I have to say the only decent measure of hub smoothness would be to test it in the load and speed regime it is going to be used for. Test the hub at 300 rpm with a 150 lbs load for the rear and 100 lbs for the front. Measure the current draw to see the lowest drag. Turn the axle it is no different then turning the wheel for steady state measurement.
I believe the smoothest and lowest drag unloaded feel is for the Sanshine(Sunshine/Suzue) Pro-Am's and Junko Skyroads. The SunTour Superbe is simular also a Sanshine product, and I believe the original Dura Ace were in fact Junko Skyroads with a Shimano label. These had smoother bearings than Record hubs.
I have a Lycett Swallow saddle that came off a 1961 Raleigh Sprite I gave away. It is very dry and I was wondering the best way to revive it. The bike was never ridden and the saddle was never treated and seems brittle.
Unfortunately the bike was donated to a charity. It had a generator mount on the fork, Blumel fenders, Campy Gran sport Derailleurs, GB brakes, The Lycette, and was in new condition with the large Raleigh man on the Seat tube. Nobody wanted it not even Mike Kone and I had to purge due to housing problems. It was really an interesting example of an early pre Bike boom bike and in excellent shape, Oh weell.
Brian in Berkeley, Ca Got drenched coming into work even with the fenders. > > Monkeyman wrote: > > > >> My vote for the early 70's on smoothness was Campagnolo NR/SR(IT), Phil > Wood > > >> (US), Lambert(UK) and Maxicar(Fr) followed by the early Duraace and early > > >> Suntour Superbe. Later the field was cloudy as sealed cartridge bearing > > >> smoothed hubs out over many price ranges. It should be noted that Lambert > > >> hubs used sealed cartridge bearings. > > > > None of these are near as smooth as the Hi-E's and Weyless' of the same > > time from my view, though the Maxicars are close. If you're looking for > > tests on hub "smoothness" and relitive energy loss from the bearings and > > their surfaces, I think Harlan (Hi-E) has done them and they were published > > in Bicycling Science, I think. I also seen that England's Mike Burrows is > > working on some testing similar. > > enjoy, > > monkeyman
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