# Secret old skool front Mavic hub..... ( I was told)



## NYC_CAAD (May 4, 2011)

A dad of a friend has been riding road bike for over 25 years.. (still does) even travels international. For the very first time i had the opportunity to walk into my friends dads (Semi) bike shop... _more like a building apartment basement_ a small greet was given :thumbsup: i went for a check up on a 700x23 tire that has given me 3 flats in 1 week  thought to myself....something must be wrong with the tire... The veteran checks the tire, finds nothing wrong... (hooks me up with a new tube) while he inserts the tube to the rim.... I turn my head to the left and see a SuperSix Cannondale built from ground up.. and many other bikes.. (all his) I went straight over to the SuperSix to check the weight (veteran immediately got of the pump) and said "the weight doesn't matter, what matters is the components" He then decides to take off the front wheel of the Supersix, hands me the wheel... tells me to hold tight with both hands while he spins the wheel.............. *WOW*:yikes: that wheel went on! and on! and on! I was hearing music with the wind :14: He mention the name of the front HUB to me while the wheel was still spinning, "Mavic HUB worth $400, discontinued and you wont find them" LMAO..  The son and i have been looking all over the internet

I think i did find them.... The hub looks just like the one on the picture.


The Mavic 500 year 1973/1979

http://www.mavic.com/en/history/1973/1979/The-500-hub

BTW: He also claimed that half the new HUB's that are out in the market are garbage, WOW.........


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## Rollo Tommassi (Feb 5, 2004)

*yes, most OE hubs are garbage*

but I still love Mavic no matter the year!

In the shop, to explain to customers why one bike is $600 and the other is $2000, I would say components, etc. But I'd have them pick up the front end of the bike by the stem and spin the front wheel. They could feel the grinding of the cheap hub vs. the Askium or similar and appreciate that.


OTOH, if you are interested in NOS hubs like those Mavic to build up, here is my shameless plug for my Classifieds ad:
http://classifieds.roadbikereview.c...7&title=nos-hubs-from-the-time-machine&cat=16


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## onespeedbiker (May 28, 2007)

Not really a big secret, they are simply made with cartridge bearings. About 25 years ago I swapped out a 105 hub (really garbage) for a cartridge Sansin hub and it still spins as smooth as the day I bought it. OTOH I have a set of Campy Nouvo Record track hubs that also spin as smooth as the day they were new (no discernible grinding). The debate between the two still wages on; both having advantages and disadvantages. I also disagree with Rollo Tommassi that all OE hubs are garbage. Almost all the hubs on my dozen or so bikes have loose ball bearings and in 30 years I have never lost a hub due to wear; actually I have never lost a hub period.


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## nickillus (May 3, 2006)

This is an interesting thread. I have Sansin loose bearing hubs on an '87 Trek 560 that still spin very smoothly. When I'm riding (recreational not racing) with friends I am usually coasting past them rather quickly on any kind of descent. We've wondered if this might be the extra 10-15lbs I'm carrying as a combination of my physiology and bike over their newer equipment, or could it really be the difference in hub quality?


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## crossracer (Jun 21, 2004)

Back in the day these were the hot ride. As far as i can remember the choices at the time (Late 80's) were shimano (all cup and cone) Campy (All cup and cone) Suntour (Cup and cone) and mavic (cartridge bearings). This was before specialized wheelsets were around, and you had to build up either a 28,32, or 36 spoke wheel. 

They were awesome, and they had the same bearing adjustment on one side of the hub as todays mavic systems have (If it aint broke.....) 

Awesome hubs, thanks for the trip down memory lane. LOL LOL

BIll


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## Richard (Feb 17, 2006)

The only non-Campagnolo component on my restored late '80's Falcon is the front hub - a Mavic RD 550 which is just a minor evolution of the 500. Got it around 1987 or so.

It is currently laced into its fourth rim, has never been rebuilt, and is smooth as silk and spins forever. Has to have somewhere in the vicinity of 50k miles. Amazing bit of kit.


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## MShaw (Jun 7, 2003)

If you can find em, the Sansin/Specialized hubs are VERY nice as well. Nice looking. More classical looking than the Mavics.

I have a pair of Mavic wheelsets with 501+571/2 hubs on one and both 571/2 hubs on the other. Spin really nicely. Don't fit 11t cassettes, but they DO do 10sp cassettes.

M


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## Johnny_Two_Pedals (Sep 12, 2005)

Don't forget about the Weyless and Phil Woods hubs of that era....fine pieces of workamnship that were hugely lusted after....


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## crossracer (Jun 21, 2004)

Ahhhh, Phil woods hubs. I completely forgot about them. Yep they were great also.

Bill


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## NYC_CAAD (May 4, 2011)

Best choice, 500, 550, or 501?? Im looking for a front HUB "24" spoke drilling. The info below i found searching on line.



> The 500 and 550 front hubs are the same, but the rear is not -- the 500 has adjustment rings on both bearings, while the 550 has an exposed (sealed) bearing on the freewheel size.





> The 550 was a variation of the 500 for "professional teams" that included anosized housing and axles and a relocation of the bearings to the extremity of the housing to reduce flex.





> Another thing I've noticed about RD500/550 is that the 500 q/r ends are chrome plated, whereas the 550 are silver annodised alloy.


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## JaeP (Mar 12, 2002)

*SSC Derailleur*

That's sweet. I sold a set of Mavic hubs when I went 8 speed. I'm still looking for a frame to hang this on.


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## zoikz (Sep 5, 2003)

I had a full mavic bike that i built in 1989 and had for around 15 years. After lemonds big win on ssc they used the momentum to come out with a tour de force of mechanical brilliance. The brakes were originally modolo and they sucked, but the replacement from dia compe was a huge step up. The cranks were insanely stiff. Bottom bracket was cartridge and required a bevel cut on the bb. Pain in the arse, weighed as much as a brick. Sadly the camber on the bb taper was unique to mavic and you could not use anyone elses bb. But the group was all overbuilt, weight weenies may hate it, but it means it doesnt wear out. Derailleurs were a work of art. All the pivots had c clips where you could break it fully down and even replace the brass bushings. Shift levers had like 4 pieces which never failed. The headset was phenomenal, hand tighten them and secure with a 2.5 Allen. In fact nearly everything on the group used the same 2.5 Allen key. They used more of less the same design for the mountain group.
Sadly they invested heavily into zap which was a horrible step into electronic shifting. They lost everyone's trust and mavic left the component game for good. As good as the old mavic was zap was that bad. A total mess. 
Such an incredible shame and I sometimes wonder what would have happened if mavic avoided the zap debacle and worked more with the designs that worked so well in that group.
The only secret to the hubs were the bearings. You could buy them separately and I routinely replaced customers bearings with mavic and got the same benefit. They would spin forever. 
At a time where you had to break down the bearings in your hubs, bottom bracket, headset once a year this was a revolution in durability. It was built to be raced hard and put away wet. Nothing I've seen ever has compared.

http://www.tearsforgears.com/2009/11/bicycle-guide-on-1990s-mavic-group.html


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## MShaw (Jun 7, 2003)

I ran both versions of the early Mavic electronic shifting. I liked the Zap lots but the battery life left something to be desired. The up side to that was you could take the battery out and make it a fixed gear! The downside is if you're not expecting the battery to go dead, you have a fixed gear in the middle of your ride. DAMHIK how bad that was in the middle of a commute to work.

I absolutely LOVED having the lower shift button under my index finger in the sprints. Much better than anything I've tried since.

Was it perfect? Nope. Nor did I find it finicky to set up or use. Weight and quickly dying batteries were my only two kvetches.

M


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## ohvrolla (Aug 2, 2009)

Man those hubs are screamin for some sweet box section rims.


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