dave martinez wrote:
Bicycle Guide had a pic of Cino Cinelli standing next to his personal bike (Cinelli SC), as I recall it had Phil Hubs with a radial or cross one spoke pattern on the front wheel.
As e-Richie wrote a bit earlier, Phil hubs (and BBs) really are within time frame, and were the choice of many "serious" riders, not just tourists. The first time I saw them may have been as early as 1972, when I hauled a bunch of "kids" (racers and shop-rats) from Corvallis OR up to Portland for a major criterium on a very hilly course. Suddenly, I saw a race bike with what looks like coaster brakes fore and aft, but no reaction arms. They were, of course, early 3-piece Phil hubs. Shall we say a different esthetic? The darned things made sense then, and still do (and ADP's "new" Town & Country has one from about '78, 48 hole, double-sided). Yes, MaxiCar, Harden, and others had used industrial cartridge bearings, but it was hardly mainstream. Phil had thick flanges, countersunk properly to bed the spokes as well as possible. But, what I hadn't seen before was the commonsense solution of the very large diameter, modular, press-fit axle. Really elegant. With just two hub shell widths, Phil rears were available at widths from 120 mm to maybe 145, in 5 mm increments.
A great product, and when it failed, the factory did the right thing, in my experience. I certainly consider them classic, and put them on bikes whenever I could afford to.
harvey sachs
mcLean va