----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald Gillies" <gillies@cs.ubc.ca>
>
> These wheels have "weyless hubs". I remember the adds from the
> 1970's. Amazingly light. Do these hubs break ?? Some of that 1970's
aerospace technology was strictly test-pilot material ...
>
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.
Jon Schaer
Columbus, OH