Evolution of the internally geared bicycle hub –
| 1885 | First epicyclic geared hub is patented for bicycles by Seward Thomas of Noblesville, Indiana. |
| 1886 | 2-speed hub was patented by William Reilly of Salford, England. Went into production in 1898, and successfully produced for about 10 years. |
| 1902 | Reilly designed a 3-speed hub, and signed the patent rights over to his associate, James Archer. Henry Sturmey, an English Journalist, also invents a 3-speed hub. |
| 1903 | Frank Bowden obtains both designs and forms The 3-Speed Gear Group. Reilly's hub went into production as the first Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub. |
| 1904 | Fichtel & Sachs company, Germany, produce a hub gear under license to the Wanderer bicycle company. |
| 1909 | There are 14 different 3-speed hubs in production in England. |
| 1930s thru 1960s | Three speed hubs ar being used all over the world, particularly in Europe. |
| 1970s | First derailleur bikes begin to hit the market. Derailleur systems are cheaper to produce, and have more gearing. Sport and leisure bikes adopt the derailleur system, while many utility bikes in Europe stick with the 3-speed hub. |
| 1980s | Sturmey-Archer is making 3 and 5 speed hubs, Fichtel & Sach's and Shimano are mking 2 and 3 speed hubs. |
| 1995 | Sachs introduces the Elan, the first hub with 12 speeds. |
| 1998 | Rohloff introduces the 14 speed Speedhub 500/14. |
| 2008 | Sturmey-Archer makes 3-, 5- and 8-speed hubs. SRAM, previously Fichtel & Sachs makes 3-, 5-, 7- and 9-speed hubs. Shimano makes 3-, 7- and 8-speed hubs. |
| 2010 | Shimano introduces the Alfine 700, an 11-speed hub. |
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