I've been at the "Veterama" at Mannheim (south Germany) today, one of the biggest oldtimer part swap events in Europe. Mainly for vintage motorcycles and cars and only a tiny fraction bicycles and that mostly pre-war fat tyre stuff. Very Interesting, the motorcycle guys are really nuts.
I've never seen so much black leather and hairs in my life. (Sheldon Brown would have been the best shaved man there). To bad I forgot my camera.
Then suddenly there were these three belgians carrying the rest of an old belgian bicycle factory with them. I digged out a lot of NOS french stuff like 50s Simplex derailleurs (suicide shifters) or Mafac Cantilevers and two nice looking never laced hubs.
One looks like a very old Maxi-Car front hub but seems to be made of three parts and has only "MAXI" engraved. Have I really bought a first generation NOS Maxi-Car for 5 Euros or were there cheaper copies/versions around?
The other one is an ever better looking and finished english rear hub with oil injection port and more elaborate looking seals. It's engraved with "HARDEN ...Industries Notthingham...PAT.596173 MADE IN ENGLAND". It has 120mm sacing but a very long axle.
I've put some pictures on http://home.t-online.de/
thanks,
Dirk