Originally Posted by
branko_76
I remember riding a bike with one of these. Anyone know who made it and when?
Google is a wonderful tool....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-S...4383.l4275.c10
By Sheldon Brown:
The Shimano "333" 3-speed Internal Gear Hub.
While Japan was in stage 1, in 1957, Shimano introduced the "333" 3-speed hub. It was in many ways an innovative design, and managed to avoid infringing on Sturmey-Archer's patents, but it had problems.
The 333 hub was much more complicated internally than the Sturmey-Archer AW. The diameter of the hub was smaller, and so stresses on the internal parts were higher. The metallurgy of Japanese steel at that time was not up to the standards of British steelmaking, so the parts were weaker. Japanese cyclists were (and still are) lighter, on average, than Americans.
The combination of design and metallurgy of the Shimano 333 hub was probably adequate for the needs of the Japanese market, but when sold in the U.S., the hub acquired a reputation for unreliability.
The failure mode of the 333 hub is also different from Sturmey-Archers'.
When a Sturmey-Archer AW hub gives trouble (which it rarely does) it is usually due to lack of lubrication, and one or two of the gears stop functioning reliably. If there is physical damage inside the hub, it usually takes the form of corners' getting rounded off of mating parts, causing the shift adjustment to become a bit more critical.
When a Sturmey-Archer hub gives problems, it can almost always be repaired, usually without needing any parts replacement.
When an older Shimano 3-speed hub fails, it is most often because one of the under-engineered pawls has shattered. The hub may still work after a fashion, so the rider continues to use it until the broken fragments of the pawls have gone on to destroy the gears and other parts, making the hub basically irreparable.
Our basic recommendation is to avoid any Shimano 3-speed hubs other than the Nexus hubs. Generally, older Shimano 3-speed hubs were only ever spec'ed in low-end bikes anyway.
Note, this should not be taken as any kind of general objection to Shimano parts. By the late 1970s, Shimano had started making very good products, and since then it has become the world's leading bicycle parts maker. It should also not be taken as a general indictment of Shimano's internal-gear hubs. With the exception of the early 3-speeds, Shimano internal-gear hubs provide reasonable service if not abused. Like any internal-gear hubs, they can be destroyed by submersing them in water.