Jon Schaer wrote: I'm not positive, but I believe these are essentially the same as Bill Shook's later American Classic hubs. I think the earliest versions of these were turned from 6061 aluminum, which isn't very corrosion resistant, and then powder-coated in colors. There may have been a lot of variation in the powder-coating process. I've seen some that have aged very well, and some that had a lot of flaking of the coating at the spoke holes. These then tend to corrode a lot, which weakens the flanges. The durability generally seemed to be good, but at the time spoke tensions were generally lower, wheels were 32' or 36', and usually 3x. Later hub versions I think were of 2000 series, then 7000 series. Even though these alloys are stronger, there were more flanges failures (as most all of the OT boutique hubs of the 90's had). This might have been due to the alloy being too brittle for the use, or because of wheels evolving in the 90's to higher tensions, fewer spokes, and radial lacing.
Ride 'em! Those older hubs almost always had great bearings, and service easily. +++++++++++++++ One advertised feature of the Weyless Hubs was the use of teflon outer seals on the cartridge bearings. This was supposed to be strogly resistant to intrusion by water. The other "feature" was the oversized skewers. We still have one set laced up, but they don't get ridden often or strenuously.
harvey sachs
mcLean va