UKFan4Sure

Can anyone tell me what this snap on band is for? Also, are these particular hubs well regarded? It's QR is labeled Sunshine...

Thanks...

Secret Squirrel

its usually an oil port cover

steelbikeguy

the clip is there to cover the oil hole.
The oil is intended to "freshen" the grease, according to various discussions I've seen. Similar to oil ports seen on headsets and bottom brackets of some vintage frames.

I'm not sure where the idea started, but Campagnolo certainly gave it a bit of status when it was used on their Record hubs....



Regarding your SunTour Superbe hub.... very nice! One of the nicer items to come from SunTour.
I doubt that the SunShine QR was original equipment, though.

Steve in Peoria

UKFan4Sure

Thanks!! I plan on re-greasing them, so I certainly won't be oiling the hole...

Again, are these decent hubs? I am thinking about replacing these hubs/Rigida rims on my Schwinn LeTour which has some lower end Malliard/Unknown rim combo.

DiabloScott

I had a pair of cheap wheels on my commute bike that I drew oil hole covers on for a joke.
Somebody stole the rear wheel on campus.

noglider 

Sunshine, also known as Sanshin, manufactured that hub. Campagnolo showed that people wanted a group of components from the same company, so Shimano responded by offering them. Shimano bought crank makers, etc. SunTour made deals to have other companies' stuff branded SunTour.

We stopped oiling our hubs, but those oil ports lasted for a while thereafter. One year, I tried using the oil ports, and they worked well. When I took the hubs apart, they were very clean. But once you start oiling, you have to keep doing it.

steelbikeguy

decent?
well, I'd say "great".
certainly a few levels above the Maillard hubs on the LeTour.

Steve in Peoria (always loved the high end SunTour stuff)

UKFan4Sure

Great info! Thanks for informing!

UKFan4Sure

Thanks, Steve! Time to invest in a good polishing on those Rigida's, then! I'm excited to update those heavy rims off the LeTour.

TenGrainBread 

Yes, those Sunshine-made Suntour Superbe hubs are elegant and work very well.

noobinsf 

Superbe was top line stuff, very light and durable, for racers.

UKFan4Sure

I pulled these off a Nishiki I picked up at a pawn shop yesterday (frame is nothing special, made of 1207 steel). It also had some KTT Lightning pedals which I've already sold for the price of the bike. I get lucky once in a while. Thanks to all respondents to my post!

JohnDThompson 

Bearing grease is an emulsion of oil and soap, and in the past, the oil was prone to separate from the soap component and leak out of the bearing. The oil port allowed you to replenish the oil component without having to open the hub. Riding would reconstitute the emulsion. Modern bearing grease seems less prone to this separation issue.

Yes, they're very nice hubs. Top of the line, and comparable to any other manufacturer's top of the line hubs.

iab

I'd ballpark it in the late 20s/ early 30s. Mid 20s and earlier used a zerk fitting like this.


Frejus 37 by iabisdb, on Flickr




And this hub is from 1933.


Frejus016 by iabisdb, on Flickr

T-Mar

The use of oil clips on bicycle hubs goes back to at least the 1890s and possibly further. Attached is a scan from an 1894 advertisement showing hubs with oil clips and a catalog page from 1900 showing a variety of oil fittings and an oil clip.

One of the big topics of discussion during the 1st bicycle boom of the 1890s was whether to employ oil or grease in the bicycle's bearing movements. While lubrication ports were essential to refreshen the grease with oil (especially on the early coaster brake hubs), they were even more important for those who favoured oil. In the 1890s most roads and streets were still dirt and bearing seals were poor. Consequently, bearing movements were easily contaminated. The argument for oil was that grease would retain the contaminant in the soap carrier, whereas oil would would dispel the contaminants as it seeped out of the hub. Of course, using oil meant frequent replenishment and to this end small "pocket oilers" were a popular accessory carried by many cyclists.

Gradually, grease would win out but the problem of oil separating from the grease carrier carried on into the 2nd bicycle boom of the early 1970s. Campagnolo's grease of this period was particularly poor in this respect. Puddles of oil were constantly forming and you had the mix the grease before you used it. Still, oil had some advocates even into the 1970s, particularly among track racers.

seedsbelize 

Superbe Pro is my grail group.

Highmass

I can confirm that Steve is right about the skewers. Mine says Superbe, and the nut part looks very much like campagnolo (Thre is a "ring" through it just like campy). Your hubs are the RH1000 model from the early eighties. You can look them up on velobase. But unless you´re a stickler for originality, your skewers will no doubt be fine.
As others have said, they are very nice hubs, if Campagnolo had not already taken the Record name, or if Shimano didn´t use Dura-Ace, they might as well have been Suntour Record or Suntour Dura-Ace.
One of my bikes have a mix of Superbe and Superbe Pro components, including hubs just like yours, and I love these hubs. Only problem I can see, is that they use a freewheel (Mine came with a Suntour New Winner 6), a Shimano HG casette would have been much easier and cheaper.
But great score, in the early eighties it didn´t get any better, no matter which competitor you look at.

mech986 

Very nice hubs, and you took some great pictures of them. Not easy with polished or anodized surfaces to get focus just right. The reflections of the spoke patterns is eerie!

UKFan4Sure

600 Tricolor is absolutely one of my favorite groupsets. I have built up a couple of bikes with these. One was for my friend; a custom build GT that I put his name on. See below: