next monterey bay cruiser...

[october]

i broke down and went and got one of these monterey bay cruisers from walmart.... $109.

i was pricing 3 speeds... the cheapest i found was $74 for a nexus 3 already laced into a rim...

well, the monterey bay cruiser i bought had a Nexus 3 on it! in fact, all the ones there had the nexus 3 hubs in them...

(the bike's owner's manual still has the info for the SA, with no mention of the nexus...)

just thought you guys might like to know... :wink:

oct.

 

[user 135]

How does the rims and spokes look on them? Quality of the Nexus or of the Walmart special.

That is tempting since the Nexus is now available on them.

 

[mastershake916]

I'd like to know how the nexus compares to the old shimano 333s and sturmey archers.

 

[wahoonc]

I'd like to know how the nexus compares to the old shimano 333s and sturmey archers.

The Nexus hub is a better design and based on the reviews I have seen and heard better all the way around. The 333 hub was not as strong as the SA and if it breaks no parts available. The old SA was bullet proof but a bit finicky about cable adjustment. More than one person has been hurt when it went neutral while hammering. I have a 1971 Raleigh Sports Standard with over 30,000 documented miles on a SA AW hub and it is still going strong even with less than proper maintenance. As long as you keep a bit of oil in them they continue to run. Another problem with the SA was the gear ratios, they were spaced unevenly. And is the case of the Raleigh's came from the factory with an ungodly high ratio first gear. Nexus addressed that design with more evenly spaced gears. I should also point out that there are apparently two different "classes" of Nexus hubs; the regular ones and the "red band" the red band are the premium hub. I don't think they may a 3 speed red band, I believe that is limited to the 8 speed. FWIW Joe Breezer of Breezer Bikes (the grandaddy of Mountain biking) uses the Nexus hubs on his line of City bikes.

Aaron 8)

 

[budzillacycles]

Well good thing I read that. I was going to use a 333 in my furniture bike.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[mastershake916]

Well good thing I read that. I was going to use a 333 in my furniture bike.

Thanks for the tip!

They still work, just not as reliably as others.

 

[wahoonc]

Well good thing I read that. I was going to use a 333 in my furniture bike.

Thanks for the tip!

They still work, just not as reliably as others.

Not even a reliability problem, I have at least one 333 that is over 25 years old and still works fine. BUT when (not if) it breaks you will have to find a replacement wheel or rebuild that wheel with a different hub, a PITA in my opinion. I would build the wheel with a better choice of hub to start with. As far as the older SA hubs are concerned they can be torn down and rebuilt with out having to replace the hub/wheel and when I have been in a hurry and didn't want to mess with it, you can swap the innards out of another hub.

Aaron 8)