Does anyone else out there have a Plus Two? I have been riding mine around for about 2 months now and the rear hub is beginning to have problems. I have taken it back to the shop I bought it from and the mechanic was very knowledgeable and helpful but has never worked on one of the Sturmey Archer S2C hubs before and was reluctant to dismantle it.
As you probably know, the hub has both a coaster brake and a kick shift which are both engaged by back pedalling. Originally, the hub switched between the two gears every time the brake was applied and it was possible (with cunning footwork) to predict which gear you would be in after braking. Recently the biting point of the brake has caught up with the gear change so now it is pot luck whether the hub changes gear or not. This has caught me out several times with hill starts, expecting to be in a pulling away gear, only to find myself with the almost impossible task of a hill start in the high gear.
The bike shop have said they will happily replace whatever is necessary under warranty, but it may take several weeks to identlfy the problem part and get hold of a replacement. The guide from Sturmey Archer’s website doesn’t imply that there is any adjustment in the hub and it should be a fit-and-forget part. Has anyone here used one of these hubs before or fixed a similar problem in a similar hub? I’d rather not be without my bike at all at this time of year if there is something simple I could do to fix the problem.
Thanks for the advice. I popped back into the shop I got the bike from today with my original proof of purchase and they have said they will get a replacement hub from Pashley and swap it out free of charge.
In the meantime I still have the use of my Guv’nor and the gear lottery livens up the 10 miles I do each day. Other tales I have read on this forum make me think it may be a while before Pashley are forthcoming with a new hub.
Just as well my daily ride involves more danger of falling in a river than being hit by a lorry!
I emailed Sturmey Archer’s US support email and they replied (after a week) to say they were aware of some hubs leaving the factory with an incorrectly sized spacer which causes this problem. They attached a very helpful guide with lots of pictures on how to replace the parts and offered to send them out to my local shop for the work to be carried out. Not sure if that applies to the UK (where I am), but I’m off to my bike shop with the email as hopefully that’ll simplify what they need to do.
My final advice for anyone else with this problem:
If in Europe, email Sturmey Archer’s European support (info@sunrace.nl) and if in the US email their US support (info@sunraceusa.com). There is a known problem with a spacer in some of these hubs and both the US and European support teams were happy to mail a new gear internal directly to me. My local shop where I originally purchased the Guv’nor were happy to replace the part free of charge (the mechanic said it was simple and only took ten minutes) and I now have a lovely new gear changing mechanism which works very well.
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