Sturmey-Archer SW Drei-Gang-Naben: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

One area of wild speculation as to the contributing factors of hub demise is that of lubrication and wear. I have found pawls that were not chipped and not dented, but were rather simply worn down on the tips of the crescent, rendering them inoperative (see picture at right). worn pawls It is unclear whether such a condition is caused by partial engagement in the ratchets or merely from the millions of oscillations imposed by coasting. The latter appears a bit more likely since the wear seems to occur equally on either end. It may be due to the presence of grit in the lubricating oil, or the forces required to rock the pawls back and forth, or a lack of lubrication, or a combination of these. Lack of lubrication could be due to bicycles' having kickstands on the left side and therefore leaning to the left — any oil in the hub will tend to migrate to the left side, thus starving the right side pawls. Lack of lubrication may also be due to overly heavy lubricant — grease in the pawl sockets is recommended for ease of assembly, and perhaps this grease contributed to excessive pawl wear due to its high viscosity. Who knows? I hope I am not provoking a "holy war" on the selection of oil, but my recommendation is for a fairly-light oil such as ATF or the like, preferably synthetic. Cold-weather operation may prove troublesome with too heavy an oil.