Yes, I've had several NOS late Maxi-cars with hardened grease.But I would describe the feeling as sticky when turning the axle not as rough. Since the play of the bearings of Maxi-cars is adjustable, roughness might be due to too tightly adjusted bearings. There's an excellent article about adjusting Maxi-cars in Bicycle Quarterly. BTW: Although better sealed, Maxi-cars have never been as smooth as the smoothest hubs of all time Pelissier 2000.
Dirk
Dirk Feeken Heidelberg Germany
-----Original Message----- From: On Behalf Of Eric Elman To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Subject: [CR]Maxi-car Hub Smoothness
I've recently purchased a late model, large flange NOS Maxi-car rear hub and when turning the axle there is some roughness, i.e. she is not smooth as one would expect. The seller, whose integrity is NOT in question at all, has told me that while he would provide a full refund if desired, has also added that this is typical due to being NOS and of early 90's vintage (sitting for years) and that after a short amount of use, the grease which has hardened just a bit will loosen up and the hub will be as smooth as expected.
I'm not sure what to do and am looking to the list to see if others have had any similar experiences and if using the hub will very likely be fine.
Thanks in advance for your helpful advise.
Eric Elman
Somers, CT USA