Oh yeah! Depending on the amount of backlash this could be a very nice hub.
Looks like there’s a lot of support to name it after Sheldon, and also for a barcon/downtube shifter mount.
That is a great idea. Do they have any idea on a price?
Updated info:
Thumb and barcon shifters, looks like a standard downtube boss will also work with it.
No homage to Sheldon, uses hyperglide sprocket pattern.
That whole “name it after Sheldon” thing was a bit of a long shot, I always thought. I don’t think the suits at Sturmey-Archer would be particularly into the idea of wrangling with the royalties issues involved with calling a hub “the Sheldon”.
As an aside, I must chuckle at the name they did choose for it. The “S3X”? LOL SEX
I just found out about this thing today looks like it’s gonna be available soon and comes in a variety of hipster colours
http://sunrace-sturmeyarcher.blogspot.com/
I for one would be interested in getting one, getting off to change gears on my fixed/fixed hub is getting annoying and this thing comes in 120mm OLD, unlike nexus 8sp which i was also considering.
i do have two issues however:
the 46mm chainline and the shimano HG spline pattern for the cogs.
My bike is actually spaced @126mm or whatever 8sp roadies are so I was thinking I could just add 4mm of spacers to the drive side of the axle giving a 42 mm chain line so i could swap the 3sp wheel in and out with my regular fixed wheel (no doubt there is some fundamental flaw with this plan but i can’t think of it yet)
Given the issues I’ve had getting the circlips ON to IG hubs, I don’t even want to try taking them off (Maybe I’m just a muppet). A splined sprocket & lockring would be super easy to work with, and you can use DX or Surly sprockets with it.
46mm isn’t that bad, just get a wider BB. If the hub doesn’t have much backlash you may never take it off your bike! 8-10sp road, 7-9sp MTB is 130mm, 7sp road is 126mm.
The fundamental flaw could be this: There may be a fixed cone/locknut on the drive side that can’t be spaced out, due to the axle-dropout interface required to transmit the rotating torque from an IGH. Nexus/old SA use axles with flats and non turn washers, my Sachs Duomatic has a serrated locknut face, so I could only space it on the NDS, which gave it reverse dish and a wide chainline. That said, it has axle flats, so you should be ok to muck with the spacing a bit.
I hope there’s a dust cover for those bearings…
Barcon, thumbie or downtube… decisions!
I’ll take black or silver, and will try one as soon as the first positive user reviews are in.
must be 7sp its only a bit wider than a 120mm track hub
I’ve had my (2nd hand shimano) BB for over 2 years and have failed to kill it also if you’ve seen my cranks you’d know that the fact that they work at all is a minor miracle i’d rather not mess with (i know i know, i should buy a new bike but I n+1’d on a MTB, hey it was free, and i’m still living in a shoe box). My current wheel is a fixed/fixed phil which gives a very smooth ride and might survive wet commuting better also if the mood takes me i can always run a freewheel on it so it would be nice to be able to swap without braking out the BB spanner.
Looks like the axel flats engage the non turn washers like a nexus so you could just put washers/nuts on the inside of them and still be fine. Does it need different non turn washers for every type of drop out like nexus (a hub which was guaranteed to ship with whichever washer you didn’t need)?
Does the barcon convert to DT? I’d like to try DT for minimal cabling but barcons might be more user friendly.
I think i’ll go with red laced 4X with bladed tie dye titanium spokes to a glow in the dark H+son :evil: :evil: :evil:
Assuming you can’t get a 42mm chainline, what if you set it up so that the inner position is 42mm and outer is 46mm. Or close to that? Then you can leave the BB, and just move the chainring (or run two! ghettofabulous)
I received washers for vertical, two types of semi-horizontal & track ends with mine. Busted out the protractor to work out which of the semis would work best (Easier than test fitting? No, but it was getting dusty next to my slide rule and sextant)
There’s only one type of washer, as the shifter goes in the axle rather than having a cassette joint, doesn’t matter how the axle is oriented to the frame.
I think that the shifter is adaptable. Just as barcons use the same boss as DT, the thumbie will probably also have the same square boss. Whether SA supply both a barcon and thumb mount with the lever remains to be seen. Big props if they do.
DT would be nice for cabling, barcon for rando style points and thumbie for flats & risers.
PS, It’s Breaking! :evil: :grammernatsi:
We have a winner! Come on Blakey, getting the IG circlip on or off takes 10 seconds and a small blade screwdriver. 
I must be doing something seriously wrong. It’s taken me a fair bit of effort and springing circlips in all directions on three different hubs. Thinking about it, it would be easier to get them off, but I’ve never had to.
I’ll come by for a lesson when I’m next in BNE!
Previous comment re: lockring retracted, I’m sure I read it somewhere, but it looks like a traditional circlip is used.
Brief user review here:
http://www.traitorcycles.com/
Noticeable slack when skidding, but ok for backpedal deceleration.
2 chain rings were mandatory on my old ghettofabulous shimano 600 cranks. I’ve now got a sugino 75 on the drive side with the knurled chain ring bolts which pretty much become one with the crank arm making running rings on the inside difficult. maybe I could use a suitable crank arm on the left for the S3x 
one type of washer is good
review seems OK I didn’t think it’d be too flash for skidding but i’m more interested in the hub for audax and touring type stuff (I already have the beard for it after all). I rode out to my brothers place in leongatha a few weeks ago and the hills and variable winds had me thinking all sorts of unnatural thoughts about gears and free wheels, but he S3x looks like the ticket. Now i just have to find one.
Re: braking I know there should be an e in there but you get in trouble for putting it in the wrong place so i left it out all together 
It’s Nazi, not Natsi :evil:
Or are you just trying to be 'Nasti"? ba-doom-ching
It’s Nazi, not Natsi :evil:
Or are you just trying to be 'Nasti"? ba-doom-ching
[/quote]
Intentional typo. You’ll see that ‘grammer’ is also wrong
latest info:
http://sunrace-sturmeyarcher.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html
looks like spacers may allow some tweaking of the chain line, and you can now add a (standard) freewheel by threading it over the splines which is a nice touch.
It also appears to have a differnet dust cover over tehdrive side bearings.
I still can’t find any info on when they will be available
I read on the sturmey blog that it should be released in march (which isn’t far away)
More info:
-The gold spacers seen in the recently-released photos are indeed intended to allow for chainline adjustments.
-S-A will be producing its own cogs for the hub, but any cog meant for a Shimano hub body will work.
-The actual shifter is the same on all shifter setups, but it will be up to the distributors which setups they will offer. I am hoping that QBP carries all of them. I say ‘all of them’ because that is what the S-A guy said. Perhaps that means that there will be more than just the bar-end/bar-top options? I imagine that it will also interface with dt shifter bosses, so that could be a third option.
-It will only be offered in a 36-hole drilling.
PS, there was one fitted to an Igleheart at NAHBS recently:
Just got back from NAHBS and checked out the prototype. Its a nice product, but there is a bit of backlash in the hub. Not an unreasonable amount, but there is some movement. As this is the prototype, the finished product will likely be even better. The shifter was also nicely done. Great work guys.
And from the Taipei Intl Bike show:
Check out the lockring. Looks like an ext BB cup.
With a +/- 46mm chainline whilst bad for 42mm track setups is great for the outer ring on road doubles.
120 or 130mm OLD it seems too and around US$150.
Roll on Sturmey. I’ll take one in silver and stick a photo of Sheldon over the ‘S3X’ logo.
Update!
http://www.sturmey-archer.com/pdfs/Sturmey-Archer_2009-2010_Catalogue.pdf
Specs are in the catalogue, excerpts below.
990g
120 or 130mm OLD, not sure if you can space the 120 out or not, will depend on the locknut arrangement on the driveside.
12 or 13T 3/32"
12 to 18T 1/8"
Hubshell: silver/gold/black/blue/purple
Matching high flange bolt on front hubs
Shifter options: 22.2mm Thumbie, Barcon, 27.2 Seat post?
Chainline adjustable from 42 to 45mm
Matching crankset in 130 or 144BCD, silver or black, square taper, solid black chainrings 42/44/46/48T. 103mm BB for 42mm chainline. 700 - 800g
:mrgreen:
a shifter on the seatpost??? never seen that done but on a 3 speed, why not…?
990g - just tie a cast iron pot to your ass.