Do Sturmey Archer shift cables need special cable outers??

Hi guys,

I am trying to fix up my cousins Raleigh ladies bike with a three speed Sturmey Archer hub.

It won't shift down or up smoothly at all using the 3 speed shifter.

I have actually broken two brand new shifters already because as you use the shifter to change gear the cable doesn't seem to move and you end up breaking the shifter.

Do I need to buy a special cable outer/housing that enables it move smoothly?

I have already got a brand new sturmey archer cable, a brand new shifter and some new normal shift cable housing.

Please help?? Driving me nutso

Cheers

Ok no expert but....Fairly sure when I was setting up Mrs D's I was using ordinary outer. Apologies if anything is obvious. I needed a specific SA inner and I'm assuming you have the indicator set correctly on the hub?

I have actually broken two brand new shifters already because as you use the shifter to change gear the cable doesn't seem to move and you end up breaking the shifter.

When you shift SA gears you need to stop pedalling (or at least take some pressure off the pedals) while you're shifting, if you're doing this and the shifting is still stiff enough to knacker the shifter the hub has problems.
Also, always use brake outer for Sturmey cables.

indeed.

stop pedalling - change gear - start pedalling, much like the clutch of a car.

Have you checked that it's not the hub? To do that, just spin the cranks and pull on the little chain that activates the gears (where it comes out of the rear axle on the drive side). You should feel tension on the chain, but it should move in and out freely. If that's ok, then it was a cable/casing problem.

Often it's the cable that's the culprit, and a quick going over with some light sandpaper and then squirting oil into the casing sorts it out.

If the casing you have is gear casing and a) the cable moves smoothly in it, b) handles the routing around the frame and c) it fits into the casing stops on the frame, then I'd go ahead and use it. The Sturmey cable I've found to be very pliable, so I'd be very surprised if the modern stuff was problematic in terms of compression.

Cheers. DoctorBike.

I've used modern teflon lined compressionless housing meant for index shifters with Sturmey 3-speed stuff in the past and it's perfect. I would guess brake cable would still work fine as well, the tolerances are quite loose with Sturmey 3 speed stuff.

Yes, seconded with benbrangwyn. Check the hub itself is ok and pull on the rod to make sure the hub is ok, flip the pedals round back and forth if you have the bike on the ground as it won't shift under load. It's rare that the older 3 speed hubs go bad internally, usually they are out of adjustment or gunked up inside. Give it a few drops of motor oil or ATF fluid (avoid 3-in-one or sewing machine oil as they are too thick) in the oil port. Watch out for any excess fluid spilling out behind the sprocket running all over the braking surface.