owlofminerva

I'm not entirely sure if I should be posting this here or on the FG/SS forum. Excuse me if I made the wrong decision...

I have a Helium, which is a Peugeot 650B from the late 60s or early 70s. It came with braze ons for a rear deraileur only (there is a chainguard that prevents the use of more than one chainring in front), and the boss is completely round and has a very strange simplex shifter. If you look at this thread

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...on-Motobecane)

post #5 has a pic of what the shifter boss looks like (though on the Helium it's on the top tube), and #8 has a pic of a similar shifter.

I just bought a Sturmey Archer S3X, and am trying to figure out the best option for the shifter lever. It comes with a bar end index shifter, and using that is certainly one possibility. But I would like to use the braze on that the frame came with. Which seems to leave two options: 1) Friction shifting the S3X with the shifter the bike came with and 2) figuring out some way to screw the Sturmey Archer shifter onto my frame.

So I have two questions:

1) Has anyone used a friction shifter with the S3X? Does it work? Is there any danger of damaging the hub this way?

2) Is it possible to file down the braze on boss so that an index shifter can be mounted? Has anyone ever done this?

Thanks for the help!

Matt

David Newton

You gotta show a picture of your bike. Everyone just ignores threads without pictures.
Does SA have any other options of a shifter that would work better for you?
I don't think a friction only shifter is very workable, though it may work.

Velognome 

There are s3x shifters for: bar ends, down tubes and thumbs, get the one that works for you. Yes, using a friction shift will eventually destroy the hub. Since the hub is under constant tension, a missed shift will munch gears.

SLS3X T3Description
• SLS3X R3B 3 Speed thumb shifter with above bar end mount for use with S3X fixed wheel hub
• Shifter can be removed and used on braze on down tube mount



Description
• SLS3X R3B 3 Speed thumb shifter with above bar end mount for use with S3X fixed wheel hub
• Shifter can be removed and used on braze on down tube mounts

mparker326

I have read that you can mount the the thumb shifter to a downtube shifter braze on if you remove the clamp.

JohnDThompson 

While the S3X shifter can be used on a standard braze-on mount, the Simplex mount is not standard and willnot take the S3X shifter. I just mounted it on the stem on my winter bike:

smontanaro 

Correct. I believe it's even on the S3X shifter page on the S-A website. In this case, your unusual braze-on may prevent that. You might try scrounging a clamp-on post and mounting it near your current braze-on. If worse comes to worst, just get whichever of the bar-end or above-the-bar version you think would be your second alternative and mount it there.

rhm

Why won't it fit? Any chance of making it fit with a file?

I would recommend you just use it as a bar end shifter with the standard Sturmey Archer pulley wheel at the top of the seat tube and a fulcrum clamp on the top tube. That is how mine is set up and I like it. Because of the angle of the dropout it is best* to run the cable along the top tube anyway.

* Now someone will post "I run mine on the down tube and it works fine.". Very nice. My point is only that the top tube mount is better.

Bandera

rhm,

Not to derail (as it were) this thread, but I'm about to pull the "trigger" (SA speak) on a S3X myself.
Was looking at 1" & 1 1/8" cable stops and debating setting up:
1) path-racer style as you describe or
B) using the BB & chainstay guides from the frame's OEM life as a road bike.

With 1) do you ever graze the cable running along the TT w/ your knee?

OP:
The SA bar-con works a treat on my AW, simple to fit and anti-stylish.

-Bandera

rhm

No, not that I've ever noticed. It doesn't stick out very much, like 1 or 2 mm max.

Bandera

rhm,

Thanks for the prompt reply.

A pet peeve of mine due to the 70's Brit road bike frame I acquired on the cheap to convert to FG.
No wonder it was a cheap 2nd hand buy. The brake cable stops were (badly) brazed-on so high on the TT they intruded on knee clearance. Since it was a FG I removed the rear brake, rode it for 1 winter and dumped it in the spring. Never again.

-Bandera

owlofminerva

I will definitely post pictures once the build is a bit further along.

I know some early adopters of the S3X used it with friction shifters, but I wonder how that worked out for them in the long run...

This is what I am wondering. But I'm a bit hesitant to go at it with a file unless I am confident I won't totally mess it up. Which, obviously, I'm not. I think having the shifter on the top tube gives the frame character, and I wouldn't want to lose that forever...

Thanks for the advice! This is probably what I'm going to do, even though it makes me kind of sad not to have anything attached to that funny little braze on.

By the way, this guy came up with another option:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/reefflop/4270233282/

I'm not entirely sure I understand how it works... Are there rack braze ons that are identical to standard shifter bosses?

Velognome 

^ The Sturmey Thumb shifter dismounts from it bar clamp, it appears the person used a long Ss. hex bolt to attach the shifter. You should just buy the shifter and experiment with it.