oldlugs

I came across a set of hubs I forgot I had the other day, they were bought years ago on a closeout deal from Nashbar, probably back in the late 80's or early 90's. They look Asian made but I was wondering if anyone knows who made hubs for Nashbar? Their 100/126mm spaced, 36H low flange hubs marked Sealed Tech and Nashbar with a label.
I know I've seen these hubs before, or at least something really close but can't put my finger on it. The skewers are Nashbar Scripted and resemble mid 80's Shimano skewers.
I'm thinking maybe Suntour Cyclone or similar? They're super smooth, but they aren't cartridge bearings, just sealed cones.
I bought several sets back then and somehow lost them in all the clutter in the garage. They've been stored for about 20 years. Some are more polished than others but their not anodized and would polish up like chrome fairly easy.

WNG

I kinda remember these from the 80s, I thought they were decent sets. IIRC, Miche pops up in my head. If they are Asian sourced, likely to be Sanshin/Sunshine/Sansin.

unworthy1

Nashbar did sell some made by Miche (not their best quality, either, also went by the "Cyclepro" brandname), but these look better and so as WNG says: Japanese and part of the Maeda group of suppliers most likely, so Sunshine/Sanshin +1.

oldlugs

I've got several Miche hubs here, nothing is even close to these. The skewers that came with these are almost identical to mid 80's Shimano 600 or 105 skewers but instead of saying Shimano, they read Nashbar. The end nuts are identical. Of course that doesn't mean they didn't source the skewers from one company and the hubs from another. The closest I can match these up to is 80's Suntour Cyclone hubs. I don't have any Sunshine or Sansin hubs that look like these but I'm sure it's a possibility. I have also heard that Sunshine and Suntour were the same hubs?
These have an odd looking cone with a built in seal, they're adjustable but it looks like I could remove the inner part of the bearing and install cartridge bearings pretty easy. They've been here so long I even forgot what I paid, or what I bought them for. They must have been cheap for me to buy several sets.

vintagebicycle

Those hubs could be either Suntour or Sunshin/Sansin hubs, many were the same sold under both brands.
Nashbar did sell some hubs from Miche, most had Cycle Pro Skewers. They were top quality hubs with parts comparable to Campy Record. I've got several sets here. They are marked Miche Competition and are super smooth ball and cone type hubs. These are a bit older than the Suntour hubs. Those look to me like maybe Superbe Pro or Sunshine Pro hubs, circa 1983-1986 or there abouts but that's just a guess.

T-Mar

Based on the shell shape and axle hardware, they look like the Italian manufactured hubs.

unworthy1

Doh! administering self-dope-slap.^ I guess they could be Miche, but they look far, far better than the ones I had (and hated after the rear hub shell failed and left me stranded to walk home)...IIRC they were sold by Nashbar but had Cyclepro skewers (and no, they were NOT silky smooth like Campy Record, these were just about on a par with cr*p. I know Miche can do better cause I have seen much better hubs from them)
Then again, could be Ofmegas, I had one pair of Avocet hubs made by them that were silky-smooth, but a sealed cartridge bearing I think they were.

oldlugs

If these are made by Miche, their far different than any other Miche hub I've had. The Competition series looks a lot like Campy, I often wondered if it wasn't the same, or at least used Campy parts. We used to buy them to get replacement axles for Campy from Cycle Pro through one parts supplier.

On this set, if they're European, I'd have guessed maybe Zuess who made something that looked like these. To me, they still look Asian, the axle nuts, spacers, and skewer all look like Shimano, but again, who knows to what degree they farmed out production. An Italian company could very well have been outsourcing to Japan and then selling the hubs to Nashbar?

triplebutted

Susie hubs?

rhm

So, that's a sealed hubset with loose balls?

triplebutted

Hahahaha "made in italy!" Okay, so we are eejuts.
"sealed labyrinth" is a fancy way of saying there is a dust cap that comes around. Hey it works okay.

unworthy1

"sealed TECH", it was a oh-so-clever way of making a low-tech labyrinth seal seem like high-tech cartridge bearings...some Japanese companies used the same terminology, I don't think Nashbar invented the term.

David Newton

Labyrinth seals go back pretty far, they were used a lot in Brit car engines for rear main bearing seals. They are a great way of sealing a crankcase without the use of rubber seals that wear out. Of course my Triumph never leaked oil.

Since I can't see what's going on with the dust caps, I don't know, but they may have a spiral "thread" to the inner that is intended to sweep the cone OD of dirt.

TL179

the Miche Hubs had a machined spacer, rather nice. The dustcaps, in my experience at least, are very susceptible to bending. Those caps sit flush with the threads too, I found the bent ones would prevent the hub from running smoothly.

oldlugs

On these, the cones look normal, these hubs have a plastic or rubber sealing lip on the dust cap's inner edge, the hub spins super smooth with no resistance though. These use loose bearings. However, the bearing cup is a loose press fit, and square seated. I could very easily see them being replaced with cartridge bearings. With the cone, dust cap, and cone in hand, the assembly closely looks like a cartridge bearing but it's single sided and only sealed on the outside. If I removed the dust cover and cup, and discarded the cone, these would accept sealed bearings. A standard 6200 bearing would fit right in place, (10x30x9). My only concern in using sealed bearings is that most sealed bearing components have some sort of inner shoulder to preset the bearing position on the axle, whether it be a machined shoulder on the shaft or a loose sleeve as in some BB assemblies.

oldlugs

I just spotted this on eBay:
https://cgi.ebay.com/MICHE-COMPETITIO...item4cf509e837
Miche may just be the maker, these hub shells look awfully close to the Nashbar hubs I have, as do the skewers.