Sand_Dune
Devout Dirtbag
Re:
They are Novotec hubs... Whilst modern, I selected them on the basis that they looked retro given the 1952 frame age.
And given we are talking about hubs now...
The front hub spins lovely after around 1000 miles in all weather.
The rear hub, well... the main seal (on the drive side) doesn;t appear to seal all that well and water ingress caused the main bearing cartridge to fail (grinding/squeeking/lateral play) after only 400 miles or so.
I replaced all the bearings in the freehub and the wheel - not an overly expensive repair - but very time consuming.
I inspect every month or so now and make sure it's clean and regrease as appropiate.
Dunno whether it's a poor design, wasn't assemble well or what....but it is what it is.
Still I do like the Novotec hub look and if you are handy with the tools then all is good. If not then pull your hair out as appropiate!

Regards
Damian
They are Novotec hubs... Whilst modern, I selected them on the basis that they looked retro given the 1952 frame age.
And given we are talking about hubs now...

The front hub spins lovely after around 1000 miles in all weather.
The rear hub, well... the main seal (on the drive side) doesn;t appear to seal all that well and water ingress caused the main bearing cartridge to fail (grinding/squeeking/lateral play) after only 400 miles or so.
I replaced all the bearings in the freehub and the wheel - not an overly expensive repair - but very time consuming.
I inspect every month or so now and make sure it's clean and regrease as appropiate.
Dunno whether it's a poor design, wasn't assemble well or what....but it is what it is.
Still I do like the Novotec hub look and if you are handy with the tools then all is good. If not then pull your hair out as appropiate!

Regards
Damian