1905 Sturmey-Archer Tricycle 3 speed gear

1905/1906 Sturmey-Archer Tricycle 3 speed gear

Serial No 46584

The introduction of the Sturmey-Archer 3-speed gear allowed Raleigh to adapt it for use in a tricycle and offer their customers the ultimate pedal-operated machine for elderly riders.

By 1906, Humber were fitting the Cordner 3-speed gear to their tricycles, but the Raleigh was still a good selling point for the company. The gear is an early version of the unmarked X hub which they later sold a licence to BSA to manufacture.

It has an integral sprocket in the centre of the hub shell to connect the gear to the differential. As you can see in photos at the bottom of the page, the tricycle’s trans-axle is a superb example of the engineering skills of the British cycle industry in the early 20th century, from which the motorcycle and automobile evolved.

There are so few surviving Raleigh 3 speed tricycles (two?) that the Sturmey-Archer 3-speed tricycle geared hub is very rarely seen in a machine. I believe this 1905/1906 example is the first of these hubs to be displayed on its own. It was restored a few years ago (the outer bolts are later, but I probably have older ones somewhere).

 

 

 

 

 

STURMEY-ARCHER 3-SPEED FITTED TO A TRICYCLE

 

 

 

TO SEE THE 1906 RALEIGH 3-SPEED X FRAME TRICYCLE PLEASE CLICK HERE