The national body,

2849-467: The X, later FX hub (following the introduction of fine axle threading) - it is the Model X which was manufactured under license by BSA as their 3 speed hub until 1956. The new K model three speed had ratios of 75%, 100%, and 133%, the same as the later AW, however its internal workings were substantially different. Most notable was the 6-prong ramped sliding clutch which was mounted between springs, this gave

2926-430: The advantage of lateral movement being possible without shifter movement and allowed gears to be pre-selected while pedalling, the ratio would change when pedal force was relaxed, freeing the mechanism to slide into the new gear and under spring pressure. The ramped clutch dogs and sprung mount also permitted the K hub to be without a neutral position between the 'Normal' direct drive gear, and the 'High' overdrive gear, both

3003-423: The chain will drop into it instead of moving between sprockets. Two sprocket blocks have been produced for these hubs in the past too, though these are now obsolete and hard to find. For the 12-spline driver of late 1930s and 1940s sporting hubs, similar arrangements may be made as for a 3-spline driver, however component sourcing is likely to be a bigger problem in line with the general scarcity of these drivers and

3080-555: The course is closed under statute by the competent authority, to other vehicular traffic." Nine years later, in October 1942 and after the BLRC had broken away from the NCU because of that insistence on closed roads, Mills regretted what he had done: "In 1933 it was impossible to foresee the future... the war, the changing conditions on the road, the decline of track sport, the growing demand for massed start under real road conditions. My notes covered conditions as they existed in 1933." At

3157-523: The cycle factory for which he worked. The NCU was a founder member of the world's first cycling authority, the International Cyclists Association. NCU championships, until 1937 open to riders from any country, had been considered the unofficial championships of the world. It was because the sport needed world championships independent of any national body that Henry Sturmey of the magazine The Cyclist and later founder of

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3234-451: The decade). Hercules put their name on SW hubs too, though these are far less common than Sturmey-Archer branded SWs. After the failure of the SW in the market and the re-commitment to the AW, Sturmey-Archer continued to widely license the design, with fully interchangeable clones of the AW eventually being made under labels including J.C. Higgins, Sears, Austro-Daimler, Brompton, Brampton, SunTour, and others. In 1966 Sturmey-Archer launched

3311-411: The driver to the backs of the two unique high gear pawls, with said pawls either allowed to engage the hub shell for direct drive (deep selector sleeve cutting) or tripped out such that drive is transmitted only to the gear ring (shallow selector sleeve cutting). Low gear then operates in the same way as on an AW hub, with the drive of the ring gear turning the planet cage (via the planet gears) – and hence

3388-475: The guidance of Frank Bowden , the primary owner of Raleigh. In 2000, the assets and trademarks of Sturmey-Archer were sold to Sun Race of Taiwan which was renamed Sun Race Sturmey-Archer Inc. and production moved to Taiwan. All Sturmey-Archer gear hubs use epicyclic (planetary) geartrains of varying complexity. The AW is the simplest, using one set of planetary gears with four planets. The AM uses three compound planets with differently sized cogs machined from

3465-409: The hub in use. To achieve this radically different mode of shifting gears, the hub featured a unique driver with a 4 spline keyed socket in the middle (similar to, though not interchangeable with, later 'No Intermediate Gear' AW drivers), into which sat a selector sleeve. The 4 cuttings on the selector sleeve (2 shallow and 2 deep, arranged alternately) enabled the selector sleeve to transmit drive from

3542-415: The hub. Technical drawings for both the SB and SG exist and both appeared in catalogues, however there is no evidence that either hub went into production and the AB/ABC and AG re-appeared alongside the AW in 1958. The AW had been built under license by The Hercules Cycle and Motor Company as the A type in the 1940s and the B type in the 1950s (there is no functional difference and the letter merely denotes

3619-546: The issue discussed at an ICA meeting, convened a meeting in Paris to form the Union Cycliste Internationale . Not only would it permit just one team from the United Kingdom but the NCU and Britain's other governing bodies were excluded because they had not been at the founding meeting. It took until 1903 for Britain to be admitted. The NCU banned all cycle racing on public roads in 1890, fearing it would again jeopardise

3696-402: The issues the SW experienced, with surviving examples showing two different planet cage retention methods (mandating two different axle designs), three different planet cage pawl ring designs, two different gear ring designs, two different sliding clutch designs, two different pawl designs and two different axle key designs, one for each of the two indicator rod designs which were used with the SW,

3773-437: The left (low gear) freewheel, and the short planet cage, the S2 has a gear ring pressed into the shell near the middle, with the mechanism occupying little more than half of the shell volume and the rest being left empty. For this reason, the S2 has a unique shell and its internals cannot be installed in the shell of another model. The S2 is an unusual hub, with only 12,500 produced, and they are rarely available for sale. The hub

3850-515: The magazine The Cyclist and later founder of the Sturmey-Archer gear company proposed an International Cyclists Association in 1892. Having secured the co-operation of British officials and writers such as George Lacy Hillier, he approached other countries' national associations through the NCU. They met in the Royal Agricultural Hall , London in November 1892, listed as representing the NCU (Henry Sturmey and W. M. Appleton),

3927-624: The meeting resolved, "a team race of teams of not more than four, at a distance of 10km." The case for a common definition of amateurism was accentuated by the case of the American , Arthur Augustus Zimmerman . Zimmerman was an amateur. By the definition proposed by the ICA, that meant: Zimmerman was "recognised as an amateur by the ruling body of his country", the League of American Wheelmen . The New York Times listed his winnings in 1892 as including 29 bicycles, several horses and carriages, half

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4004-471: The modern standard 2.4 W headlamp bulb and a tail lamp bulb of 0.6 W. One rider reports much more light with a 6.3 V, 0.25 A (1.6 W) type 40 bulb. LED conversions are possible and will output a much brighter light than incandescent or halogen bulbs, though the LED alternatives require the fitting of a voltage regulator and will strobe 10 times per wheel revolution if not fitted with

4081-410: The nature of the gears meant that a small wheeled bicycle would struggle to obtain acceptably high gearing within the constraints of a) the size of its wheels, b) the minimum size of sprocket which could be fitted and, c) the maximum size of chainwheel which could be obtained. For these reasons, it was commercially unsuccessful. Shifting the S2's gears was achieved by reversing the pedal action such that

4158-469: The nearly silent operation of its springless 'centrifugal' pawls (while the pawls are often described as being centrifugal in operation, they in fact operate by a rocking motion as the freewheel ratchet teeth pass over them, pushing them back and forth in their slightly oversized sockets). Smaller and lighter than an AW hub, the SW was aptly, but unfortunately, described by Sturmey-Archer as having "fewer working parts than any other wide-ratio 3-Speed hub" and

4235-566: The number of riders and Americans won two of the three gold medals. The tables below show what would have happened had gold, bronze and silver medals been awarded to the first three. The following championships were run in Antwerp , Cologne , Copenhagen , Glasgow , Vienna and Montreal . "After a modest start in the early 1890s," said the British cycling official George Herbert Stancer , "[the ICA] achieved considerable success, eventually gaining

4312-554: The original S2. In 2009 Sun Race Sturmey-Archer re-introduced a three-speed fixed gear hub, the S3X . This gives ratios of 100/75/62.5 (i.e. the top gear is direct drive and the others are geared down from it) and the internals are based on the newest five-speed freewheel hub (in the same way as the original fixed ASC was based on the contemporary FC four-speed hub). Sturmey-Archer made various models of 70 mm and 90 mm drum brakes with both steel and aluminium bodies. The Sturmey-Archer name

4389-464: The position of other cyclists. It compelled members to hold their races on velodromes , although the word was not known then, or on closed roads such as in parks and airfields. The only races allowed on public roads were time-trials, in which riders competed against the clock at intervals, and distance and place-to-place record attempts. Such a ban did not operate in other countries and massed road racing continued as before. That made little difference to

4466-403: The primary selling point of Sturmey-Archer hubs being their offer of three gears when rivals managed only two, Sturmey-Archer produced a range of two speed hubs in the 1930s. This began with the T and TF (identical hubs, F denoting a fixed sprocket) in 1933, alongside a version with a 90mm drum brake; with a rod brake operation and freewheel, this was TB, with a rod operation and fixed wheel , this

4543-506: The proposal postponed rather than have the countries "kicked out in their absence," as Stancer put it. Before the fresh meeting was held, Stancer said, France convened a meeting in Paris and formed the Union Cycliste Internationale . Not only would it permit just one team from the United Kingdom but the NCU and Britain's other governing bodies were excluded because they had not been at the founding meeting. It took until 1903 for Britain to be admitted. Sturmey-Archer Sturmey-Archer

4620-421: The shell – at a reduced speed. The S2 hub features three low gear pawls mounted in its shortened planet cage, necessitating a low gear freewheel track with twelve stops instead of the 10 which would be found on a contemporary AW, this means that an S2 freewheeling in low gear will tick more frequently and more loudly than an AW in low gear at the same speed in a wheel of the same size. Because of this difference in

4697-435: The sprocket and driver rotated 1/4 turn anti-clockwise relative to the axle (the amount of pedal movement required for this is gearing dependent). The up-shift and down-shift process is the same, with the hub toggling between gears; there is a consequent risk of overshooting the desired gear. The S2 has no equivalent to the sliding clutch seen in 3- and 4-speed Sturmey-Archer hub designs, there is indeed no lateral movement within

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4774-533: The sprockets which fit them. For the threaded drivers which were fitted to touring hubs before 1951, a standard thread-on freewheel may be fitted, although care must be taken to ensure there is sufficient clearance in the frame and sufficient thread engagement to ensure the setup is safe. More than three sprockets is unlikely to yield successful results. Some Sturmey-Archer hubs, by their design, are fundamentally incompatible with hybrid gearing and hybrid setups should not be attempted with them. These are: The Dynohub

4851-468: The support of all the important sport-controlling bodies in the cycling world. But he went on: France's objection was that Britain had more than one vote and more than one team in championships. The NCU represented only England and the associations of the other individual nations that made up the United Kingdom were separately represented. The sequence of world championships meant that France

4928-485: The time, said the writer and team manager Chas Messenger , "there were thousands riding in time trials and, apart from a once-in-a-while article in the cycling press, they knew little or nothing about road racing." The Brooklands races inspired some riders and one, Percy Stallard , took advantage of low wartime traffic in 1942 to organise a race on the open road from Llangollen to Wolverhampton . The NCU banned him sine die - until further notice - and he and others formed

5005-435: The unique crescent-shaped pawls can have slippage issues, even with correct toggle chain adjustment, as engagement of only two of the three pawls in each freewheel is insufficiently stable to hold normal levels of torque . This is more pronounced in hubs which are sticky inside from incorrect lubrication, and ones which have been allowed to wear through poor maintenance or, less commonly, heavy use. Attempts were made to correct

5082-545: The velodrome at Herne Hill for 21 years from 25 March 1942. The papers of the Bicycle Union and the NCU, mainly committee minutes, are held by the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick Library, England. International Cycling Association The International Cycling Association (ICA) was the first international body for cycle racing . Founded by Henry Sturmey in 1892 to establish

5159-442: The weekly magazine, The Bicycle . Mills was one of few authorities to whom the NCU could turn for advice on road racing and it was he who wrote the NCU's rules, at the request of the secretary, H. N. Crowe. The wording that Mills chose in 1933 led to the NCU's long civil war with a later rival body, the British League of Racing Cyclists . Mills wrote: "No massed start race shall be permitted, other than on an enclosed circuit, unless

5236-406: The world. Its championships were the world's most prestigious and considered unofficial championships of the world. The NCU, which had a strict definition of an amateur , proposed to create an International Cycling Association , open to national organisations whose views of amateurism were similar to its own, and to organise world championships. The International Cycling Union was the forerunner of

5313-462: Was Sturmey-Archer's hub dynamo (generator) for bicycles. The initial GH12 12-volt model was introduced in 1936 and followed two years later by the GH8. This 8-volt unit was discontinued in 1941 and replaced in 1945 by the lighter-weight GH6 6-volt version, which remained in production until 1984. The term "dynohub" is sometimes applied generically to bicycle hub dynamos, but it originates as, and remains,

5390-402: Was TBF, while a C was added to either designation to denote cable operated brakes instead of rods. In reality, an end user can easily switch between fixed and free, and rod and cable by swapping out common parts, though the hub shell will continue to show the designation for a given hub's original configuration. The T, TF, TB, TBF, TBFC, and TBC all had a 25% reduction below direct drive In 1936,

5467-405: Was a manufacturing company originally from Nottingham , England. It primarily produced bicycle hub gears , brakes and a great many other sundry bicycle components, most prominently during its heyday as a subsidiary of the Raleigh Bicycle Company . In the past, it also manufactured motorcycle hubs, gearboxes and engines. The company was founded in 1902 by Henry Sturmey and James Archer under

5544-448: Was an AW three-speed rear hub with inbuilt dynamo, while the FG was a dynamo similarly combined with an FW four-speed. An SG 'Super-Wide' three-speed Dynohub was planned between 1954 and 1960, but never produced. An FG hub can be converted to have 5 gears using the same methods of modification as would be used for an FW to enable individually selectable sun gears. Hub generators were absent from Sturmey-Archer's product range from 1984 until

5621-468: Was discontinued in 1972 and should not be confused with the S2, S2C and S2K hubs currently manufactured in Taiwan by Sun Race Sturmey-Archer. Sturmey-Archer hubs are seen by many as an alternative to Derailleur gears , however on many models of Sturmey-Archer hub, the two can be combined to offer a setup with many of the benefits of both systems - offering more, closer spaced, gears while continuing to offer

5698-408: Was due to promote them, in Paris , in 1900. France no longer wanted to tolerate the system in which several British teams competed and a proposal at an ICA meeting before the 1900 championships called for the UK to be limited to one. Stancer said no warning had been given and that representatives of Scotland, Ireland and three colonies included in the motion were not present. Sturmey succeeded in having

5775-489: Was low, and in the mid-2000s these were discontinued, hub geared bicycles having gone mostly out of fashion. The brief story of the Sturmey-Archer SW series medium-flange wide-ratio three-speed hub provides strong substantiation of the merits of the AW design. Sturmey-Archer Gears Ltd. designed the type SW Mk. 1 medium-flange wide-ratio three-speed hub in 1954 and began production by 1955, intending it to replace

5852-547: Was prompted by a member, J. George Jnr, who suggested them in 1878. The idea was taken up by the Earl of Albemarle, who became president of the NCU. The NCU shared signposting with the Cyclists Touring Club but after 10 years could no longer afford it and the CTC took on the whole job. The NCU also produced publications to help cyclists tour Britain. The NCU also ran racing championships, at first open to anyone in

5929-451: Was thought to be less costly to manufacture than the AW series that had been in production since 1938. The new hub turned out to be slow to engage drive because the mode of pawl engagement necessitated fewer freewheel stops and could not be "pre-shifted" like an AW can while changing 'up', and the AW's predecessor, the 'K', can while changing in either direction. This pre-selection of gears was never advocated by Sturmey-Archer. More troubling,

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