SkinGriz

I finally have an IGH bike. It’s just a cheap 3 speed cruiser.

I don’t understand how to shorten the cable. It looks like it just terminates into a barrel adjust at one end and is inside the twist grip shifter on the other end.

I’d like to mount a different shifter on either the seat post or quill stem, but don’t know how.

Thank you.

3alarmer 

...the cable you have there has a little crimp on thingy on the barrel adjust end, that is inside the barrel. The end that is fed inside the trigger shifter is also terminated in a crimped on sleeve. They are like the fishing crimps you use for fishing with wire leaders, which come in various small sizes. To work with these yourself, the best tool is an old Bell Telephone repairman's crimper. You can make your own cables, any length you want, using new derailleur cable housing and cable. You just cut the stop end off the cable, and use the crimps to set it up.



Or you can just buy a replacement cable, with a bolt on barrel adjustor, that you can tighten anywhere along the cable, to adjust length.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Three-Spe...lack/890432719


Completely in the dark on what you mean by a different shifter. The different SA 3 speed hubs need a certain pull amount to correctly shift, along with the proper internal rod length. It's not hard to screw this up if you don't really understand what's going on internally. There are (or at least there were) some alternative bar end SA shifters that work well.

SkinGriz

Thank you.

It says AWC and has a grip shifter.
I’ve never liked grip shifters.

3alarmer 

...they have made a couple of AW C (for coaster brake) versions. they still make and sell a modern one, from Asia.

I know nothing about the new ones from Asia, but have heard from others they use similar parts and shifters to the AW, which is the perennial favorite, British three speed hub in the C+V world.

The grip shifters I've seen on these are nothing to write home about. Besides the standard trigger shifters, which are usually bar mounted, there are also more expensive bar end shifters and thumbies. I have used all of these in the past with good results. The main idea is that most, if not all of the AW hubs will shift OK with a properly installed and adjusted SA three speed shifter. Never had the urge to mount the shifter to the stem or seatpost.

JoeTBM 

Never thought of that one, I even have one around here somewhere, I worked for NY Tel at one time. The splicing sleeve that worked with it were copper, there were two sizes, one for drop with and the other for bridle wire (outdoor twisted stuff). I'll be they best for this would be the bridle type, something like this

tcs

Production was moved to Taiwan 21 years ago. Still the same design manufactured in the UK; all parts are interchangeable.

BTW, every after-market Sturmey shifter I've purchased came with a new shift cable.

SkinGriz

So for clarification. An SA 3 speed shifter will work with an SA 3 speed hub? And usually comes with a cable?

Do they come with some sort of indexing or detent?

Thank you.

tcs

Yes (a 'Quadrant' shifter from the 1920s will even work), yes, and yes.

Sturmey-Archer: index shifting since 1903.

https://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/products/3-sp

PS - You DO NOT want the "3-speed rotary" shifters. They have a different cable pull.

3alarmer 

...IIRC, the #3 size fits the diameter for current stainless derailleur inner cable wire. If you are using brake cable and housing (which also works), you will need to size up the #4.

alcjphil

You can also buy shift cable ends that have a pinch bolt so that you can easily shorten the cable at the hub end of the cable:

https://www.amazon.ca/Sturmey-Archer...0439256&sr=8-2

Dan Burkhart 

Generally true. The exception would be the RX series rotary shift.
Also worth noting that modern production shifters with the exception of the classic trigger shifter all take standard shift cable inners.

SkinGriz

Thank you all.

I ended up using a bar end shifter. It came with the appropriate cable and cable housing.

For the hub end I ended up using the adapter that clamps the wire but has the barrel adjuster on the other side.

Followed RJs videos on how to adjust.

Poured synthetic ATF into the hole where the shift chain comes out of.

Mostly this whole thing was to determine if I like IGHs. So far I do. I can see why they’d be good for an errand bike or commuting bike. I did not notice any noticeable drag over my cheap freewheel rear ends. I think the gear spacing makes sense for a bike not intended to be high performance.

First gear sounds like it has some type of grit or something.

tcs

Dr. Chet Kyle and bike drivetrain guru Frank Berto tested various gear set-ups for efficiency some years back. They found broken-in and properly lubricated three-speed hubs are astoundingly efficient (much to Mr. Berto's surprise, as he had dismissed them as 'friction boxes' some years before!)

SkinGriz

I would think it’s plausible that 2nd gear is more efficient than a rear derailleur.

GamblerGORD53

I do mile centuries with my 2017 SA X-RD3 on a 50 lbs loaded 1973 CCM Elan. Both wheels were upgraded, but the front hub was put in the new 650B Dyad rim. Easy as pie. Quiet as a mouse. I don't mind the big ratio gap. I have it 46/19T. About 47/ 64/ 84 GI. Shift speed is 10 or 11 mph. The shifter is mounted on the TT near the stem.

SkinGriz

The farthest I’ve ridden as an adult is 6 miles.

Need to change that.