Sturmey Archer S2C Kick-Shift Hub Kit 36h 116mm Silver with Coaster Brake

Left photo: 5.5 year old hub stored outside 24x7 and used on salty Northeast roads. Right photo: new hub built into 700c / 622 ISO road bike rim with 23c Schwalbe Durano Plus tires I built a 2 speed wheel for a folding Schwinn Bicycle in early 2014 to use in icy winter weather with studded tires, because the hub has no cables that can freeze. The hub has performed well despite being used on salty roads in and around Manhattan and left outside 24x7. It does show signs of rust, but it still ticks away and brakes nicely. At one point it was a little hesitant to shift, but the issue seemed to just go away on its own. I like this hub enough that I just purchased a second one to convert my fixie into a 2-speed with coaster brake. I'm very pleased with the results. Since it's hard to find this hub built into a wheel, I had to do it myself. If you are interested in doing this yourself, you can copy my bill of materials. Note that I actually used 284mm/282mm spokes, but found this to be longer than necessary (the spokes poked out of the nipple head by at least 1mm). Luckily I didn't bottom out the nipples on the spoke threads, but I think it's close. Manufacturing variances in rims mean you might need slightly different lengths even if you buy the same rim. If you want to reduce the chances of buying the wrong size spokes, order the rim first, follow instructions to measure the ERD, and use an online spoke length calculator. - H Plus Son Archetype 36 hole rim (700c / 622 ISO) - 20x 280mm 14g spokes (drive side) - 20x 282mm 14g spokes (torque arm side) - 40x 12mm Brass Nipples - Velux Rim tape Laced with 3 cross pattern (Google Sheldon Brown's page on wheel building). Don't forget to grease your nipples!

THe low gear seems to be a little tight, but I do not notice when riding. I use it to get two gears on a no cables bicycle. It gets me up inclines and hard going.

Laced the hub with a rim I refurbed from another wheel, my first wheel build. When freewheeling you can tell which gear your in based on the speed of the pawls clicking. Gear changes also make a different and distinct click. Big upgrade from the cheap hub i’ve Been running, I can now continue to pedal on slight down slopes on my coaster bike. The coaster brake is pretty sensitive new, hoping that relaxes at it ages. I have to side saddle my dismounts because i’ve got a child seat over the rear wheel, sticky coaster brake makes that a little interesting.

I really enjoy this hub. I was hesitant to purchase this hub at first because of some of the issues my friend had with his SC2 (i.e. randomly switching gears). I contacted Sturmey Archer about my concerns and they informed me that, yes, there were a few minor issues with the first couple of rounds of production, but they've since ironed out the issues. Customer service also informed me that if I had any issues with the hub at all, they would be happy to send me new internal components. I decided to try it out. So far so good. It has two gears. In the first gear, the hub is silent. In the second gear, which you activate by back pedaling slightly, it begins to click. This helps when you want to know what gear your currently riding. If you hit the brake, it will automatically return to the previous gear. This is a major criticism of the hub by some of my friends, but it doesn't bother me at all. If you ride aggressively, you should consider some other piece of gear. This hub really shines on a cruiser or a bike for mild commuting. Personally, I put this hub on my cruiser and I couldn't be happier. This kit isn't for weight weenies. It's heavy. Also, I ride this on twenty-six inch tires. However, I think this hub would be a lot of fun on some 700cc tires. You will have to acclimate to this hub, but it's been fun learning how to ride with it and learning how to appreciate the simplicity of it.

Had a bike shop put this on a Huffy Cranbrook. It's nice having an extra gear without a shifter or cables. I have had no problems with it. Shifting is easy - just a light push back with your foot.

Had it installed on my Electra Cruiser. Works great

I bought one of these from a different vendor and absolutely love it. You have to pay attention to what you are doing and think ahead as you ride. It shifts into the next gear when you brake to a stop. So, if you are just cruising around the block in low, shift to high before applying the brake. If you don't do this, you will start out in high gear from a standstill. So, plan as you go and have a blast. Mine came with a 22 tooth cog and is a great set up for the cruiser bike with a 46 tooth chain ring.

This review has been edited, originally I was very unhappy with this hub. When trying to ride in low gear it would jump in and out of high gear... riding my bike was a chore. It took about a week to reach Sturmey Archer directly, they sent me new internals to put into my shell so I didn't have to unlace my wheel and return the whole thing. It's all good now.