# Burly 3 speed mountain hub.



## rideyobike86 (Mar 20, 2010)

Greetings Forum,

I am looking for the burliest 3 speed hub with disc brake capability. I am currently looking at the Shimano Nexus or SRAM i-Motion, but am a little concerned about how hard I can crank on it. The bike is used for commuting but also singletrack and I want to be able to climb aggressively and sometimes pull BOB around. I'm 200 lbs. and can lay down some fairly serious torque. I'm open to suggestions of any other brands and I'm not to concerned with weight, mainly just durability and disc compatibility. Being available in 36h is a plus, but not a deal breaker as I may want to set up a cargo bike with one if this works well. 

Please leave me any feed back you have on these or other 3 speed hubs whether it be good, bad or ugly. Along with any recommendations.

Thanks,
Nate


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## lukeNZ (Dec 13, 2012)

see http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/milk-money-nexus-3spd-657549.html for info on the nexus sg-3d55 hub on a 29er mtb


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## john_dalhart (Nov 6, 2009)

Burly for off-road? 99.99% of the world 3-spd market is urban utility bikes. These hubs are built to a price for OEMs. The ones in fancy aluminum hub shells with disc mounts have exactly the same internals as the plebeian models.

So anyway, your other choice in a 3spd+disc would be a Sturmey-Archer SRK3. Sturmey offers a large assortment of shifter styles, unlike Shimano and SRAM that only have factory twist shifters.

The Sturmey rotary shift models (RS-RF3, RX-RD3) are the only 3-spds that have solid axles with no internal passageways and cut-outs. I've wondered if these would be the cat's pyjamas, but I've got _no_ data from the field. The S-A rotary shifts don't come in a disc model anyway.

The SRAM iMotion3 is _advertised_ as being able to be shifted under load. I've used one on a _road bike_ for the last ~four years and like it a lot. The iMotion3 inside-the-dropouts shift cable is a slick, simple arrangement.


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## Saul Lumikko (Oct 23, 2012)

Have you considered a dinglespeed (dual rings front and back, just dismount the rear wheel and move the chain over), so you could commute with a faster gear and use a lighter gearing for off-road? It'll be far lighter and more durable than any 3-gear hub.


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## sriracha (Jun 23, 2004)

I have a Shimano Nexus 3-speed on my towny-bike, and two Alfine-8s, one on a Karate Monkey and one on an AM Santa Cruz Nickel. First off, I am big fan of all three hubs and have not had a single issue with any of them.

After about a year of trouble free use, I recently decided to take the 3-speed apart and rebuild it. With only a 15 & 17mm cone wrench and a flathead screwdriver, I was able to completely disassemble the hub.

Once inside the hub, I was truly impressed with the build quality and sealing of the hub. Contrary to what I was expecting, the inside was still clean grease, with very little grime or discoloration and the all-metal parts showed minimal signs of where. These little hubs are burly!

Also, I experimented and successfully mated a Sturmy-Archer 3-speed thumb shifter to my 3-speed Nexus hub. It's a quality, all-metal shifter design that works perfectly with the Nexus, and looks/operates much better than the Shimano twist shifter.

I would definitely roll a 3-speed disc Nexus hub on a mountain bike.


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## intheways (Apr 19, 2004)

If this http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/what-do-you-thnk-canyon-1-44-project-648329.html ever comes to market, we'll be set.


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