passive jay

Hello!

I recently had an Eagle 2 speed kickback hub installed on my bike. The issue is I do not think it is working properly. This is what I bought https://handsomecycles.com/products/...hub-silver-36h the shop installed it on a new rim for me and sent it to me ready to go.

The problem is when I kickback the pedals it makes a sound like it shifted but it seems to stay in the same gear. I had a friend who is mechanically inclined put it on the bike and it seemed pretty straight forward... but I need to make sure it was installed properly before I start the process of taking it off and trying to get a refund.


Any advice for me? At this point I am starting to contact local bike shops to see if they have any knowledge of the hub to see if they can check it out for me.

dedhed

Installation consists of putting the hub in the frame and attaching the brake reaction arm.

Bunch "O" Bikes, Repair Shop

passive jay

It seemed pretty straight forward, when I noticed that it was not working properly I contacted the shop that sold it to me and they said the chain might be too tight so we played with that some and it did not make any difference. Here is the thing, the guy that put it on for me says he thinks it is working and the the gear size change is not big enough for me to really notice it. I feel like that is not true and he is just tired of messing with it. When he first put it on I noticed a HUGE difference when I kicked the hub back into the lower gear but my guy says that was because it was not adjusted yet... but I feel like that is the way it was supposed to be and the part is defective.

Chuck M 

I'm not familiar with the particular hub you have, but I am with the old Bendix yellow band hubs. Elevate the rear wheel and turn the crank one revolution counting the rear wheel revolutions. Pedal backwards to change gears and do the revolution counts again. It should mathematically come out to the ratio of your hub. If not, make a warranty claim with where you bought it.

passive jay

From what I understand it is a reproduction of the bendix yellow band hubs. Here is what the web site says "This is a faithful re-creation of the Bendix 2-speed Automatic hubs found on so many Schwinns in the late 1960's. The rider back-pedals slightly to shift gears."

Ok, if I am understanding you correctly the amount the wheel turns should be different in each gear, that seems simple to check, thanks!

Chuck M 

Correct. If it is working correctly, then you want to get in the habit of using the correct gear. In theory, you want to start in low gear then kick back into high. Then when you brake, it should automatically shift back to low so you are ready for the next start. Of course if you have to brake when in low gear it will switch you into high so when you start out again you may want to switch back to low.

dedhed

Something along these lines but turning the crank not a driveshaft.

Rolla

I'm skeptical of that explanation.

The Sturmey Archer S2C kickback I had was 1:1 in the low gear, and 1:1.38 in the high gear. The 138% range was very noticeable.

The Eagle yellow band hubs have 1: .67 hub low gear, while high gear is 1:1. So that's a 133% range. I think you would feel that -- otherwise, what's the point?

grizzly59

60's Schwinn Typhoon with a 2-speed was a very noticeable difference between hi and lo

thrillainmanila

Hi. Did you find out why your hub does not shift? I'm asking because I have one that also doesn't shift. I have put five new indexing springs so far, and have changed several internal parts. Each time the indexing spring has its little fingers squashed into oblivion. It shifts while on the stand, but never goes more that a few hundred feet before I feel the low gear become high gear, and then after that it never shifts back to low gear. Any tips for me? Not just conjecture, I want to hear from somebody who actually understands these and has successfully repaired them.

passive jay

I wish I could help. They sent me a second one that works fine.

PBC peugeot

I have used the original 2 speed kick back hubs on a few bikes, not the new made in India reproduction ones,
however I am interested in getting one to test,
when shifting you only do a slight quick backpedal to initiate the gear change,
if you do a hard full backpedal you will engage the coaster brake
the technique for shifting takes a bit of practice

BlazingPedals

I had a bike with a 2-speed as a kid, and yeah there wasn't much difference between the 2 gears. And yes too that you had to brake momentarily to shift it. That was a real pain when trying to go faster. Or it would have been if high gear was enough taller to matter.

passive jay

To be honest, at this point I think the first one I had worked but I had expected a bigger difference so I thought there was an issue. I had used the wrong nut on the first one and slightly stripped the very start of the bolt on the hub so I thought that might be the issue but when I sent it back to the shop it worked fine on one of their bikes. So I bought a new one just in case and have the old one for parts if ever needed.

JohnDThompson 

Perhaps this may help?

thrillainmanila

Thanks. I'm glad to hear of one actually working well over a period of time. Cheers.

daverup 

I bought one of the Eagle 2 speed hubs. I found it to be fairly low quality. Rough bearing surfaces, clutches mating surfaces are cheap copies of the Bendix. The index springs are incredibly fragile, and I gave up on mine after the 2nd replacement spring. I replaced it with a Sturmey Archer 2 speed, but haven't really tested that much yet.
I think the Eagle was a nice idea, but ended up a low quality copy.

thrillainmanila

I agree with you on the quality. This is not up to the level of a Shimano Nexus 3 or even an old Nottingham built Sturmey AW. I'm starting to think maybe the tapers machined into the inside of the hub where the clutches engage might be made too big, letting the clutch go too far to the right, squashing the indexing spring. I used a little grinding paste to lightly hand-lap the horribly-machined low-speed drive clutch, hoping to get the burrs down and increase contact, and then I could see the contact patch inside the hubshell. It was way towards the bottom of the taper. So it's like they come pre-worn out. The worst part is I already built it into a wheel.

PBC peugeot

I am going to put a wanted ad for a used Eagle 2 speed hub
just so I can tear it down for a look inside, and see if it can be improved

daverup 

I tried replacing the clutches with the Bendix parts, but that did not help. I believe the hub shell itself which is incorrect. Good luck

PBC peugeot

that is discouraging

thrillainmanila

I am coming to that conclusion myself, that the hubshell is machined with the tapers too large. I think the low speed clutch goes down so far it hits the end of the drive screw, bottoms out, and then slips. Then it turns on top of the indexing spring fingers and chews them up. I'm thinking of grinding down the end of the drive screw to see if that works. If that doesn't work, I'm fresh out of ideas.

plyanthony

I have this same hub (yellow band) purchased from somafabshop.com. First one came DOA (stuck in 1:1 drive mode), contacted them and they sent me a replacement. Built onto the rim and it worked for 2 short bike rides then just like the first one was stuck in the 1:1 drive mode. When working properly you defiantly feel the lower drive fyi. After reading this forum I may have to give up on this hub. I primarily purchased it because the Sturmey Archer S2C was out of stock everywhere and I couldn't find one. Guess ill need to ask for a refund....