jfny1978

Ok, so I am now a few months into working on bikes, and I feel like I know a fair amount. I have a network of people giving bikes to me, and I give them to a YMCA program, I make them work as is for me, or I strip them for parts to build myself things, or I recycle them.

I got this Humber bicycle today. It has what looks to me to be a gear shifter, but there's only there are no gears in the back as best I can tell. Anyone have an idea what the heck that's all about? Either someone did something crazy to this bike that doesn't work, or I just don't understand. The latter is possible!

The first 2 pics are of the issue, and then I'm posting a few other pics of the bike for fun.

BFisher

That's an internal gear rear hub. Look into sheldonbrown.com for information on old English 3 speeds. Also check out the long running thread on this site, "For the Love of English 3 Speeds."

jfny1978

Thank you! I get these bikes to learn something new, so I guess I'm about to.

scarlson 

Here's the relevant Sheldon Brown link, for 3-speed hub information.

Your hub is very likely a Sturmey Archer AW. Here's how to adjust them.

The information on rebuilding or servicing these can be found here.

Don't be intimidated! It's actually pretty easy to do. Often if it doesn't shift well, all that is wrong is the adjustment. If you get "neutral" in a one gear after you've adjusted the cable, probably a few pawls are stuck. Sometimes you can just dump oil down the hub to free up the pawls, but if you need to rebuild it, they're really not bad, and usually all the internal parts just *work*. These hubs last forever with a drop of oil now and then. Hell, even without the oil, they last darn near forever!

jfny1978

Cool, thank you! I am excited to learn about this.

brianinc-ville

OP: That is definitely an awesome Humber bike. Have fun with it!

Everybody else: this is a great reminder of what the rest of the world sees when they look at our bikes.

cudak888 

Down with derailers and the mindset associated with them. /s*

-Kurt

P.S.: Only 50% sarcasm, thanks to an argument with someone from the LAB who tried to insist that you couldn't shift an IGH while stopped.

markk900

Nice score - you will have a lot of fun with it. My recommendation though - don't go too fast. For example, often you feel like you have to totally disassemble something to fix it up - that hub might be working just fine with a flush and new oil. The paint and decals look great on that bike so do your research and go slowly trying to bring it back without stripping it all down. That crank will shine up nicely I think - my Humber had a rustier/dirtier one when I got it and it looks great today..... Of course its your bike and if you want to take it down to individual parts for the heck of it have at it! It *will* be fun no matter what.

jfny1978

Thanks so much. Yeah, that's what I was thinking with this one, funny enough. I think it will ride, and stop with just different tires, which I already pulled off another bike I was given. Once I am sure that works, I can work on the gear hub and clean the whole thing up a little bit.

Side note: I was reading your post from 2019 about your Humber earlier today...I liked how someone told you "It's your bike, not a national treasure" - lol. So true.

Road Fan

first thing before riding is to get a little lube on the chain, a little on the little chain that goes into the rear hub. Also a drop on each brake pivot. That little chain is what makes your gears shift, being pulled by the gear lever on the bars, that you showed.