Welcome news. I'll email them, and buy one if they become available.
I've been expecting this, as SunRace is a very progressive outfit. I'm sure they've seen the prices used ones are bringing on Ebay. As the current crop of young "Fixienauts" ages, and discovers their knees are no longer indestructible, I expect the demand to be even greater.
I'm sure there is a market for them. When I mentioned, somewhere online, that I was looking into setting up to convert AWs to 2 Speed fixed using a "zero play" clutch made by EDM machining, I got 10 people asking me to let them know if I ever got it off the ground. (The clutches would have been more expensive than I thought, and currently available hubs are much different inside.)
Amen to the 36 hole drilling. But almost all of their new stuff is, so I doubt they'd have even considered 40. Hopefully they would tool up for an alloy shell that looked like the old ones, except for thicker flanges. The new O.T. alloy shells are nice but too modern looking for a vintage bike.
I don't think we should suggest other options to them at this time, such as the TF, until the ASC is available. It would give them the impression the market is fragmented. If the ASC is a commercial success, then others may follow.
Personally though, being bit on the feeble side, I'd rather see an ASM with the bottom 3 ratios of the FM -33.3%/-14.3%/Direct, rather than the -25%/-10%/Direct of the AF and ASC. Since they offer 13 versions of the 3 speed, perhaps sufficient sales of an ASC might prompt a 2nd version.
BTW my dream 3 speed hub would have a little lever on the hub allowing you to switch between fixed and free. (Shifting from fixed to free from the saddle might be nice, but shifting from free to fixed while coasting would be disastrous.) I seem to remember reading about such a gear being made about 100 years ago, so I'm sure SR/SA could sort one out.
At 3/1/2007 03:21 PM +0000, youngc@ptd.net wrote:
>With the express written consent of Dale and Sheldon, the following post by
>Sheldon to the internet-BOB list is offered to the CR list. Recognizing that
>not all CR members read the iBOB list, I would urge those with an interest in
>having this venerated hub available again to respond to Sunrace / Sturmey
>Archer with encouragement. In my message to Sunrace, I suggested that a 36
>hole drilling pattern would be an asset (given my experience in trying to
>find suitable 40h rims in the US to mate with old British hubs).
>
>Sheldon wrote:
>
> >>>Reportedly, SunRace/Sturmey-Archer is considering doing a new
> >>>production run of the ASC 3-speed fixed-gear hub, or an updated
> >>>version of it. Given SunRace's track record with Sturmey-Archer, I
> >>>would expect a new version to be more reliable than the original.
> >>>
> >>>They're not certain about how much demand there might be for it
> >>>though. If this is something that would be of possible interest to
> >>>you, let them know by sending an email to:
> >>>
> >>>info@sunraceusa.com
> >>>
> >>>Sheldon "I Love My 1954 ASC" Brown
> >>>http://sheldonbrown.com/asc
>
>Charlie Young
>Honey Brook, PA
>USA
>
>
>
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>
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