Debating about building a 2 speed rear with either a SRAM Automatix or the Sturmey Archer S2C.
Aside from the obvious Google search review results, has anyone used or wrenched on either/or of these hubs? Opinions? Beardos?
Jim
ehhhhh.
I built up an older sachs kickback, the riding experience wasn’t pleasant.
Plus it was really hard to respace much over 110mm. Reverse dish etc.
I’d rather stick to SS or get a 3sp with a cable shifter.
Only issue (minor) is that there are no cable guides of any sort. Nothing a cable tie wont fix I guess.
Have ridden the Sturmey Archer, and it’s a weird feeling to stay the least. The shifting and the coaster brake (I think they all have an integrated coaster brake) mechanisms were too close together, and I kept getting mixed up when trying to change gears.
I didn’t think it offered much more over single speed, to be honest.
I haven’t ridden either hub but I did a bunch of research into this a couple of months ago. In case you’re interested in going down the SRAM Automatix path…there are multiple versions of the hub with wildly varying weights (~740g to ~1500g) and it’s often unclear what is actually being sold.
Some links I found helpful:
SRAM review and tips on how to modify the shifting point (includes link to S2C review) :
SRAM Automatix two speed hub review
One of the commenters is Csaba Toth, he’s done some other digging around and modification experiments, really knows his stuff and is an all-round nice guy too. Last I heard he was about to try modifying the lighter super-hard-to-find version of the hub- I’ve only seen modifications of the heavier ones.
The only known seller of the lighter aluminium version of the hub:
Sram 2 Gang Automatik Disk Getriebenabe “Automatix” silber incl. Anbauset | eBay