Schwinn and the Sturmey-Archer SW.

[Oilit]

They built a quality product. We can kick them around for being COPYCATS and stealing other companies' product designs, and maybe for having weird sized/pitch 26T threads on their headsets and bottom brackets, but let's spell their name correctly, LOL.

It was Styer, at least in this country. United Import Sales was the U.S. distributor and would later become Cycles Peugeot, U.S.A. This was my first sales position job in the bicycle industry.

I do not believe I have ever seen (previously) a hub stamped with the Styria name?

John

The company is Steyr/Daimler/Puch located in Graz, which is the capital of Styria, Austria's second largest state. I'm guessing S/D/P used "Styria" as their brand name. @juvela was the one who pointed this out to me, so he deserves the props. And you're right, that bike had to be built for the American market. It's odd to see a cantilever-ish lightweight!

 

[ricobike]

The company is Steyr/Daimler/Puch located in Graz, which is the capital of Styria, Austria's second largest state. I'm guessing S/D/P used "Styria" as their brand name. @juvela was the one who pointed this out to me, so he deserves the props. And you're right, that bike had to be built for the American market. It's odd to see a cantilever-ish lightweight!

It's always been Steyr as far as I know. And I have a bike with this headbadge:

 

[WillWork4Parts]

I don't think anyone has trash talked the quality of the Styria hubs in this thread...yet. They seem fine from the outside to me. Someone may reply by the time I finish typing this though. The Sturmey-Archer Heritage site takes the hubs on in a not so professional sense. Their site does stand me correctED in showing that the 3 raised ribs were not exclusive to Sears hubs though.

Really, the intent of this thread was to pinpoint the correct usage years on Schwinn models. It does help to know each model's history/track record.

Yes, Steyr/Daimler/Puch built the bikes branded "Steyr" and (from what I can tell) the hubs. The hub's house-brand model name looks to have always been stamped Styria. They stamped it on the shell and the shifter of this bike on ebay...and I haven't been able to find any hubs stamped "Steyr" alone. https://ebay.us/m/VOQQ2r
63 is the earliest I've seen year stamping referenced as Styria so far and I haven't been able to find any stamping indicating 1950s...only non-dated hubs and their use on Schwinns in the late 50s.

In @Schwinn Sales West 's defense, the Schwinn Service manuals didn't have the same spelling either. The image below is from the Sturmey-Archer Heritage site and references the very pages from Schwinn's Service Manuals.

There was this single speed Coaster as well.

So, is it a typo, or an entirety different spelling and Provenance altogether???

The Styria(Räder) brand name seems to have appeared as early as the 1890s with Styria Fahrradwerke(translates to Bicycle Works) being the name and location of their factory in Austria. There's quite a lengthy read in this link here, about the S/D/P company... While it mentions bicycles very early on and the later bike brand "Steyr," when this site talks about their rims after the war, there are no specifics on the hub, there is even a mention vague enough to make you wonder if S/D/P made the hub.

I think we need someone outside of the restricted US internet to shed some light on the relation of Steyr/Styria/¿Styre?, any thoughts on the subject @Oken ? Sorry to put you on the spot, but you seem to have studied a fair amount of hubs, especially the ones where we don't always have access to their information. Thanks in advance!

 

[Miq]

That Heritage site is killer @WillWork4Parts

This notice from 1910 was warning about this...

 

[WillWork4Parts]

The exploded diagram of the SW is better in the Service Manuals.

Here is a picture stolen from eBay of the SW's different axle too, if anyone ever finds themselves scratching their heads about what it is or where the keyed washer goes.

I believe the pinion was directly machined onto these axles, while the AW was made replaceable.

 

[SirMike1983]

The sun gear is pinned in place on an AW axle. The pin is driven out with a punch and the sun slides off. Reverse the process to install the new sun.

The Austrian copy is a step down in quality from a typical 1950s Sturmey AW. But cleaned and properly set up, the Austrian hubs work OK. I swap out the Schwinn Approved hubs in favor of an AW, but I have AWs in the parts bin to use when I need them. Not everyone has AWs ready to sub in. The Austrian hubs should be cleaned, disassembled, and checked when refurbishing an old bike.

Part of Schwinn's problem was that Raleigh had priority over hub production in times of shortage. Sturmey Archer was its own company, but Raleigh always pulled the strings if needed. Sturmey was permitted to sell to other bicycle makers if it brought in profit and prevented the need for subsidization from Raleigh. Raleigh retained priority when shortages took place, including due to war, or in this case, need to suddenly restart AW production for both new bikes and for replacement hubs. Steyr was attractive to Schwinn because of the reduced cost and ready availability without being subjected to Raleigh's ability to set hub production priority at SA. The Steyr hub is not as good but was "good enough" for most casual/light duty uses.

 

[SirMike1983]

Another knock-off from Switzerland was the Vibo hub, a short-lived effort Sturmey took legal action against.

 

[Miq]

@Oilit to me it looks like you already have a pretty well laid out timeline with pics and info on representative example bikes. It looks like you are within a year increment for the changes. How much more detail are you looking for? Like the exact month in 1956 when the SW was first used on a Schwinn? That kind of detail might be possible with more bike entries over time.

Some other observations. I have been working on a timeline of the development of IGH hubs for use in bicycles. The thing that surprised me (other than the fact that the Greek astronomers had already been using complicated epicyclic gears around 500BCE to predict the position of the planets and moon) is that a 3 speed hub was developed at the turn of the century. A time when the chain driven safety bicycle was still a very new invention. But there are Sturmey and Archer in 1902, patenting these ideas that are still popular today. Schwinn could see the utility of these parts long before Americans really got it. The prewar 3-speed New Worlds and post war 40s Continentials and Paramount touring bikes were equipped the SA 3-speeds. The AW introduction in 1936 fed the needs of the British touring bike boom but America didn’t quite get it yet. New Departure was selling the DD at this time and despite having all the fundamental parts to make a 3-speed they sold 2-speeds until the Tripl came out (19??). Bendix had a cable operated 2-speed in 1952 (Bendix Aviator with shifter) for the American market. The late 50s and early sixties saw the rise of the high quality F&S three speeds mostly for Europe and Bendix developing the kickback 2-speeds for the muscle bike boom in the US. It looks like the lack of adult bike interest in the US may have contributed to the small number of 3 speed bikes here. Once 5+ speed derailleur systems are introduced, the American adult and youth bike interest grew to adopt them. Was there another American 3-speed hub that gained popularity that I am not considering? It just seems like the Americans used 2-speed hubs primarily until derailleur systems were introduced.

 

[SirMike1983]

You've omitted the Sturmey Archer Model S - made in the USA during WW1. The Sears Chief relied on the Model S.

 

[Miq]

Thanks Mike. Was the Sears Chief the primary use for that US made SA model S hub? Was it popular?