# Sturmey Archer automatic 2 speed



## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

Was trying to find a 36 spoke, Sturmey Archer, kickback hub for a wheel I want to build up. I have mixed feelings about my current kickback wheel, but I thought a larger wheel for mainly goofing around and commuting on would be fine, but 36 spokes seem to be in short or non-existent supply.
But then I found, on a couple of European bike shop sites, mention of the 36 spoke automatically shifting hub, like the old Sram/Sachs Automatix.

Model number A2KAM or A2K. I believe there's a disk and rim brake model. It does not appear, at least where I could find it, on Sturmey Archer's site. For my use, automatic shifting sounds better than kickback. No more wondering if you're still in high gear halfway up a hill. No more trying to downshift only to find you were already in low gear, and now you've upshifted. But with so few legit-sounding references to the hub, I wasn't sure it actually existed. I found one that I could get shipped, though, and decided to take a chance.

It appears to be a real thing. It's not in a wheel yet, so I don't know how well it works. It might be a while before I get that done, too, although I'm anxious to try it, so we'll see. But at least it seems to be an actual product, and not a figment of someone's imagination.


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## Surestick Malone (Jan 24, 2004)

Weird, it's not on their website but seems to exist. NOS?


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

Surestick Malone said:


> Weird, it's not on their website but seems to exist. NOS?


I think new old stock would still show up in some fashion on their website. It would just be in older catalogs, listings, and support documents. When I go to download their catalog, the most current one listed is 2018, and no mention of the automatic 2 speed. Also, while I can't claim to have perfect, or even great recall of all the available hubs, I do pay attention to gear hubs in particular, and I don't remember Sturmey ever having an automatic 2 speed. That was always a Sram/Sachs thing, I thought.

Also, when researching this, I did find one Facebook post from a bike shop within the last year touting this as a new product. So I don't think it's old stock, but it remains very odd that it appears to exist, but there's no mention on the SA site.

I half expected that when I ordered one, I'd either find that I never received it or that it ended up being an S2K. I'm still not going to know for certain that it works as advertised until I build the wheel. Really tempted to open it up, but that is also easier to do with it built into a wheel, so I'll probably wait.


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## ladljon (Nov 30, 2011)

*geared hub thread*

[email protected] groups


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

ladljon said:


> [email protected] groups


Can't tell if you're trying to link to some specific info about this hub or just to a group that talks about hub gears. Either way, it didn't work for me.


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## an1mal (May 28, 2004)

I put a sram automatix 2 speed hub on a cheap (Bikes Direct) single-speed fat bike. The gear ratios are pretty far apart (amazing how 1.25 or 1.33 don't feel bad but 1.37 seems like too big a gap) and it benefits from adjusting the shift point rpm (bending the spring on the centrifugal weight). Unfortunately it down shifts EVERY time you stop pedalling and you have to wind the crank speed back up to get it back into high gear - very annoying on technical rides. I think this would be a good hub for a road bike/commuter where you aren't constantly cornering or going over obstacles. It's pretty light and does feel very robust (more so than the other gear hubs I've tried) and can't have a frozen or out of adjustment cable. I thought it would be awesome for muddy cross or fat bike races, but found myself wishing it would stay in high and only shift down for really steep stuff - I was constantly trying to spin it back to high gear coming out of corners and off bumps. I may use this hub again on a commuter, but I've decided that mtb or fatbike is better either SS or with an Alfine 8 (good range and decent shifting but heavy) or 3 speed RS-RK3 (light, pretty solid, can't down shift with any torque on the pedals, and you notice the sparse ratchets so it has exceptionally long take-up). Alfine 11 would be perfect (smooth shifts, great gaps between gears, excellent range) but it's just a little too finicky for me too enjoy.


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## Rob_E (Nov 22, 2010)

an1mal said:


> Unfortunately it down shifts EVERY time you stop pedalling and you have to wind the crank speed back up to get it back into high gear - very annoying on technical rides. I think this would be a good hub for a road bike/commuter where you aren't constantly cornering or going over obstacles. It's pretty light and does feel very robust (more so than the other gear hubs I've tried) and can't have a frozen or out of adjustment cable. I thought it would be awesome for muddy cross or fat bike races, but found myself wishing it would stay in high and only shift down for really steep stuff - I was constantly trying to spin it back to high gear coming out of corners and off bumps.


So just to clarify, does it downshift even when you stop pedaling and coast at the same speed? Or is it when you slow down and stop pedaling? Because I was under the impression that shifting depended on the speed that the wheel spun, not the pedals. Either way, I can see where that would be an annoyance. But even so, I think I would prefer that to my current, kick-back hub that I sometimes accidentally kick into high gear even when I'm climbing up a hill. I can see, though, how on technical riding, switching gears unintentionally up or down could be a pain. I still haven't built my hub into a wheel, but I'm thinking it's going to go into a 29er, cruising around town wheelset, and then I may build up a straight single-speed/dingle-speed for my wider, 27.5 wheelset, replacing the Sturmey kick-back hub.


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