Flash

Just searching around and I'm noticing that Shimano 6 speed threaded hubs are difficult to find. Are these extremely rare, or do I need to be looking further back in the 1970s? One of the few examples I have found of a Shimano 6 speed rear hub is HB-1050 from the mid-1980s (link below):

https://velobase.com/ViewSingleCompon...=110&AbsPos=17

cuda2k

I suspect the main problem is that there are few NOS condition Shimano hubs still around from that time period, and that few people take the time to unlace a used hub from a wheel when the rim goes bad (unlike say a Campagnolo hub may be resuced from a dead rim for a rebuild). I scored a set of used Shimano high flange hubs off eBay some time ago that I built up into a new wheelset to go with a Shimano 105 Golden Arrow group set that I had at the time.

What spacing are you looking for? 126mm? Or 120mm with a 6sp Ultra freewheel?

Here's a NOS Dura-Ace set in 126mm: https://cgi.ebay.com/Shimano-Dura-Ace...3A1%7C294%3A50

mod note: moved thread to C&V where it should get more responses.

23skidoo

They are out there. I picked up a NOS set of 600EX hubs in 32h on CL a few months ago; they also can be found in 6-spd cassette.

cyclotoine

I have two bikes with them on them, the specific model you cite is a nice one too. I have a set on my girlfriend's mixte, laced to lovely wolber super champion gentleman 58 touring rims... a very nice combo... and I have one on the back of my girlfriends singlespeed laced to a polished super champion 81 (anyone got a 700c one of these they would part with?). The front rim from that set was toast and a couple days before I left for europe I was packing up my touring bike and I decided the front hub wasn't smooth enough so I opened up the can of worms and they oozed out by the hundreds... I found pitted races in my cheep shimano front hub. Alas! I could not build a new wheel I was leaving in two days. So I went to my hub bin, there was the 0105 (or whatever) I had unlaced from the super champion rim and lo it was the only one with the same dimension races... I couldn't knock them out because unlike the new hub the center was of smaller diameter and I couldn't get purchase on the race (did you know these hubs are 2 pieces of aluminum pressed together?), I hastily hacksawed it up to remove the races (after I made sure I could get the races out of my touring wheel. I installed the better quality races in my hub and put in the bearings, dustcaps and races from the old shimano and then traveled 1760kms in Europe. When I took the wheel off to box the bike back up for the return trip it was still buttery smooth... nice hubs those are...

WNG

Shimano 6spd freewheel hubs were produced up to the late 80s.
Those pictured are 105-1050 series hubs. Very smooth running hubs. But the plastic dust cap of the rear hub was a detractor. If it cracks or breaks, it's irreplaceable.
Your better choice were the Shimano 600 hubs of the same era. Buttery smooth and more traditional end caps for the rear hub. The Dura Ace set is nice but costly.
Older series of 600 EX and Dura Ace EX would be late 70s early 80s.
Yes, all these are getting rare. Is there any reason you must stick with Shimano?
There were some great Suntour/Sanshin hubs, as well as Campy.

BlankCrows

This rear hub is a 105 Golden Arrow version. FH-R105 is the item code on it.

wrk101

Just find a good 6 speed donor bike. I find a lot of them in six speed.

+1 Common configuration in 1980s.

Antipodes

I wouldn't have thought they'd be that hard to find.
Aside from the potential axle bending issues associated with freewheel hubs, I think the Shimano EX of the early '80s is a damn fine hub. I had one on a winter beater for a year or two; the races of both the hub and cones seemed to be of a very good quality. I ran it with a 6 speed Shimano 600 "twist-teeth" index freewheel and it was really nice.

TallRider

Part of the reason they may be difficult to find is that they are usually referred to as "freewheel hubs" not "6-speed hubs"
A freehub body is very specific in what cassettes it can take. Shimano 7-speed is narrower than 8/9/10-speed freehub body, and Dura-Ace 10-speed freehub body will only take Dura-Ace 10-speed cassettes. Campy have a different spline pattern and are different for 8, 9 and 10-speeds.
Whereas almost any freewheel hub has the same threading and can take almost any freewheel.

To find a freewheel hub with the right spacing for the number of gears you want, you simply need the right era.
That said, I think that most freewheel hubs were spaced stupidly (with more dish than necessary for the vast majority of frames) so I'll nearly always respace them anyway, to minimize wheel dish and the bending moment on the drive-side axle.

So you can get basically any freewheel hub, if you're willing to respace it.

cudak888 

I'll have to check whether its an Ultra-6 or not, but the Windsor Super Carrera I just picked up has Shimano low-flange hubs and a corncob Winner Pro 6 in the back.

-Kurt

JohnDThompson 

I have some of these in 120mm rear spacing:

Citoyen du Monde

They are not at all rare, they simply have no value, so nobody seems to ever offer them up for sale. If you offer them for sale on ebay, you are only generating income for ebay. If you put them on CL, you are only generating responses from the lunatic fringe. It is easier to simply put them away for some future personal use.

Flash

Good question. I have gathered a lot of 600 EX parts for my build, so would love to have Shimano hubs as well. Much of what I see out there is Maillard. In fact, I have the original Maillard 6 speed threaded hub that came with my 1985 Panasonic. I'm going to take it apart this weekend for an overhaul and I may just re-use it. Again, though, I just love the older Shimano parts, I can't help it.

Flash

Thanks for your comments and thanks for moving the thread. Rear spacing on my 1985 Panasonic is 126mm. My freewheel is a Shimano HG22 6spd. Those dura ace hubs are beautiful, but my rims are 36h, unfortunately (I must use the original Araya black anodized rims!! ;-) Shifters 6sp Shimano 600 EX, RD Shimano 600 SIS. cheers

laudcyc

[QUOTE=Flash;8466018]Just searching around and I'm noticing that Shimano 6 speed threaded hubs are difficult to find. Are these extremely rare, or do I need to be looking further back in the 1970s? One of the few examples I have found of a Shimano 6 speed rear hub is HB-1050 from the mid-1980s (link below):


I am getting ready to sell on Ebay that exact hubset hb-1050 new in box, New old stock. Was leftover in bike shop, It is a 36 drill freewheel rear. Seller name is Barneyord.

Jeff Wills

[QUOTE=laudcyc;20894693]A word of advice: before replying to a thread, note the date of the last posting. This thread is 10 years old and it's likely the interested parties have moved on.