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Does anyone have any experience with Sturmey Archer 2 Speed Kick Shift hubs?
The idea here is that you have 2 speeds, direct drive (whatever your chain ring and cog are), and a 138% overdrive. You access your two gears by pedaling backwards slightly. No cables needed. These hubs are also coaster brakes, but according to the instruction manual you can disable the coaster brake if you choose to.
This product really excites me because I'm a single speed rider, and 65 gear inches gets me up 95% of the hills around me, but sometimes I'm tired, I'm just not feeling it, and I can really struggle on some of the 10%+ grades around me, making me yearn for just one more gear, a lower gear.
If I could set this thing up so that direct drive is in 47 gear inches, then 138% of that would be 64.86 gear inches. I'd be able to keep riding in the gearing that suits the vast majority of my area, but I'd have that 47 inch climbing gear for the 10% grades.
It sounds too good to be true so I'm wondering what the catch is. The only downside I've been able to verify by watching YouTube videos is the 138% gear freewheel is loud as hell, but I could live with that.
