Rather attractive Sunshine Pro-Am hubs
 

I bought a very beat up, rusted, re-painted Atala for the Sugino Mighty Triple cranks. Well, the cranks turned out to have cracks. (You may have seen my other post in C&V). So, the purchase was very disappointing. But, wait, there may be a silver lining here.
Behold these rather attractive Sunshine Pro-am hubs. The rear is high flange and the front low flange. They have a very appealing finish to them and appear to be well made.
I am not so much interested in what they are "worth" but I would like to get info if anyone has knowledge of this make & model.
Were they the high end for Sunshine? Were they considered reliable?
These spin like they are brand new, and are laced to some nice Rigida rims.
So, if you any knowledge, please share.



https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...50500602f2.jpg
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Very nice.

IIRC their mid-'70's launch predates the hubs Sanshin Matsumoto did for Suntour Superbe and for Specialized.

Am thinking launch was ~'74.


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Matched set cleaned up with matching skewers off the rims about $60-70 on Ebay.

Sunshine Pro-Am Hubs +++
 

Hello,

I acquired a low flange set of these with a 1975 Holdsworth Mistral. When I tore them down, I was absolutely amazed with quality. The cups and cones are finished better than any that I have ever seen, including Campagnolo, Dura Ace, etc. The original builder/owner obviously built this tourer with durability in mind. T-A triple cranks, Campagnolo derailleurs, Mafac Racer brakes and these hubs laced to Super Champion rims.

They were the stock hubs on the '76 Fuji Professional. I built up a second pair as training wheels. Over 8000 miles, not a single issue. Bike was sold with one pair. I no longer run 120 mm 5-speed so the rear hasn't seen use ina a while. Front has been used as a winter wheel (sporadically) the past 30 years. Repacked the bearings last year. OMG! What a beautiful hub! Absolutely perfect. Easy match for anything out of Italy.

Those hubs are gems. (Didn't read the above posts before I wrote the above. I see others agree.)

Ben

You solved something something I could not put my finger on.....the finish on these hubs is very similar to Suntour Superbe hubs. Its more like a pearl-like finish.

Oddly, the front is low flange and the rear high-flange. Was that common?

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AFAIK they were not offered that way from the manufacturer - it was either high or low but not mixed.

"pearl-like" is the perfect descriptor for this beautiful finish ;)


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I do not know about the higher end Pro Am series hubs. I can tell you that I bought a Kabuki Diamond Formula back in the late seventies that came with Sunshine hubs . The owner of the bike shop where I purchased the bike raced a lot and told me they were very well made and ended up lacing them to a set of Gentleman wheels with SS spokes . That bike has been ridden consistently since I bought it and the hubs roll as nicely as my Campy Records. With regular service(grease) they are truly lifetime hubs. Joe

IMHO, these Sunshine cartridge bearing hubs (similar to Phil Wood) were the best they ever made.

https://live.staticflickr.com/963/28...909bad74_h.jpg
1983 Univega Alpina Ultima by wrk101, on Flickr

They are mis-matched but both are stamped with "77" next to "Japan"; likely a date stamp.
Yes, pearl does best describe the finish. The finish does remind me of the Superbe hubs.

Had some red lebel Sunshines on one of my first BMX bikes 35 years ago and have yet to come across a nicer basic hub.

They're a very close knock-off of the Campagnolo Record hubs, along with the first generation Dura Ace hubs.

I've got several sets of them in wheels for my Centurion Semi Pros. They're great, nice looking hubs. The only knock on them, is their cones don't seem to be very durable. In overhauling 4-5 sets over the years, most of them had at least one damaged cone or cup, even on bikes without much outward signs of use.

I think the finish, and machining on the first gen Dura Ace is a little bit better, but they sold for about 20% more, back in the day.

Durability, wise, I think Campagnolo still set the bar. Their cups and cones were either better steel, or heat treated more appropriately.