Sears 3-speed model 503.21

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I didn't want to hyjack a Sears bike thread any more than I think I might have or could have so I moved it here. No big deal just trying to sort out the Sears Austrian made bike.

On my bike where the rear brake is mounted there is a made in Germany stamped into it. On the head badge there is a made in Austria (some say it's a Puch). Mine is a nice riding 1970 ladies thats missing 2nd gear. It is a Sears 3-speed like in this picture, model 503.21. Mine has a 70 stamped on it like it was a Sturmey-Archer hub. The gear changer marked as a Sears kinda looks like a S.A more than it looks like a Sachs or a Shimano. I'm only trying to solve the question, will a S.A. gear cluster slip into a Sears hub.

4613357917_905ffe5629_b.jpg


I googled the 503.21 hub and came up with a post from 02-06-06. They were giving the internal gear hubs a verbal bashing. Some good points and some bad. A guy called grolby defended the hubs and his was the Sears 503.21.

QUOTE:
"grolby 02-06-06, 01:35 PM
Is this "information" from your own personal experience? Or are you repeating someone else's questionable story that you read on the internet? This is a very real, well-known issue with the Sturmey-Archer AW, and one that I can also attest to from personal experience with this hub (actually a Sears 503.21, but they are the same thing). The AW is a wonderful hub, but the design of the adjustment and gear changing system is a serious weakness. It's simple, which is good - the things are nearly indestructible. Unfortunately, they also have a tendency to slowly go out of adjustment over time. If it isn't dialed in just right, the hub can suddenly slip out of gear for a moment. This can happen when you hit a bump, but I've found that it can also simply happen completely out of the blue, even with almost no pedaling or impact load on the hub. Standing up on one of these hubs is asking for trouble if you don't know for certain that it's adjusted perfectly - and after a week or two of regular riding, it won't be adjusted perfectly anymore! Fortunately, this is only a serious risk in the middle and high gears, so you can climb a hill out of the saddle if you are in low gear, but otherwise it's best to remain seated. In spite of that, I still think that the AW had largely proven the internal-gear concept to be sound more than fifty years ago (my hub is forty years old and works just fine). Modern hubs with more gears and a wider range have only improved the situation, and my next "serious" bicycle will be equipped with a Nexus-8 for this reason. The Rohloff 14-speed hub of course demonstrates that hub gears are even appropriate for high-performance applications like downhill MTB racing, and I think that these systems will only continue to improve as time goes on."

Until someone tries to slip a Sturmey-Archer gear cluster inside this Sears hub and finds out it's a bad move, I'm going to have to believe it can be done.
My 2cents is spent.

GL
 
I just picked up that same hub! I actually have an AW Sturmey Archer here at the house. maybe I'll rebuild them together and see if they look like they are interchangeable. Could you send me a picture of the shifter and actuator chain? Is it the same as the Sturmey Archer shifters? if so i have a spare I could use.
 
I have spent yesterday sorting out my garage so my wife can put her car in at night. Today I sorted out the upstairs of the garage which is about half full of bikes now. Tomorrow I'm going to hoist up 14 bikes into the garage attic. I have a couple few bikes here :lol:

So in all this moving bikes and making pictoral records of the few I set aside, I took a picture of that Sears 3-Speed shifter for you pvwacko. One thing I never have seen is the shifter laying flat instead of upright.
SearsLadies3-SpeedShifter.jpg


I forgot to take a picture of the actuator chain so tomorrow before I hoist them up Ill take a peek at the two and compare them. I'll let you know what I find. For now I'll see if I have a picture here and see if it shows anything.
 
I looked through my pictures and comparing from as far back as 52 through 72. I would say they are the same. There are two different sizes in the length of the actuator rod that threads into the hub but I think it has to do with whether the hub has a coaster brake or an electric dynamo or a drum brake with it. For us with a standard 3-speed I think they fit the same for at least a couple of decades. Got to love that. Still I'm going to whip them both out and compare tomorrow.

Graylock
 
This hub is a sturmey archer clone built after the patent ran out.Adjs and build spects are the same or almost same as AW.
503(not sure about the .21) is a sears supplier code all idems sold by sears have these codes.502 is Murray I seem to recall(but could be wrong---some where on the web is a sears code list)
 
Well, I have some extra sturmey archer shifters I guess I'll throw it in a frame and see if it shifts through all the gears correctly. It's alot better looking than the sturmey archers I'll say that! I also read somewhere that the internals were interchangeable so if I rebuild it I'll rebuild it with an AW on the same bench to see if they are the same.
 
I posted this thread last May and with some input from some RRB members the question has been answered, at least I'm satisfied, thanks. Still when someone actually does the deed they will hopefully add to this thread. After seeing now where I posted it maybe I should have started the thread in Bike How To.

Graylock
 
Funny enough,I found this thread by Googling "who made sears 3 speed hub" and I end up on a current thread here. How funny. So can I use a SA cable and shifter for my sears 3 speed thats the same as yours?
 
I would say have at it, I don't see why not. When I closesly looked at the Sears shifter I found it the closest thing to the AS shifter compared to my Shimanos and Sachs. I am completely fascinated by these internal geared wheels. I have several including AS, Shimanos' and Sachs.
A tip when you score a 3-speed hub from the landfill, when you take the wheel take every thing from the wheel to the shifter. All the stops, cables, and sheaves. Wind them up, tape them together, and keep them with the wheel.

Later GL
 
Just picked one of these up trying to find out the year and see if it is worth fixing up...the gear shifter moves but does not click this is my first internal geared bike it is a green and white sears Austria 3 speed men's bike model 503
 

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