Accessories Bicycles Parts Specials Tools

Sutherland's Handbook of Coaster Brakes and Internally-Geared Hubs
find us on FB

by Howard Sutherland, Ed Colaianni, and John Allen
Spoke Divider

Table of Contents

Howard Sutherland has kindly granted permission for sheldonbrown.com to post the Handbook of Coaster Brakes and Internally Geared Hubs online. It covers hubs produced 1960-1992 -- some still in production.

PDf comment baloon The Handbook sections are stored as PDF files. Inside those files, mousing over the icon shown at the right will reveal added information.

Cover, title page and introductory note from Howard Sutherland 0-1 to 0-4
Chapter 1: Introduction; chainline; axle nuts; bearings; cleaning; sprockets; gear-shift mechanisms 1-1 to 1-6
Chapter 2: Single-speed coaster brakes
Table of contents, parts names, trouble charts 2-1 to 2-5
Sachs Torpedo Boy, Komet Super, Komet Super 161, Pixie, Jet; Centrix, Karat
For Freilauf, see SC in the Sturmey-Archer section of this chapter. 		2-6 to 2-9
Shimano A, B, D, E, Mighty Mite 2-10 to 2-16
SunTour 2-17 to 2-19
Bendix 76, 70, 70J, Junior, RB, RB-2, Original 2-20 to 2-23
Sturmey-Archer SC, SC1; Steyr; Perry; Torpedo
The SC is a licensed copy of the Sachs Freilauf.
Also see Torpedo models in the Sachs section of this chapter.		 2-24 to 2-29
NK, Mattatuck, New Departure, Hawthorne (multiple-disc) 2-30 to 2-33
Chapter 3: Two-speed coaster brakes, and a two-speed without a brake
Table of contents, brake arm mounting, trouble charts 3-1 to 3-3
Bendix Red Band, Yellow Band, Blue Band Overdrive 3-4 to 3-11
Sachs Automatic A2110, Duomatic R 2110, Duomatic 102, Duomatic 101 w/o brake 3-12 to 3-18
Chapter 4: Three- four- and five-speeds
Sachs 3-speeds are similar to coaster-brake versions and are covered in the next chapter.
Table of contents, cable adjustment, trouble charts 4-1 to 4-7
Shimano 333, FA, F Type, G Type, cartridge type
Worth rebuilding? See the article on Shimano 3-speeds.		 4-8 to 4-16
Sturmey-Archer AW. AG, AB/C; Brampton; Hercules; Scintilla; Steyr; SunTour; Vibo
This is the classic AW, not the current model. See the article on S-A 3-speeds.		 4-17 to 4-21
Sturmey-Archer FW, S5, S5.1, S5/2, S5 Alloy
The S5 should be used only with the machined bellcrank. The S5.1 does not shift reliably -- convert to S5 or S5/2. See details on our Sturmey-Archer 4-, 5- and 7- speed page.		 4-22 to 4-27
Chapter 5: Three-speeds with coaster brake, and Sachs three-speeds w/o brake
Sachs 3-speeds are very similar to coaster-brake versions and are covered in this chapter.
Table of contents, cable adjustment, trouble charts 5-1 to 5-7
Shimano 3SC and cartridge-type three-speeds with coaster brake
Worth rebuilding? See the article on Shimano 3-speeds.		 5-8 to 5-17
Sturmey-Archer TCW, S3C, AWC, AWC(II) and three-speeds with coaster brake
Updated in 2012 to the newest models! Note: the TCW is hazardous because cable misadjustment can disable the brake. See the article on Sturmey-Archer 3-speeds.		 5-18 to 5-27
Sachs 415, 515, H3111, H3102
The 515 and H3111 are three-speeds with coaster brake, the others without.		 5-28 to 5-34
Gear Table 5-35
Index 5-36

Spoke Divider

Spoke Divider

Cover of Sutherland's Handbook of Coaster Bake and internally Geared HubssAbout the Handbook

Since before 1980, Sutherlands' Handbook for Bicycle Mechanics has been an invaluable resource on bicycle parts compatibility, repair and maintenance. The 7th edition and the classic 6th Edition are available from Sutherland Publications.

The Handbook of Coaster Brakes and Internally Geared Hubs is now out of print, but available on this site. The Handbook provides very detailed information on these hubs, with exploded drawings, parts interchangeability lists, and disassembly/reassembly instructions.

Replacement parts for many of these hubs are no longer available from the manufacturers. That is not nearly as difficult a problem as it used to be, thanks to the Internet. Spare parts and spare hubs may be located through Internet searches and eBay, or may be as close as your local bike shop.

Spoke Divider

Spoke Divider

Hub not covered in this Handbook?

This site also provides information on most coaster-brake and internal-gear hubs not covered in Sutherland's -- more recent hubs as well as older ones all the way back to the original 1902 Sturmey-Archer three-speed. To locate this information, start with the pages:

Spoke Divider

Articles by Sheldon Brown and Others


Accessories Bicycles Parts Specials Tools

Handbook copyright © 1981, 1985 and 1992 by Howard Sutherland
This page and annotations © 2012 John Allen

Harris Cyclery Home Page

If you would like to make a link or bookmark to this page, the URL is:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/sutherland.html

Last Updated: by Harriet Fell