Sturmey-Archer

S80 XRF8 8-Speed Hub

Final update to jammed unit I made 2 posts about earlier. After repairing and reinstalling unit on bike, I took it for an hour ride today with lots of rolling hills including one 20% grade. It went up that grade effortlessly in 1st gear with the 22 tooth crank chainring (and 25 tooth cog in back). It also cruised on the flats in 8th gear between 18-20mph at a comfortable 90 cps approximate cadence. The unit shifted flawlessly and the momentary stop in pedaling during the shift was not an inconvenience. I did not experience any excessive loud noises as I read about in the past. When calibrating the shifter I noticed a bit of hysteresis in the system (probably from cable drag) when trying to align the yellow bar in the window for 4th gear. The unit was quietest when I averaged out the hysteresis with the yellow bar being very slightly off center (in opposite directions) when shifting through the upward and downward directions. I also had to make an adapter to mate the shifter to the end of my drop down race bars since the shifter diameter hole is quit small. Eventhough the unit weighed 4 lb, the net weight gain in the bike was 2 lb since it eliminates the conventional freewheel and derailers. Overall I am now quite pleased how this project turned out.

Building up the wheel for a 700c was a bit tricky getting the spoke length correct, their flange is non-standard. Followed the instructions very carefully during the setup. I have built up many bikes as a hobby for 30 years now so I know what I'm doing mechanically. After getting it set up and verifying the gear shifting was adjusted correctly, I spun the crank by hand and noticed it had a huge amount of drag, same results when I tried to freewheel it by hand, so the unit was jammed. It was jammed out of the box since I thought it was strange that the unit wouldn't freewheel easily by hand after I opened the box. Needless to say I never rode it after I realized it was damaged. I used to ride S-A 3 speeds as a kid and they were bulletproof. IMO it is too bad the grand old English company is Chinese now since their quality has obviously deteriorated. The shifter is also flimsy and is prone to jam as well. It is similar to the original SRAM twist grip shifter, but poorly designed compared to that SRAM shifter. Their 8 speed unit is considerably cheaper than the competitors and I was sucked in by the famous name brand. Not sure if I will ever hear back from the company about replacing the unit. Live and learn!

As an update to the jammed 8 speed hub review I left: After partially disassembling the unit, I discovered the reason it wouldn't turn. The jam nut on the cog side was overtightened at the factory. Once this was loosened it spun. As for the shifter, the reason it did not shift out of the box was because the cable end was not completely installed within its housing hole inside the shifter and was bent completely around 180 degrees. This caused it to jam. To fix this I removed the cover and bent it back so it would completely fit into the hole and now it will turn.

I have this on my Raleigh Twenty as an upgrade from the original AW hub. I have ridden about 1500 miles so far with no problems. Not crazy about the twist shifter. Noisy especially in 4th. Great range, I'm usually in 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. I have a 46 tooth ring up front.

Recommended for city bikes for errands and cruising. Ratcheting is a bit loud, and can be annoying. on the other hand very good for the price. good range 1 is so easy i don't use it and 8 is so hard i hardly use it. I would recommend this to someone looking for an internal geared hub on the cheap or for a 12omm spaced dropout. be sure to check your dropout spacing before ordering.

I had a local shop build the wheel and set it up. The problem I have now is that my chain ring on my crank 42T is way too big. I can only use 1st and 2nd gear,so I ordered a crank set that has a 33T ring on it and hope that helps.

Tree fort Bikes went above and beyond to help me find just the rear hub I was looking for. I am very pleased with the product and the customer service.