Originally Posted by 79pmooney

I was told by my club vets to set my UO-8 fixed, keeping the brakes, to improve my pedaling. This was June. I was sold my first ride and have had one n my stable ever since (now half of my 6 bikes). That was 1976. The next year I worked in a bike shop and raced/trained seriously. Late hours at work, a friend of our mechanic used to come by and much of the time, the topic was fixed gears. They both had and had dissected ASC hubs. Both agreed that hub was probably not a good fit for me as they didn't feel it was really the tool for a racer; that I'd probably break it. So I stayed one-speed, usually close variations of 42-17. I've diversified the past decade by running double sided hubs and a custom fix gear with a very long dropout (not track end). Rode 5 Cycle Oregons on it, running 3 cogs on the mountain days and carrying the chainwhip you can see on my avatar photo.

So, comments - I don't know how old or how strong you are so I do not know if those mechanics advice about not using an ASC applies. I know Ann Arbor well and spent three years riding all winter, first on the UO-8 single speed before I was turned onto fix gears, then on the third evolution of that bike. Brakes - use two. Ann Arbor has hills that will be far nicer going up with both levers as handles and the drawbacks to having both to anything besides ego are very small. (And first time you have a downhill issue with your front, whatever drawbacks there were will vanish very quickly.. My workhose fix gear wore fenders year 'round, a then cable, now U-lock and a rack that evolved to a Lowrider. I highly recommend the Lowrider route. Out of the saddle rocking is the most civilized way to get uphill. But weight in back is a lever working at odds with your arms. Same weight in Lowriders doesn't affect out of the saddle and even wild rocking at all. (Just make sure your front tire is big enough and wheel strong enough. Loaded Lowriders kill front wheels that aren't up to it. They usual bunny hop and riding "light" don't happen.

Re: gears and fixed riding - early mountain road races were ridden on fix gears but double sided hubs. The peloton stopped and flipped at the bottom of mountains, My two recent fix gear bikes (the custom and my revamped Mooney) have been conceived of from the beginning as multi-speed but stopping and flipping the wheel or changing cogs as had to happen back in the old days. So changing gears requires a stop and loss of momentum. It is a commitment. But it also allows me to do rides to and around Crater Lake, next week in Oregon's Painted Hills and through the very far from flat west hills of Portland that nearly reach my back yard. And trust me, 42-23 or 42-12 fixed are just as real as 42-17. Like 42-17, sublime in the right conditions and like 42-17, oh-so-wrong in others!

Edit: The friend of our mechanic who didn't think the ASC was for me was this unknown fellow that went by the name Sheldon. Tubulars. No, my fix gears were way more proletariat and just wore working class sewups. 300g training cottons in summer, cyclocross tires in winter. I hit two streets in 6 mostly car-less winters in Ann Arbor and Boston that were un-ridable. One was an irregular sheet of ice, the other had deep car tire ruts in very heavy Boston snow. Went down on both three times. Walked the last half of the icy one. Very sore.

Originally Posted by rogerm3d

Because of cost and fragility I would opt for the S3X hub instead. I would only consider the ASC for a museum piece. In regards to durability the first generation S3X shifter has slightly different indexing which will cause gears to slip and eventual failure of the sliding key. The hub is the same across all years and the sliding key is fairly easy to replace. The indexing on this hub is different from other hubs so you can't use any old sturmey archer shifter.
I got 10 years of use from a first generation configuration with occasional slipping/adjustment before the sliding key failed. After replacing the key and shifter (at Sturmey Archer's recommendation, their support is quite good) I haven't had any slippage over several thousand miles and hard riding (Eroica CA).
I find the lash on the S3X hub to be inconsequential for ridding. It doesn't work for track stands but provides the riding benefits of a fixed gear for training and riding around town. Surley cogs fit perfectly on the hub giving you a wide range for gearing.

Originally Posted by Road Fan

I haven't seen any prices on ASC yet. For S3X I've seen $200 to $250 on Ebay.

Originally Posted by rogerm3d

I got 10 years of use from a first generation configuration with occasional slipping/adjustment before the sliding key failed. After replacing the key and shifter (at Sturmey Archer's recommendation, their support is quite good) I haven't had any slippage over several thousand miles and hard riding (Eroica CA).

Originally Posted by bikamper

I hope I can kind of help. I do ride a 3 speed fixed gear, though neither an ASC nor an S3X. I use a modified FW converted to a 3 speed fixed gear using some parts from a trashed S5. It's also in a Super Course frame that I use for FG touring. It's a very sweet riding bike, and other than tubulars and a rear brake, set up like you proposed. There is some slop in low gear and less in the other two. It's just me, but I have never felt the 'fixed gear lash' to be an issue. I don't give it much thought. The modified FW has a wider range than the ASC. Comes in handy getting your lard butt up some hills. And, has a neutral position for when the need to get off your sore butt and coast a bit.
I never gave much thought to riding fixed to get back into shape as much as working on 'fluidity and balance', which can also be achieved by riding rollers. Though riding rollers, if we're being honest, is boring as hell. I will recommend you ride with some kind of foot retention, though something that floats to save your knees.
I'm thinking that you are considering something like this.


If lash is an issue and you can live with two speeds instead of three, a modified Bendix Power Brake hub is the way to go. Though the crude American cousin to Sturmeys' jewel like, and fragile, TF hub. It's butt simple, bullet proof, easy to build and parts are somewhat still available.

Originally Posted by JohnDThompson

As @clubman noted above ~$500 for a used hub and the proprietary shifter is not out of the question.

I paid $180 for my new S3X a decade ago.

Originally Posted by Road Fan

Well, I like that quite a lot! I wish I had a green Super Course! I have a green UO-8 frame with a bad fork and a good blue UO-8 with a good fork One of those will be the fixed cruiser donor.

I think I'll first build it as a plain single-speed drive with a fairly easy gear, to get used to the fixed experience. After that I'll see about multi-speeds, either flip-flop or gearhub.

Originally Posted by Road Fan

I am not even sure I'll like riding fixed. Maybe my first effort will be a single fairly moderate gearing, with brakes, fenders, and possibly a light TA or Pletcher front rack and a generator lighting set. Other points (hubs, rims, BB, chainset, pedals) to be settled later.

It will also show me if lash bothers me. My guess is it worn't but I really just need to try it.

Originally Posted by JohnDThompson

The quickest, cheapest way to test out fixed gear riding is to install a threaded track sprocket on a threaded road hub, with a bottom bracket lockring to secure the sprocket. This set-up is often derisively referred to as a "suicide hub," but as long as you don't try to use your legs for braking the rear wheel, there's little risk of the sprocket loosening. Once you've decided to commit, you can get a real track hub or flip-flop hub to eliminate the risk of sprocket loosening.

Originally Posted by bikamper

Thanks.
You'll either love or hate fixed gear riding. It took me a bit to get used to it, but when I did it's been some of the most fun I've had cycling. It's kept me feeling young even if I ain't(66).