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Musselman finned front hub question

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mike j

Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Picked up this hub, on right, yesterday at Trexlertown. Very different from my other one. Larger outer flange, no grease fitting & four fins as opposed to two. Questions are, which is older & appropriate for which specific bikes. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 

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I've seen conversations on here where it was mentioned that these 4 fin hubs were sold as a replacement option only but both my Elgin twin 40 and the one that sold @ Copake recently had one so I'm tempted to believe that they were also original equipment. I think they are made of a more delicate pot metal type material also so be careful when tightening spokes.
 
I would believe that the 4 finned one I posted was original to the bike and not replaced at any time. They are, from my research, fragile and pot metal that can break easy.
 
Alemite fittings are exclusive to Sear's and the Elgin models, rear air cooled preceding the front so many wheels in '36 had non air cooled fronts mismatched.
Large flange seems to have been supplied outside of the Sears-Elgin contract ( I have never seen on an Elgin or with alemite fiitament... maybe because it would interfere with the grease gun?) and seen With Silver Kings mostly '36-37.
Small finned continued into the late 30' with Elgins, not thinking I have seen one without the alemite fitament.
These are my personal Musselman observations having worked on a lot of bike in this period.
Chris
 
My 37 Roadmaster also has one of the pot metal four finned Musselman hubs. They are solid once laced into a wheel, but care must be taken during the wheel building process. They had removable bearing cups much like the later Schwinn hubs, so make sure the cups are there, before attempting to service the hub. It is common to find these hubs without their internal parts.
 
These are nice hubs, replaceable cups as cyclingday notes, loose ball bearings too. I've had a few and seen several more, never saw a broken one though...anyone?
 
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