Here's a photo album I've thrown together of some photos from recent Ebay sales showing a lot of variations of the Normandy high flange hub (and a couple of the more unusual low flange that slipped in). As you can see there are hubs with 8 round holes, hubs with 7 slots, hubs with the outer surfaces of the flanges relieved and others plain. There are bearings outside the flanges and inside and variations within each type. We have versions with track nuts and wingnuts and QR skewers. And I've not even included the ones stamped only Schwinn Approved. There are some that look very Maxi-Caresque and one pair stamped both Prior and Normandy with riveted on flanges as well as some boxes that are labeled Normandy M. M. Atom AND Maillard! All of which makes me wonder if all French hubs weren't at one time or another made in the same factory. The French bicycle component industry does seem to have been pretty seriously inbred.
Some of the wingnutted 8 hole versions look to me to be the oldest but I wouldn't want to hazard a chronology based on such weak stuff!
Kurt Sperry Bellingham, Washington USA
2009/11/5 Harvey Sachs <hmsachs@verizon.net>:
> Here's what I can say from bikes I know:
>
> long "oval" slots,
> look a lot like Campys but with flush outer edge (no ridge), small web -
> late 1950s, per Marty Walsh's Helyett.
>
> 8 round holes,
> ~7mm and widely spaced. - very early 60s (my Sears). What I think were the
> first of these have the left flange of the rear all the way outboard, and
> were notorious spoke-poppers on the right side.
>
> roughly triangular holes -
> Schwinn version, mid-60s?
>
> harvey sachs
> mcLean va
> ++++++++++++++++
> John Crump wrote:
> Does anyone know (OR CARE) about dating Normandy hubs, I have one pair Large
> flange that have round oles in em. Now I see another pair NOS yet, 40 32
> Single fixed with slots in em, Did they follow Campag in the mid 50s Campay
> had holes in the flanges two rows of em in the early 60 they had one row of
> oles, them they went to slots, like the Normandy ones on Brit Ebay, anyone
> have an answer? Cheers John Crump OldfullofolesBrit, Parker, Co USA PS Did
> 40 miles on my 54ish Holland with the Normandy round ole ubs To-day