Monoix

I'd like to have some advice on which freewheel hub to get for my retro six-speed bike. Maxi-Car is out... Cartridge bearings and oversize axle is what I'm thinking of. 120-130 mm, width doesn't matter.

Some hubs I've looked at, but ain't sure of how their axles are constructed, are Suntour Superbe and Mavic 500, are they any good?

Iowegian

Phil Wood makes hubs like this and have a very good reputation.

Monoix

Yes, they are good. It was when I was looking at them I started to wonder about if there where other hubs as nice and strong, back when there were no cassette hubs.

frpax

Campy Record

pastorbobnlnh 

I'm big, heavy (even over weight), and ride on cracked and frost-heaved NH mountain roads. I've had great success with all of the following:

Early '60s Normandy high flange



Mid '60s Campagnolo Record high flange (front on far right)



'70s "Schwinn Approved" high flange



Mid '70s Phil Wood



'70s Campagnolo Tipo high flange



I hope this is helpful.

kpug505

If you're looking for sealed bearings you should look at Hi-E and early American Classic.

And a big ol +1 on Phil Wood.

Monoix

Yes, hubs with sealed cartridge bearings is hat I'm looking for, with oversize/strong axels. I've never heard about those Hi-E hubs before, but they look similar to Bullseye hubs.

Anyone here that knows how those Superbe Pro are?

Amani576

A well built wheel with Phil's is an amazing thing. I LOVE mine, and they roll SOO smooth.
-Gene-

RobbieTunes

I can vouch for his Phil's.

I still like a set of Shimano 600/Ultegra/Dura Ace ball bearing hubs, cleaned and cleaned and packed with Mobil 1. If you can hang the bike, leave a wheel with the stem in a horizontal position, let it free, and come back in 3 minutes and it's still rocking, I'd say you're close.

RobbieTunes

Superbe Pro, properly packed and lubed, are fine. Std axles, not oversized.

Sixty Fiver

These were made by Sansin...

unworthy1

those Superbe/Sanshins are very nice hubs...I've always carried a torch for the Mavic hubs with sealed bearings: plenty strong, very, very smooth....should I add another "very"?

Sixty Fiver

This is one of the nicest hubs I have ever used... a Sansin 40 spoke tandem hub.

I also have some Suntour XC Pro hubs that are also Sansin made and they too are amazingly well made.

Antipodes

I can vouch for the old Shimano 600 freewheel hubs. I don't know the model number, but they're the ones that have the screw-on dustcap on the drive-side and take the unique two-prong removal tool. I rode one of these through two very wet winters and it held up excellently. The bearing races and balls seemed to be of a very good quality.

Exit.

I'm rolling on Miche Competition hubs right now, and they're great. Loose bearing though, so probably not really what you're looking for.

Grand Bois

Mavic 501 is my favorite.

Road Fan

Same opinion here for Campy Record, Super Record, and Nuovo Tipo (as shown by PastorBob) hubs. Unless you are going off-road or overspacing the hub for 130 mm OLD, these are adequately strong.

Not as strong as Phils, but they will last decades if you maintain the bearings. I have heard of axle bending, but mainly if they are overspaced.

Do you want high flange or low? What's the bike? In Campy, low flange SR's are the easiest to find. I don't know what happenned to all those high flange hubs that were sold in the '60s and '70s. The SRs normally came in 126 mm for 6-speed, and the Record and Nuovo Tipo were generally 5-speed 120 mm era. I find the spinning ease of a correctly adjusted Record or Super Record-based wheel to be amazing. Vintage pricing is quite variable for Campy hubs, ranging from peanuts to caviar.

Road Fan

Monoix

Well, I'm only interested in hubs with cartridge bearings. I like cup and cone, but now I want to know which freewheel hubs with cartridge bearings there is.

So far there seems to be Mavic, Phil Wood, Maxi-Car, Hi-E, Bullseye and Suntour/Sansin. Current Phil Wood seems to be the easy choice, with Mavic coming up second if they can be found.

Grand Bois

Mavic 501 and 571 can be found on eBay. They're expensive, but not as much as Phil Wood. You can put Phil bearings in them if you think they're better. I think the Mavics are much better looking. Mine polish beautifully!

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=220399335359

The only set of Mavic track hubs I've ever seen.

thenomad

I've got a set of Suntour Superbe pro hubs on my '86 Trek 760 Pro Series. They are made in conjunction with Specialized supposedly. They have cartridge bearings and are buttery smooth. 126mm spacing in the rear, 6 speed freewheel, regular axles. The rears need new cartridge bearings pressed in to be in primo shape. I'd like to keep them but I want to move to 9 speed indexed on it.

Send me a PM

robatsu

I've had good luck w/a couple of wheelsets built with Campy Croce D'Aune hubs, the poor man's C-Record, have been used for commuting, lots of unpaved, loaded riding, they just keep on rolling with sensible maintenance. They look super elegant as well.

The Maillard 700 hubs are great, sort of Campy equivalents.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money and don't mind lack of sex appeal, a lot of the Sunshine hubs put on Japanese midrange bikes of the 70's/80's are pretty bulletproof, again with sensible maintenance. Put some premium bearings in them, and you are good to roll. Despite the fact that there were millions of these things made, it is a little hard to find them for sale. They bring so little money that nobody bothers to put them up for sale.

Of course, the usual Campy suspects, NR/SR.

JohnDThompson 

Sanshin (Sunshine) made hubs for both SunTour and Specialized.

Homebrew01

I've got a set of wheels in the basement with Weyless sealed bearing hubs from around 1979 or so. I only used them for a few years because they had 5 speed spacing. I should ride the front though. Nice and light with the Fiamme Ergal rim.

Grand Bois

The OP made it clear from the beginning that he was looking for cartridge bearing hubs with oversize axles.

By coincidence, the mailman just delivered a NOS Suntour XC hub I won on eBay. I didn't know it had cartridge bearings and I don't think the seller knew it either. It's a beautiful piece, especially for $11.50.

Sixty Fiver

Sweet deal... those hubs are beautifully made.

I used an xc front hub on a wheel build using a Sun Rhynolite and it is as insanely smooth as my tandem hub.

I still have to build up the rear hub to another Ryhnolite.