websterrr

From what I can find the Athena was mid-level or lower on the totem pole, I was wondering about these hubs specifically, the D300 from 1988-91 per VeloBase. Does anyone have experience with them? How do they compare to the 105s also listed below?

Athena

105

I'm looking to build a new set of wheels to repla ce the ones on my '87 Schwinn Tempo FWIW

Bianchigirll 

I think it is a toss up but at those prices I would take the Athena. I like the finish and the skewers on the Athena better anyway and CampI always did a great job on bearings.

wrk101

I really can't imagine paying almost $190 for a set of 105 freewheel 126mm spacing hubs.

I bought a set of USED 105 wheels (130mm spacing, cassette style) for $35 from a local bike shop a couple of months ago. Those used wheels came with SS spokes, nice rims, rim strips, cassette, good tubes.

NOS often represents the WORST deals on ebay. First, they command a huge premium, which goes away as soon as you open the box. Secondly, a lot of sellers are pretty loose with the term NOS. I see a lot of used stuff being sold as NOS. Buyers love NOS. And as a frequent seller on ebay, I do love selling REAL NOS bits and enjoying the premium!

Buyers will pay 3X for a NOS seat post, insert it into their bike, and immediately put a scratch on it or whatever. Meanwhile, a nearly new, shiny seat post could have been acquired at a small fraction. Unless you are looking for something for the display case, avoid it (unless it is one of my auctions).

Fred Smedley

They both are good, IMO I would be building a Freehub style rear hub if I was building a rear wheel, even if you are running a seven speed cassette. Better design , more gearing options. My son bought a nearly new 105 rear eight speed hub for twenty dollars off ebay and I gave him a used a NOS athena front I bought off ebay years ago for $20.00 on the wheelset we just built . One of each, both are nice and serviceable and will last years with care.

websterrr

Thanks for the replies

My current wheels get out of true frequently, my lbs said if I were to re-lace with my current hubs and new hoops this would likely keep happening. I was looking NOS rather than used so the holes wouldn't be stretched or deformed as mine likely are and to keep the current 6spd freewheel setup.

I definitely agree that the term is just a buzzword to attract buyers and demand ridiculous prices though. (Except for yours @wrk101 !)

jyl

Unless there is something really wrong with your existing hubs, I think your LBS is wrong. All my wheels are built on used hubs, they stay true. Holes in hub flanges get little deformations where the spoke bend is, those don't hurt anything, and if you really want to be anal, you orient the new spokes to use the existing deformations.

I suggest you consider taking your wheels to a good wheelbuilder - not your LBS, apparently - and ask them to see what they need. If spokes have been breaking, they may want to rebuild the wheel with all new spokes. If the only problem is the wheel going out of true, they may be willing to re-tension and true the wheels. Worst case, they rebuild with new rims and new spokes.

Some of the people on BF also build wheels for others, expertly. I think FBniNY does, anyway.

Bianchigirll 

I am with jyl I never heard of such a thing. Depending on your hubs the quality of them may not be worth the expense of relacing v buying a new 'off the shelf' set of wheels.

What are your current wheels?

Unless you really want freewheel type hubs I would recommend building 7spd cassette wheels, or using 8spd cassette hub and spacer. Years ago I had several nice sets of wheels built around RSX 7spd hubs and now except for my Campi Ergo bikes all my bike pretty much use that type of hub ofr commonality.

Dfrost 

+1 to these comments. I've never heard of a hub being the cause of wheels going out of true, and as an engineer, can't come up with how that would happen unless the hub was REALLY bad. I've built nearly every wheel (20-30?) on used hubs and none of them have trueness issues.

And FWIW, I find that used Shimano hubs rebuild very nicely, so I'd choose them over Campagnolo. My wife's bike now has an Ultegra rear hub instead of Campy Record, mostly so that I could use Shimano cogs with much greater range and availability. It works just as well, rolls very smoothly, the cogs are widely available and seem to be longer lasting.

onespeedbiker

+1 But if you end up buying new (or new to you) hubs you might want to keep in mind, I had a set of vintage 105 hubs laced up about 25 years ago; at the time you could have either a freewheel HB-1050 or freehub FH-1050 and I chose the freehub, but the front hub was the same regardless. After about 6 months the front hub gave up the ghost as I could not adjust the play out of it without the hub binding. The LBS that made the wheels for be said they have subsequently heard this very issue had be cropping up with 1050 front hubs. Saying this I would recommend the Campy Athena; as mentioned Campy, with exception of the Nuovo Tipo, was known for the quality of their known for the quality of their hubs.

Edit; BTW the 105 front hub was replaced with a Sansin low flange sealed bearing hub that to this day spins as free and smooth as any hub I have ever owned.

websterrr

Thanks everyone for the great info. Right now I'm leaning towards new rims, spokes and nipples and reusing the original maillard hubs. Although if I buy new, maybe I'll try out the fancy new freehubs, and learn something new in the process.

I thought that it would be pretty standard practice to re-lace hubs though being advised against it by the lbs. They are not in bad shape, I believe the rims may be out of true and the spokes are definitely deformed from the years and the re-trueings.

What's the thought between the maillards and the Athenas?

Road Fan

Athenas - or any Campy hub. BTW, I've always heard good things about Nuovo Tipo hubs. I'm looking for a pair for a UO-8.