See also: Sturmey-Archer documents

Country: Taiwan

Sturmey-Archer is one of the brands of Sun Race Sturmey-Archer Inc. based in Taoyuan.

I believe that Sturmey-Archer was founded by Henry Sturmey and James Archer as the The Three Speed Gear Syndicate Company, possibly in 1902. From a very early stage the company worked with Raleigh, and was soon acquired by Raleigh, possibly also in 1902. Raleigh then used the Sturmey-Archer brand as its brand for components, particularly for its famous range of internally geared hubs.

Sturmey-Archer hubs that I have worked in our workshops, many of which are still running to this day, include the 3 speed K series (first introduced in 1918!), the FW and FM (wide and medium range 4 speeds, introduced in 1945 and 1939 respectively), the ubiquitous AW (wide range 3 speed, introduced in 1936), rarer AM and AC (medium and close range three speeds, introduced in 1937 and 1948 respectively) and, my particular favourite, the ASC (close ratio three speed fixed, introduced in 1946). This is not to mention the endless variations of dynohubs. There was a time when so many AWs passed through our workshop that I could disassemble them, service them (inevitably replacing the clutch and pinion pins) and reassemble them in my sleep. Tragic. More...