albrt 

I bought a funky 650(B) wheelset from the co-op. The front hub appears to have "KILL Wood" written in ephemeral red script.




Anybody have any idea what these are?

nlerner

That’s one funky lacing pattern. Not sure Phil Wood would approve.

bikingshearer 

Re: the spoke pattern - Yeeeaaaahhh, no. That spoke pattern may be the bee's knees, but I doubt it. If it was, some pro mechanic would have figured it out not less than 75 years ago. I sure as heck will not be the one to try it out. With apologies to Will Rogers, that is one electric fence I do not need to pee on myself.

I can't be sure , but that looks like a Phil Wood hub that somebody decided to have some "fun" with.

RCMoeur 

Just in time for the Halloween displays at the big box stores, the macabre BikeForums postings start ramping up...

Does look like a decent set of hubs, though.

Lascauxcaveman 

The bends in those spokes make my eyes hurt.

Looks like an early generation Phil Wood hub that somebody scribbled on. I have a set like that, sans scribbles.

Wildwood 

I think it is funny as heck!! Kill Wood.
I've got Phil on my red tandem. Not in the spoke pattern pictured above.

The real thing.

pastorbobnlnh 

The spoke pattern looks like on the spaghetti string models for the latest Atlantic hurricane.

The change to "Kill" from "Phil" is rather clever. The hub should be re-laced to a beech-wood rim.

SJX426 

How many different length spokes were required for that pattern?

Road Fan

I don't see the point of trying lacings like that.

etherhuffer 

Get a strip of leather and make a hub shiner. Put Simichrome on it and ride for a few weeks. Kill Phil will be dead and gone

smd4

Is the body of that hub rusting?? Doesn't look like a quality hub to me.

ehcoplex 

Th earlier Phil hubs have a steel center section- the plating seems to eventually get scored and start to rust a bit. They're still really good hubs.

unworthy1

true that: the plated steel center barrels rust (usually speckles like this) and the first thing that goes are the "Phil" pad-prints. Phil got the feedback and replaced them with "cosmetically improved" stainless barrels for the next gen and then decided to skip the steel-with-alloy-flanges and go to all-one-piece alloy (as the example from Wildwood).
For decades they used practically the same high-grade cartridge bearings sourced from a Japanese bearing supplier (Nachi, or so said the scuttlebutt) so these early models spin just like today's hubs (or so says me).
+1 that running a leather strap polisher does the trick and
+2 that lacing pattern is just a goof

albrt 

Thanks for the knowledge everybody. I'll probably put these on the intended bike to see how they fit. If they seem like they'll work out then I'll rebuild with new spokes.

pastorbobnlnh 

My Phil front hub from about 1983 looks very similar to the OP's hub. It's a 48-spoke hub so exceedingly difficult to get my fingers in there to polish off the rust. Has anyone tried Evaporrust on a Phil in this condition?

SurferRosa

RCMoeur 

You go down for what you thought would be a routine shift at the co-op, and next thing it's a Tarantino movie...

repechage

I bought a Carlsbad twin plate GC with twisted spoke pattern wheels. Actually advertised on the BF C&V for sale forum.

There was a “pro” shop in Newport Beach decades ago promoting them.
silly.
I bought the bike and asked the seller to remove the freewheel and cut the wheels apart to get it into a smaller box and reduce the shipping.

repechage

I think you need to do the “Kurt” damp swaddling cloth approach- many of those rust eaters do not play well with aluminum.

zukahn1 

It's a faded early 80's Phil wood hub with butterfly lacing as said neither of which are a thing butterfly lacing is mostly for low rider and cruiser show bikes. Still a really nice wheel if its true and smooth I wouldn't have a issues putting it on a vintage bike.

Russ Roth

I built a wheelset in that pattern for an early 80s raleigh, the spokes started breaking after around 7 or 8 months of commuting to work and the college campus, not too long by any real standard for a good wheel build. But I wasn't gentle on them by any means. In hindsight using a 1.8 spoke would be better, less stresses at the crossings or even a 1.8/1.6 spoke. Basically its hard to get the tension right with the way the spokes cross and as the pattern settled in it allowed them to loosen. Wouldn't use it for a MTB but would do it again for a general ride around bike.

Darth Lefty 

it's ok, peak-fixie wheel. I still think you're cool

madpogue 

How much wood would Phil Wood kill if Phil.... oh never mind.....

P!N20

Here’s one I built for my fixie:



Three leading, three trailing. Still going strong ~13 years later.

A bit like rosettas on your coffee; it may not have any functional benefit, but it’s fun and creative. (Just like the harlequin bar tape!)

albrt 

So the back wheel had a weird freewheel setup - two single speed freewheels side by side. I don't have any BMX freewheel tools so I took it to the local bike shop. They were able to get the first freewheel off. Guess what was holding the two freewheels together?

A bottom bracket cup.

The second freewheel is still on there because the BMX freewheel tool won't fit over the Phil axle assembly. I either need to find a version of the tool with a large opening, or I need to push out the press-fit axle.