Peter wrote ;
> Really? I thought one never had to "ease off" when changing gears on any
of
> the SA racing and club gears, the AM, FM and AC and FC...and I believe
they
> were specifically designed that way. I never ease-off shifting with
these.
> Heck, the FC is so swift and sublime in its gear changes, you don't even
> know you've done it. Until you've overtaken the other bloke. The brochures
> touted what you got "instantaneous gear changing". You do have ease off
the
> wide ratio hubs like the AW and FW.
Sadly I've seen and repaired quite a few SA hubs to believe the hype by S-A
in their advertising blurb - In my experience - and perhaps this is limited
when compared with the likes of Sheldon and Hilary, I've found that whilst
full-bore shifts are sometimes possible irrespective of the hub model,
putting it politely, the change is hard on the hub and mechanically coarse -
though perhaps not immediately obvious to the operator. I've seen quite a
few 2 or 3 speeds that were once 3 or 4, with wrecked internals - chipped
teeth, busted pawls, that I always put down to agressive "power shifting"
i.e. shifting them under load, and I'm not confusing this with badly
adjusted hubs. I'm also not talking about stopping pedalling entirely just
easing off the load a little to allow the gear change to happen. My own
experience with an unworn correctly adjusted FM, is that it won't shift
without it.
> And I'll match an SA gear change in speed and positive action against any
> derailleur out there. I must say I have always marvelled at how anyone got
> the idea of changing gears by dragging and dumping the chain from one
> spocket to other!! Rube Goldberg methinks. Derailleurs have one great
> advantage: they cost a lot less than a SA hub gear to manufacture. But
alas
> it's an arguement long lost.
I'm not questioning your ability, but it is hard to believe you could beat a
modern Shimano (and others) indexed systems that have the ability to go up
down the block in about as much time as an S-A takes to shift from L to N...
Not a reflection on you, just quite a few decades of progress. Certainly in
comparison with the "vague" action of the pre & immediate post-war
derailleur systems the S-A might be "Instantaneous", but against a modern 10
or less indexed ? or better still the pinnacle of indexing, the 8-speed
Dura-Ace mmm... I have my doubts.
> I'll take on all comers... name the time and place,
> gentlemen.
>
Next Sunday, course DD25/1 - a 25 miler, and a drag strip to boot ! - the
A90 dual-carriageway south of Dundee (Home of Bruce Robbins) or better still
my own local clubs favourite, AB25/4 again a 25, but north of Aberdeen and
marginally hilly - always windy - and a gear changers paradise. Don't
forget, there's a strict all-black clothing rule in force and the obligatory
Alpaca jacket, harder to find than a rare S-A hub). BTW My "older" friend
(about as old as Chuck) regularly places high in the finishing order on the
10's and 25 milers up here, on his 1974 Woodrup fixed, outpacing all the
young "I'm something in the oil industry" wippersnapers and wannabee's on
their £5k unobtanium 2003 Colnago's but that's got more to do with ability
and good legs, than swiftness of gearshifts certainly !
Don't get me wrong, I love my Sturmey-Archer hubbed Flying Scot, but it's of it's time and can't be fairly compared, just like Lance to Eddie.
Best Regards for the season to all Rendezvous-ers, and nostagic warm beer and skittles guy's and gal's (even if it never existed).
Bob Reid
Stonehaven
Scotland.