Overhaul Sturmey Archer TCW III 3 Speed Hub w/ Coaster Brake
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ก.ย. 2024
- I show how to disassemble, clean, lube, and re-assemble a Sturmey-Archer (TCW III) 3 speed hub with coaster brake. A complete teardown/rebuild. The bike is a made in England Dunelt. The hub date stamped 68, so the bike is likely from 1968 or 69.
▶ SUBSCRIBE & HIT THE 🔔 bit.ly/SubRJThe...
👍 And please give my video a thumbs up 👍
▶FACEBOOK.com/RJTheBikeGuy
/ rjthebikeguy
▶TOOLS
www.rjthebikegu...
▶SHIRTS
bit.ly/RJBikeGu...
▶WEBPAGE
www.RJTheBikeGu...
For more bike repair videos hit the subscribe button 🛑 and click the notification bell ► bit.ly/SubRJTheBikeGuy
Sturmey Archer.. my nemesis for the last 10 years.
This is the absolute best video I have ever seen for rebuilding a SA hub. Thank you very much.
Oh my god! This hub has more pieces then my whole bike! NICE JOB end NICE VIDEO!!!!
Flor.e.Cultura This is Juan Gonzalez I now those bikes like my self Mr. bike men mechanic I hope to meet you some day this brings me a lot of memories you’re about my age I need to have a friend like you
RJ you are the absolute greatest.. mine says sc3 model but it's the same design and process. Thanks for helping me get my bike back up and running. You sir are an invaluable service
RJ...just did this overhaul today...also on a Dunelt (1964). Your instructions were flawless!! Thank you!
Best, most complete video on the TCW out there! Thanks. I think you got your gear numbers backwards. The correct numbers are: Indicator rod all the way in (relaxed) = 3rd (highest). All the way out (pulled against spring) = 1st (lowest).
Its amazing just how much engineering went into the hub esp for how little they cost
The practice took me all day to assemble with assistance but I got it done and will test tomorrow. Thank you very much. One broken part onlly.
Thanks for posting this. Gave me the courage to fix mine. Found that one of the pawls on the third gear ring wasn't retracting all the way.......looks like it was made wrong. Found a used part and now it works like new. Also, no matter where you out grease it quickly gets diluted and washed out by the oil.
Brilliant video well done ,it is so much better than any other way to learn ,I have steered clear of these type of gears but watching this ,I might have a go!,thank you again for your fantastic videos
Beautifully done!!! Now I'm ready!! Thank you!!!!!!
Great tutorial! Made it easy, thanks!
Excellent excellent excellent. Just got one of these drum brake 3 speed Sturmey Archer on what I thought was a simple 3 speed. So glad to find this with drum brake to be able to rebuild it. Thanks again for through high quality images as well as step by step instructions.
Quite a few pieces there..lol. Another great video. Makes me want to try one myself.
At 10:00. That indicator pin got me all jacked up when I had to put a few spokes into the rim. It fell out and I had never seen it before. Now I know. Gonna try to fix the wheel very soon now. My axl is just a few parts luckily.
You know I have several thousand dollar expensive dream mountain bicycles but even with all that I have always wanted one of these three speed bicycles and have since I was a kid. Maybe I'll have to go find a used one like this to rebuild. Thanks for the video!
Look for a Sturmey Archer AW hub. Those things will list nearly forever! th-cam.com/video/oHHaajDcL_g/w-d-xo.html
Genious nicely explained.
Best videos have to say.
Briliant.👍👍👍
Hi RJ, Will you or can you do a demo on a S3C hub? Thanks for all your demos!
I have just copied your video as I have the same Hub on an old bike.. superb range of videos, so glad you take the time to do them.. and as an Englishman I really love the fact that you dont use the words.. PUPPIES, PUPPY, BAD BOY, SUCKER, BAM, and the like.. Keep up the good work..
Fantastic video! Thank you!
EXCELLENT VIDEO
Also related question: if the shifting cable wasn’t adjusted correctly will that lead to excessive wear on the hub gears? In other words are these things indestructible or quite the opposite?
Thanks!, way cool to see!, gotta watch the rest later😛👌🚴♂️
😊🚴♂️🚴♂️👌
Hello. I've been restoring another bike with the TCW III hub and the springs for the pawls have perished. I guess I will have to force out the pins that hold in the pawls to put in new springs. I've seen NOS SA pawl springs on ebay for HSA-120; do you know if these are compatible for the TCW? Thanks.
very good
Where can I get a replacement cable and shifter, thanks
Do you have any tutorials on an earlier 1960 TCW hub? It a little bit different!
RJ, Great video and this is going to be quite helpful to restore a S3C hub I have for a Fair Lady Schwinn, I'm restoring for my wife's birthday. You mentioned a split in one of the sprocket spacing washers. One of my washers split when I was removing the ring clip, and was wondering if your washer was split on purpose, or did it split at some point during its lifetime. My hub is missing one of the odd HSA 469 pawl springs on the driver. Do you happen to know a source for these? Thanks. Mark in Kennewick, Washington
Hey I have a 1976 Schwinn Stingray 3 speed. It seems complete except it doesnt have that arm thing that you are calling a brake arm. My bike is not a coaster brake bike. I'm wondering if i am missing that part or it just doesnt come with it?
Hey RJ, When you add oil to this through the little hole while it's on the bike... what keeps that oil inside? Mine's now all over the place. Are there gaskets or did I add too much? Thanks RJ! So many people are into bike repair because of you.
If it's like the AW hub, there's no gasket. It does drip a little bit of oil. Some people put a rag on the rim of the rear wheel when the bike is parked, to catch drips.
For regular maintenance, adding a drop or two a week is usually plenty. For an overhaul, or if you've acquired a hub that's been neglected for a long time, adding lots to let if flush out accumulated gunk might be in order.
This hub look like new :) LOL but you can make a video how to clean rust from rim
I scrubbed the outside of the hub before making the video. It was coated with a thick layer of dirt and grease. It was pretty disgusting. Here is a video I did a while back: th-cam.com/video/0f5sUKUVhZE/w-d-xo.html
Great video. Curious: Why oil rather than grease on most of the small parts? Does it have to do with friction or the chance of holding grit?
Grease will cause the pawls to stick.
Grease will work initially, but after many years it dries up so becomes gummy, so makes the pawls stick.
HI RJ,
Just read this on Sheldon Brown. Do you have any comment?
by Sheldon "Stop!" Brown
The Sturmey-Archer AW freewheeling three-speed hub is extremely
reliable. Unfortunately, Sturmey-Archer's record for three-speed coaster
brake hubs is the very opposite.
The TCW series is particularly notorious for unreliability. They had so
much trouble with the original TCW that the re-designed it, and came out
with the TCW Mark II.
This was still a problem, so they came out with the TCW Mark III and later the TCW Mark IV.
All four of these hubs shared a fundamental design flaw:
They ran the brake through the gear train. This means that when you're in high gear, when you would be most likely to be going fast...the brake is at its weakest!
Even worse, if your shifter is mis-adjusted and you accidentally shift
into the "neutral" position between 2nd and 3rd gear, the brake will not
work at all!
This flaw was so dangerous that Consumer Reports magazine rated the TCW "unacceptable."
That finally got Sturmey-Archer to do yet another re-design, and to
abandon the tainted "TCW" designation, so the new, improved model was
designated "S3C."
This model ran the brake directly from the driver, so it was much safer
than any of the TCWs. Unfortunately, the S3C is rather fragile, some
internal parts are prone to breakage.
This was in turn replaced by the "AWC" model, which seems to be reasonably reliable.
Generally, if you have a TCW of any "Mark" version, I advise against riding it unless the bike has two good hand brakes.
I like Sheldon Brown.
Made me smile. But I wonder if you saw the rest of the reply? A little further down? About how this SA drum brake design is weak on braking? Thanks for taking time to respond. : >
Yeah. It is what it is.
Just his opinion, and not gospel. Please read this article from bootiebike.com/raleigh_rsw/tcw.htm
A dissenting view
The RSW Mk II featured in Bootiebike is a 'colonial' model fitted with a Sturmey Archer TCW III three speed rear hub, with coaster brake, instead of the S3B with rear wheel of raleigh rsw with Sturmey Archer three speed hub and coaster brakemini drum brake that lived on most Mk II RSWs. I am aware that some people are very critical of the TCW. They complain that the available braking power varies, depending on which gear it's in, and it happens to be weakest in high, when you'll be going fastest. Secondly, the brake doesn't work at all if you've accidentally put the gears in 'neutral', the intermediate position between the normal and high positions on the trigger. They claim that for these reasons the TCW is unsafe and should not be used.
But I beg to differ. I can't comment on the TCW marks I and II, but I can say that the TCW Mark III is safe and well worth using. Well made and finished, reliable and requiring little maintenance, it offers good service with minimal hassle. And the TCWIII is reliable. The oft-repeated criticisms outlined above usually cite reliability, but they're really about safety. (If there really were reliability issues, then they were certainly sorted by the time of the Mark III.)
Well, what about the safety? Granted, the TCW brake is weakest in high gear (and strongest in low). While this may not conform to the theoretical ideal, what really matters is whether or not it's powerful enough in high gear. And that it is. And further, the chances of needing to brake suddenly after accidentally shifting into neutral should be remote. Shifting into neutral should itself be a rare occurrence. If it happens often there is probably something wrong with the adjustment or cabling. sturmey archer heritage photo of tcw hub(Most SA hub problems are caused by external factors, rather than something in the unit itself, so perhaps you should consider learning how to adjust the gearchange.)
And most importantly, and at the risk of stating the bleedin' obvious, the above criticisms - if they had any validity at all - could only matter if one rode without a front brake. If you're at all concerned with safety you won't be totally reliant on a rear brake of any description.
So why should you care about the TCW, despite the doomsayers? To start with, it was made in the days when Sturmey Archer still cared about quality. The internal parts are finely machined and the case hardening is long lasting (unlike the hubs made in the 80s and 90s), and it has brass braking parts (steel in later models) for smooth and progressive braking. The TCW is well finished, with deep chrome plating, not just on the shell but also on the brake arm and left side dust cover. Compare that to the cheapo finishes on some later models.
The TCW was made from 1952 to 1972, the Mark III from 1961
The TCW also has the advantages of any coaster brake. For example, it requires minimal maintenance. This doesn't just save your spare time; it also means you can rely on it to work its best when you really need it. In contrast, caliper brakes require frequent maintenance and are less likely to be at their best. There's no messy cable or lever to worry about. No adjustments. They don't gouge the side of the rim, and they work when the rim is rusty, damaged, contaminated with oil or out of true. They don't get clogged up with road muck, and there's nothing to clean. And (for vintage bikes) they work in any weather - even the best caliper brake in the world is next to useless on a wet steel rim.
So take the criticism of the TCW with a fairly large grain of salt - they're really not that bad, and I think future generations will prize the few examples that survive their current demonisation. The TCW is a quality product, made to last. With a little care it'll continue giving good service indefinitely.
So does anyone know why the big bearing cup seems to have space for one more bearing? I noticed it in the other Sturmei-Archer video as well...
It allows the bearings to move around more.
Are inner gear hubs better than derailleurs ?
Different people have different needs.
For casual commuting and reduced maintenance. If you don't mind extra work when changing a tire. My grandparents still have an early seventies three speed. My grandfather oils it(?) And did all the rare maintenance. It still works like new.
would you do my wheel if I sent it to you?
I am confused about the grease on the brakes. Naively sounds like sabotage rather than maintenance. I picture the opening credits of Columbo rolling past a bicycle flying into a ravine at the end of a tight curve.
Is the grease on the brake surface?
Coaster brakes are supposed to be greased. They will get VERY hot. On long descents, they will actually cook/boil off ordinary oil/grease. Yes, grease is supposed to be on the brake surfaces and drum. This is the way they are supposed to be.
+RJ The Bike Guy probably doesn't hurt to grease the brake but it gets washed out quickly by the oil. These bikes weren't meant to need a LOT of coaster brake. Ride em easy.
Excellent. I love all your videos RJ. However, when I put the driver back on, the spring cap and spring slips right through the caged bearings. Any ideas?
At what point in the video?
@@RJTheBikeGuy @ approx 23:17
I am not sure. The one you are working on might be from a different year. They mad have made changes to to it. IDK
Did you reinstall the bearings into the driver?
@@RJTheBikeGuy Mine's from 1964 and is nearly identical to the one in the video. These things are way cool! I reinstalled the bearings but they seem a little wobbly. I'm gonna find a new bearing retainer assembly and see if it catches. Thanks RJ!!
Excellent video. Everything an instructional video should be. A few points / questions:
- upon putting my TCW hub back together I realized that I had an additional washer that was not in your video. From my research it turned out to be a "thrust washer" that belonged under the clutch spring. Further inspection of the diagram that I found showed the retarder spring on the drive side expander as being flat. (i.e. the long and short ends of the spring are on the same plane as the rest of the spring). I noticed in your video that the long end of the spring appears to be pointing up. Whereas on my unit the short end is pointing up and the long end seems to have been bent downwards. Do you think this matters? From what I have read, the retarder spring on the TCW 3 is considered one of the points where failure is likely to occur. Do you think the bend in the spring ends is symptomatic of a failed component? I've seen what look like replacement springs on ebay (although without a component part serial number I'm not sure) and they are also flat. Any thoughts or advice?
- also, from the diagram it would appear that the 2 sprocket spacer washers both go between the sprocket and the sprocket lock ring. Although, I'm not sure it matters.
Thanks!
+T Kobladi There are sometime small variations between the units from different years. Overall, they are mostly the same. But I think some of the changes are to fix small problems, or make small improvements. So it is quite possible yours is slightly different than mine.
How do you get 3 speeds with only one set of planetary gears? I can't quite grasp how this works
th-cam.com/video/o6v5K-2zWMI/w-d-xo.html
The sun gear is stationary (fixed to axle). This leaves us with the planet gears (planet cage) and the ring gear. In low gear, the sprocket drives the ring gear, which drives the planet cage, for a 3/4 ratio. In high gear, the reverse happens, that is, the sprocket drives the planet cage, which drives the ring gear, for a 4/3 ratio. The middle gear bypasses all the gears for a direct drive from sprocket to wheel, for a 1:1 ratio.
Yes
OMG
So. Many. Parts
I found it is very complicated. One small mistake at any stage and it will work suboptimal or doesnt work at all.
Don't make any mistakes then.
When I get mine all back together and spin it without the indicator chain. I break the little pin it threads into. How are you able to remove your without doing the same? I've disassembled and reassembled twice now. I now have to order another one.
+PunkRockKid1234 Break what little pin?
+RJ The Bike Guy
The little clutch pin the indicator chain threads into. Sorry I'm not sure the name of it. I just dont get how you seem not to have the problem of spinning it without the indicator chain, and then having this pin dislocate somehow and seize the hub and break into two.
I have no idea what you are doing wrong. That little pin has flat sides on the ends. Then it is held in place by the part at 20:39. That keeps the pin in place. Then spring pressure hold tension on that part.
+RJ The Bike Guy yeh I do it step by step. No missing parts. I put that piece over the pin. But some how while I'm adjusting the tension on the brake bearing it popped out of the axle!
I don't know what to say. I have rebuilt a bunch of these, and never had that problem.
Brendon Schroeder, you obviously have a different model of Sturmey Archer hub. Maybe you have one of these: th-cam.com/video/vNxwMwzS3Jo/w-d-xo.html
The part you call an "indicator pin" is NOT an indicator pin. The OFFICIAL name is TOGGLE CHAIN, because it "toggles" the internal gears!!
I lost count of This and That....
Flipping the wheel so often is distracting. And show the parts in sequence after they were removed one side to the other.
Is this some kind of special gene that forces all collectors of planetary bushings to assemble them without using thick grease in relation to gears and dogs?... like manufacturers of angle grinders make mistakes when they lubricate gear gears with relatively thick lubricants?...what are you hoping for, that through the planetary control hole. where the control chain runs, will no water get in?... she always gets there...did you not know that just oil, without the use of thick lubricant, is hygroscopic?...every time you take apart a used planetary hub, you see rust and a lot of water every time, doesn't that teach you anything?...do car manufacturers intentionally tell you in the instructions that you should change the engine oil after 15,000 km, or after 7,500 as it should be and your engines wear out faster due to this and you continue to do everything according to the disastrous instructions?...and if the instructions for preventing the operation of the planetary hub say that it is necessary to shove a cucumber up your ass, then will you obediently follow this advice?... are you even able to independently assess this or that action by how much it is useful or harmful?
I did the prevention of the sleeve and put it in place, even the old chain was not replaced with a new one, but I just did not wash it in kerosene and did not lubricate it in oil... complete indifference and composure to the suffering of technology! I just don't care about anything! That's an excerpt!
surgical clamp hah
I’m planning to buy a bike with this same internally geared hub, or at least a similar model from the same manufacturer (but manufactured probably in the 80s-90s) I wonder how difficult it would be to find a replacement parts (cogs for example) if the hub turns out to be shot
is sunshine 3 speed hub the same:)