Andy: I am always as you know far more than happy to bloviate about my bikes and bits, but thanks for your thanks.
I do enjoy hub gears for some reason; it's not merely a whimsey or conceit. I suppose I *like* the limitations they impose on my riding: like a fixed drivetrain does, but giving just a wee bit more in possibilities to accommodate my aging legs and lungs. The TF in particular is superb. For pure practicality for most riding nothing beats a mid-level Shimano derailleur drivetrain. But I find a great deal of pleasure in having to adapt my pedaling and breathing to different conditions with just 1 fixed, and now 2 fixed gears; ditto for the 3 speed fw IGH on another bike. And there is certainly aesthetic pleasure in the simplicity of an IGH drivetrain, with all the moving bits packaged nicely away inside a shiny hub shell. I suppose too that growing up in ex British colonies 20 years and even 5 years after independence, with the preponderance of Brit mid-century tech still kicking about, had something to do with it (and not just bikes; big Jags, real Mini Coopers, Ford Anglias, Morris minors, as well as Beano comics, Enid Blyton, and pork pies; etc etc). Ryan: Sturmey Archer made dozens of different models starting with its first hub in 1902 (tho' there had been epicyclic hub gears before that; the first I think I read was a 2-speed made for the hubs of "boneshakers" -- so even before the "pennyfarthings." http://sturmey-archerheritage.com >From the 1930s at least, if not before to the early 1960s or late '50s SA made in addition to their wide range hubs a number of medium and close ratio hubs, free and fixed, for the club market, 2, 3, 4, and 5 speeds. I have a medium ratio 3 speed fw IGH wheel on my road/errand bike, the AM hub (my 2 were made in 1955 and 1956 and have aluminum shells) with direct, 15.55% overdrive and 86.54% underdrive (with a 65" direct that's 75" and 56" for indirect gears). For the blue gofast, designed originally for a fixed drivetrain, I bought the TF and the TC for extra headwind and hill wheels: the TC is direct and 86.54%, so geared to 76" in direct I get a 66" headwind gear; and the TF gives ms 76" direct and a 57" climbing gear. The TC's innards are slightly more complex than those of the TF and there is a lot more internal slop whereas the TF has very simple internals and almost no slop at all. Both are dated 1937 and both have steel shells. The TF was NOS, the TC refurbished. On Sun, Apr 9, 2023 at 7:14 AM Ryan <[email protected]> wrote: > The hub looks lovely. But enlighten me please. What is TC and TF? > > On Sunday, April 9, 2023 at 7:05:05 AM UTC-5 ascpgh wrote: > >> Patrick, kudos on the return to appearance and function of that hub! >> Stuff that works deserves to be kept serviceable and this is certainly a >> great example. The fact that your senses are rewarded by its operation >> under your riding circumstances and that you have been able to return it to >> original or better condition is awesome. Thanks for sharing your >> observations and its progress. >> >> I am in the camp of those who perceive the bike part makers narrowing >> their objectives and becoming interested mainly in selling the latest >> gizmos to people of either experience or mostly of concern for keeping up >> with the latest kit rather than propagating continued use of something made >> previously. That new hub based system that can vary tire pressure comes to >> mind, which is really a "say no more" item in my mind compared to your hub. >> >> Andy Cheatham >> Pittsburgh >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgtsrskuESpQZFxXs2_NEYZi_KzWFZb5C8Q_uWmLBubEoQ%40mail.gmail.com.
