I am 6'3 and 230lbs. I am a fairly aggressive street rider but I don't do tricks or anything like that. All of my fixed gears always have a front brake, but never a rear. I have owned several over the last 8 years. I am fairly hard on my bikes, but I adore them and care for them well. This bike was ridden every day as my main form of transport.
The first hub was bought as a complete wheel and installed by me. I had my work checked by two independent bike shops, and both signed off on my work. I was fairly hard on this first one, occasionally skid-braking and riding smooth dirt trails hard. It broke as I resist-pedaled down a short berm, losing the lowest gear. A couple miles later the middle gear also went, leaving me with only the top gear. (Direct drive.) This gear continued working for the next 15 miles until I made it home. All told, the hub had less than 20 miles on it when it broke.
It was replaced by another hub and wheel by the local bike shop where I had originally purchased the setup. This time I paid to have the shop install everything for me.
I babied this second wheel. I rode constantly, but carefully. I did not skid brake or ride off road. I used my front brake and resist-pedaled as infrequently as possible. After about two months it failed while I was climbing a steep hill. I was in my low gear, climbing out of the saddle. The hub let go suddenly and without warning. I went over the bars and crash. Luckily there wasn't a car behind me. When I recovered, I once again only had my top gear (direct drive). Both lower gears freewheeled both back and forward. I limped home in my remaining 83" gear.
The shop is going to replace this wheel with a Sturmey Archer AWC hubed wheel.
Please understand, the S3X was amazing while it worked. I adored it. I am extremely sad to see it go. But for larger riders, it is simply too failure prone. I personally consider it fragile and unsafe.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Had heard mixed reviews of this hub, went for it anyway. I am using it with a freewheel a great option if you are not tied to the fixie thing. It built up into a wheel easily. It took a little fiddling to get the tension right on the shifter cable (not much). Until I got that right, I had 2 false neutrals. Now those are gone. I only have a couple hundred kms on it, but so far completely reliable.Top gear is the most efficient, and you notice a slight whirring in the lower gears, but that might still go away as the thing wears in. Nice to be able to shift while standing still, did not think that would be significant, but it is actually quite useful. The real reason I chose this hub is reliability in my wet and hilly commute. That has yet to be proven, but initial impressions are favourable.
