Sorry if this ends up being a double posting. I sent this at 8:30am today and then had PC problems. Since it has not appeared yet, I have resent it:
Over the past year or so we (list members) have had a number of dialogs regarding Normandy hubs. I recently came into a number of original 1970's catalogs and thought the group may be interested to note that the difference between the Normandy "Sport" hub and the Normandy "Luxe Competition" hub is only in the hub casting (forging?) itself. The internal cups, cones and even axles were the same. The Luxe hub casting was upgraded by the fact that the flanges were slightly curved inwards, the finish was highly polished and the spoke hole area was raised along the outer flange area like a Campy NR hub. I've taken apart a number of both hubs this past year and my observations support what my catalogs show. The "Sport" model was a decent mid-level hub but definately not in the same catagory as the top end hubs. The Sport was used on almost all mid-level 10 speeds from the 70's such as Raleigh Grand Prix's, Peugeot UO-8's, etc.; the Luxe Competition was typically used on the lower level top tier bikes such as the Peugeot PX-10E, Motobecane Grand Record, etc. When the Peugeot PX-10LE was introduced in 1974, the hubs spec'd as standard were Maillard 700 series ("Peugeot Trophy"). These were an upgrade from Luxe Competions used on the PX-10E. The Maillard 700's hub had the casting of the Normandy Luxe Competition but with upgraded ground bearings and cup/cone surfaces. I've been using both and the 700 series are a clear upgrade over the Normandy Luxe's. The 700's are as smooth (my opinion of course!) as Campagnolo NR/SR. A 1975 third edition of Bikecology catalog describes the Luxe Competition as follows: "This is a very light hub used on many pro bikes. Though quite attractive and serviceable, the quality level and price are below that of the preceding models." Preceeding models were Campagnolo, Phil Wood, Dura Ace, and Sanshin.
Regards,
Eric Elman
Lightly overcast Somers, CT