Sachs 3x7 Overhaul Instructions

[John Thurston]

About a decade ago, I published (on the web) a set of instructions for disassembly and overhaul of the old Sachs 3x7 hubs. Those hubs were used on a  lot of Bike Fridays. They are good hubs, and will run for a long time if they see a little maintenance from time to time. My web page still sees a little bit of activity, but (after 30 years) I'm turning off that web site and simplifying my life.

I've consolidated the overhaul information into a single PDF, and am offering it here for posterity. Anyone may do anything they like with the content, as long it is compatible with the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. The gist of that license is:

• Use, share, adapt, derive for non-commercial purposes
• Give attribution
• License your derived work using the same license
  

I hope this information will help others keep their 3x7 hubs running smoothly in the years to come.

-- 
John Thurston
Juneau, Alaska

[Marc Reif]

Looks great, thanks so much! 30 years is a long time. 

Sent from Gmail Mobile

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[Kai Mikkel Førlie]

Thank you John! :)

[Sent from my smartphone.]

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[Carl Hemmings]

Thanks for that JT, if I click on the Creative Commons link, what’s next, do I have to pay to see it?

All the best,

Carl Hemmings AUS.

On 28 Mar 2026, at 12:57, y...@bikefriday.com wrote:

y...@bikefriday.com

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• Sachs 3x7 Overhaul Instructions - 1 Update

Sachs 3x7 Overhaul Instructions

John Thurston <y...@thurstons.us>: Mar 27 03:45PM -0800

About a decade ago, I published (on the web) a set of instructions for disassembly and overhaul of the old Sachs 3x7 hubs. Those hubs were used

on a _lot_ of Bike Fridays. They are good hubs, and will run for a long

time if they see a little maintenance from time to time. My web page still sees a little bit of activity, but (after 30 years) I'm turning off that web site and simplifying my life.   I've consolidated the overhaul information into a single PDF, and am offering it here for posterity. Anyone may do anything they like with the content, as long it is compatible with the Creative Commons CC

BY-NC-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/>

license. The gist of that license is:

* Use, share, adapt, derive for non-commercial purposes * Give attribution * License your derived work using the same license

I hope this information will help others keep their 3x7 hubs running smoothly in the years to come.     -- John Thurston Juneau, Alaska

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[John Thurston]

The PDF was an attachment on my original message.

I use YAK as an old-school mailing-list (e.g. listserv), so I get messages in my email box (including attachments). Other people participate in digest-mode (also via email). Others use only the google web interface. There may be other ways to participate. And I'm probably one of ten people left in the USA who does not use Google-authenticated products unless forced to. So I don't know how this appears in their web interface.

If anyone wants to make the original PDF more accessible to the Google-group members, they are free to do so.

John Thurston
Juneau, Alaska

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[Wesley Brooks]

Thanks, John! Do you happen to know whether the freehub splines compatible with Shimano cassettes? 

-Wes

[John S. Allen]

The answer is yes. The 3x7 is compatible with a 7-speed Shimano Hyperglide cassette. It cannot take an 11T outer sprocket unless slightly modified (as BF commonly did) by grinding a taper on the end of the cassette body. I have managed to fit an 8-speed cassette by using a dished innermost sprocket. With John's permission, his PDF is now posted at https://sheldonbrown.com/Sachs3x7Overhaul.pdf

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-- 
John S. Allen

CyclingSavvy Instructor
League Cycling instructor
Author, Bicycling Street Smarts
Technical Writer and Editor, sheldonbrown.com

[David Thomson]

There is also the “8 of 9 on 7” hack, using 8 cogs from a 9 speed cassette and a 9 speed shifter. I ran that for many years until recently switching to a Sturmey-Archer CS-RF3 3x9 hub. 

Dave

On Apr 8, 2026, at 11:05, John S. Allen <jsa...@bikexprt.com> wrote:



To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/bikefriday.com/d/msgid/yak/7c6ca7b6-90ad-4a66-bb6e-6b389991f468%40bikexprt.com.

[Kai Mikkel Førlie]

On a related note, my Airglide features a Sachs 3x7 that is fitted with an "8 of 9 on 7" cassette meaning 8 sprockets from a 9-speed Shimano (splined) cassette (interestingly, shifted via a Campagnolo Chorus long cage rear derailleur and Campy Chorus 9-speed brifters), a non-standard approach that was used for a time at BF. If interested, search the yak for more detail. Eight 9-speed cogs occupy the same space, overall thickness-wise, as seven 7-speed cogs, hence why this works.

[Sent from my smartphone.]

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/bikefriday.com/d/msgid/yak/7c6ca7b6-90ad-4a66-bb6e-6b389991f468%40bikexprt.com.