second, and taller 38.4% overdrive third gear. Riders appreciate the nearly silent operation of its springless 'centrifugal' pawls (while the pawls are often described as being centrifugal in operation, they in fact operate by a rocking motion as the freewheel ratchet teeth pass over them, pushing them back and forth in their slightly oversized sockets). Smaller and lighter than an AW hub, the SW was aptly, but unfortunately, described by Sturmey-Archer as having "fewer working parts than any other wide-ratio 3-Speed hub" and was thought to be less costly to manufacture than the AW series that had been in production since 1938. The new hub turned out to be slow to engage drive because the mode of pawl engagement necessitated fewer freewheel stops and could not be "pre-shifted" like an AW can while changing 'up', and the AW's predecessor, the 'K', can while changing in either direction. This pre-selection of gears was never advocated by Sturmey-Archer. More troubling, the unique crescent-shaped pawls can have slippage issues, even with correct toggle chain adjustment, as engagement of only two of the three pawls in each freewheel is insufficiently stable to hold normal levels of torque. This is more pronounced in hubs which are sticky inside from incorrect lubrication, and ones which have been allowed to wear through poor maintenance or, less commonly, heavy use. Attempts were made to correct the issues the SW experienced, with surviving examples showing two different planet cage retention methods (mandating two different axle designs), three different planet cage pawl ring designs, two different gear ring designs, two different sliding clutch designs, two different pawl designs and two different axle key designs, one for each of the two indicator rod designs which were used with the SW, a two piece, left hand indicating design between 1954 and mid-1958, requiring a plain drilling in the axle key and a fully drilled through axle, and a less common threaded axle key, for use with a standard AW type right hand indicating design, introduced at around the same time as the re-marketing of the AW in the late summer of 1958 and permitting the use of a partially solid axle. Sturmey-Archer had intended for the SW to completely replace the AW hub, and had designed a complete family of SW series hubs. The SB was intended to replace the AB/ABC 3 speed hub with 90mm drum brake, and the SG was