Tom Hayes wrote:
>
> I have picked up an Olmo bike from the fifties, maybe early sixties, that
> has a set of hubs with "Olmo" engraved in the middle of the spindle
> housing. I have them apart, and there does not appear to be any markings
> on axles, bolts, or cones. They appear similar to Campy Gran Sport of that
> era, though I am not familiar enough with "quality" hubs of that period to
> know whether most hubs appeared similar to the Gran Sport. These do not
> have quick release either. And one other thing about these hubs--though
> this identification maybe more a sign that these 58 year old eyes need to
> get themselves off to the opathamologist sooner than anticipated--nine of
> the holes on each side appear to be larger than the other nine, spaced
> every other hole on each side. At first I thought it was a matter of the
> direction and entry of the spoke but it does not appear that way, though I
> could be wrong.
>
> In any case, does anyone know of hub manufacturers from this era that would
> have specialized in manufacturing hubs for specific bikes of the same era?
>
> I could send jpegs if that might help, though I doubt whether my camera and
> ability would allow me to get a close-up enough of the spoke holes to show
> the difference in diameter of the spoke holes.
>
> As always, thank you for your help.
>
> Cheers from rainy, cold, almost snowing Chagrin Falls,
>
> Tom
FB (Fratelli Brivio) supplied three piece hubs (aluminum flanges pressed onto a steel barrel that had the races ground in the ends) to many bike manufacturers with their names stamped on the barrel (Bianchi, Atala, Guerra, Pinarello, Maino, Legnano, Olmo, Campagnolo etc.) along with Campagnolo-supplied axles, barrings and QR or FB's own axle, cones and nuts.
What you are seeing with your 58 year old eyes (mine too) is that the spoke holes are countersunk in an alternating pattern.
Interesting subject. When all hubs were steel the flanges were very thin (since they were steel they didn't need to be thick to be strong). Later with the introduction of aluminum flanges (made thicker than steel flanges to be strong enough), the aluminum hub flanges needed to be countersunk to accommodate the spoke head because the spoke elbow was dimensioned for the thin steel flanges.
This is contrary to modern practice. Nowadays the countersink accommodates the spoke elbow, not the spoke head, because the spoke elbow dimension was increased when the thicker flanged aluminum hubs became the norm.
Interestingly DT has recently increased the elbow dimension again to accommodate the really thick flanges of down hill mountain bikes and a lot of wheel builders are protesting the change.
Chuck Schmidt SoPas, SoCal
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