Bikes
A three-speed hub
Some bicycle gears live in the rear hub rather than on a derailleur. One well-documented example is the Sturmey-Archer hub in the Science Museum Group.
The Science Museum Group holds a Sturmey-Archer three-speed epicyclic hub gear for cycles, dated 1906. Science Museum Group: Sturmey-Archer
It is an example of the variable-speed hub for bicycles patented by J. J. H. Sturney and J. Archer between 1901 and 1904. Science Museum Group: Sturmey-Archer
The hub gives three speeds: a normal one equal to that of the chain sprocket, one 31.25 per cent above, and a third 23.8 per cent below the normal. Science Museum Group: Sturmey-Archer
The catalogue spelling “Sturney”
The Science Museum Group catalogue names the patentee as J. J. H. Sturney. The hub itself is widely known as Sturmey-Archer. We keep the catalogue spelling when quoting the patent, and the familiar name for the hub.
We have not added derailleur figures. A later site, bicycles.mechanics.im, is planned for the wider story of the bicycle.