Today was trade/media day at London’s annual Cycle Show at Earls Court. Among the most talked-about new exhibits was the long-awaited Sturmey Archer three-speed fixed wheel hub, the S3X. In the craze for all things fixed, Sturmey’s ancient ASC, a three-speed fixed hub that went out of production in the mid 1950s, has been selling for enormous sums on Ebay and for a few years now it has been rumoured that Sturmey would bring it back into production. The S3X is now ready to roll.
Mechanically it is nothing like the ASC as it is a new design based around Sturmey’s existing five-speed hub components. I gather orders are robust and the hub is expected to sell well to a fairly niche market, at a relatively high price of £200+ including the cables and trigger. Despite all the anticipation, I am not taken by the S3X. I think a three speed hub with a cable and trigger detracts from the minimal aesthetic that makes the urban fixed wheel bicycle desirable. If you want gears, get a bike with gears. If you want simplicity, by all means ride a fixed wheel or single speed bicycle. As unmoved as I was by the S3X my attention was drawn to something altogether more novel and less well-advertised: the Sturmey Archer S2C. Only one prototype exists and it was proudly on show for the first time ever at the Moulton Bicycle Company’s stand as part of an protoype of a Pashley-built belt-drive TSR2 model.
The S2C is Sturmey’s modern version of the Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo Duomatic, a two-speed hub with kick-back gear change and coaster brake that dates from the 1960s. These hubs have something of a cult following and are difficult, though not impossible, to come by. One of my bikes has one and it’s fantastic to ride. A little back-pedal changes the gear (from high to low, or low to high) and a big back-pedal engages the powerful brake. Unlike rim brakes, a hub brake works as well in the wet as in the dry.
Sturmey have built a new version and I believe it’s going to be a hit. Two speeds allows good acceleration from a standing start and a higher cruising gear than on a single speed bike. The kick-back gear change and coaster brake mean that there are no cable runs to the rear wheel. The result is a faster ride than a fixed wheel bike, with better braking performance, but all the simplicity of the fixed aesthetic. Sturmey will bring the hub into production early next year and the retail price is expected to be in the region of £60-£80. Ninon Asuni, who runs Bicycle Workshop, and knows a thing or two about hub gears, thinks they’re great. Dan Farrell of Moulton (who can claim some of the credit for getting Sturmey to develop the new hub) shares her excitement. Informed sources tell me Sturmey are anticipating huge sales of this hub: around a quarter of a million a year. And no wonder. I can see a LOT of people who’ve bought fixed wheel bicycles switching to this hub gear. Fichtel and Sachs (now SRAM) have really missed a trick in not reviving their Duomatic but three cheers for Sturmey for stepping in. Sturmey Archer, now owned and based in Taiwan remains proud of its great heritage in British cycling, are going great guns with the current revival in the popularity of hub gears. Long may they prosper!
Sturmey Archer SX3:
Sturmey Archer S2C (with belt drive, optional):
More pics from the Cycle Show 2009
10 responses so far ↓
1 The Bike Show > Fixie-Killer: Sturmey Archer S2C « Moulton Buzz // Oct 9, 2009 at 12:30 am
[...] Bike Show > Fixie-Killer: Sturmey Archer S2C via Fixie-Killer: Sturmey Archer S2C | The Bike Show – a cycling radio show and podcast from Reson…. The S2C is Sturmey’s modern version of the Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo Duomatic, a two-speed hub [...]
2 Mark Stonich // Oct 9, 2009 at 2:22 am
Anyone heard anything about a new closer ratio Sturmey 5 speed? I see that Pashley showed a 5 speed version of the Clubman at the London Show. I can’t imagine anyone wanting a sporting bike with the 5(W)s ratios. An S5M sure would be sweet.
3 The Cycle Show 2009 - Page 2 - London Fixed-gear and Single-speed // Oct 9, 2009 at 9:06 am
[...] sets coming out : http://www.flickr.com/photos/1987134…7622545366532/ – moulton TSR2 and read http://thebikeshow.net/fixie-killer-sturmey-archer-s2c/ ref the Hub. Fixie killer? An interesting thing indeed. [...]
4 Cycle Show redux | The Bike Show - a cycling radio show and podcast from Resonance FM // Oct 9, 2009 at 10:58 am
[...] RSS ← Fixie-Killer: Sturmey Archer S2C [...]
5 Liam // Oct 11, 2009 at 6:38 am
Wow, I have a couple of duomatics, one on a Moulton Mk3 and for city riding nothing else beats them in terms of simplicity. Great news that Sturmey are introducing their own version, wonder if its any lighter than the duomatic, you would hope so.
6 Barrett // Oct 31, 2009 at 3:01 am
I have a Torpedo Duomatic on a 70s Motobecane Grand Jubilé, and love it, but it’s s bit worn, and I’d love a replacement, which means either sourcing a NOS Sachs (Moulton supposedly has a few on offer) or wait and see what the new Sturmey is all about. Decisions!
- Barrett
7 EN // Nov 5, 2009 at 6:33 am
From what I can see on the Sunrace-Sturmey Blog, they are simply refusing to answer questions about this suppposed S2C, which may mean they are not committed to bringing it to market – see http://sunrace-sturmeyarcher.blogspot.com/2009/09/interbike-2009.html where 3 pointed questions have gone unanswered.
I equally asked a question on that site and the question was never approved to be posted. I sent them an e-mail and no answer either.
8 Jack // Nov 5, 2009 at 8:27 am
@EN:
I asked Alan Clarke, General Manager of Sturmey Archer Europe about the S2C, listen to what he had to say by clicking here.
9 EN // Nov 5, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Jack:
Thanks for the sound clip.
Perhaps they are keeping it a bit hush on the message boards to build excitement around the product, as oppossed to not being fully committed?
I have the original F&S Torpedo Duomatic (42 years old) and it works like a charm after thousands of and thousands of miles. I use it on one of my city commuting bikes – often switching between 1:1 and 1:1.36 gears.
It is all anybody really needs in the city (unless you have to attack long and steep hills). No cables to ruin the aestetic. Everybody just assumes I am running a single speed coaster brake. They are simply amazed by the concept when I tell them.
Sturmey should do well with such a hub.
10 christian // Dec 3, 2009 at 9:08 am
Does anyone know if the new gear from strumey is allready in production , and if we allready can purchase this gear hub? If not do you think the old S2C is available and any good?
I’m in process of ordering an old school bike and i am in dubio of ordering the nexus 3-speed with cables or should i wait for the 2 or 3 speed hub from sturmey without the cables?
thanks for the reply.
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