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Bendix manual 2 speed hub

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A little "food for thought",

After reading articles here and elsewhere, plus valuable advice from Cabers, I was still curious about what TYPE of grease I should use in putting this bendix 2 speed back together. Original articles and manuals say "medium auto grease". I did order some new grease from Amazon from some advice on here. But it hasn't shown up yet. I wanna get this back together.

So I ran down to a local Norcal Schwinn hot spot, El Sobrante Cyclery. Spoke with Gary. He's in his 70s and his dad opened this shop in 1957. Gary worked there as a kid, and then took it over. Recently sold it, but hangs out part time now. He's a valuable WEALTH of knowledge for me with old Schwinns. Plus it's a feast for the senses when you walk in, there's gotta be 3-4 dozen old Schwinns hanging from the ceiling!

I caught him outside on a cigarette break (that's how old school he is) and asked him about the medium auto grease from the manuals. He took a long drag off his cigarette and said, why would you use that? They used that back in the day, but the bicycle industry has come along way in the last 50 years. And then sold me this grease in the photo. So it's going back together with this grease.

Just wanted to pass along some info that I got today. Do as you wish and good luck!

View attachment 1661051
That stuff is super sticky careful not to get it where it isn't supposed to be.
I just acquired some nice S2’s with that same hub I believe, it’s been serviced & gone through, they belonged to a couple cabers before me I hear, maybe more, I’m very anxious to throw them on a rusty relic w/no brakes I haven’t had a chance to fix yet, the hub is Yuge hahaha! I hope I can get it together after I cook dinner and ride it, any shifting technique’s I should be aware of? Thanks for the info on this thread guys!!!!
You will get the hang of it, I can get mine to shift without fully applying the brakes
 
That stuff is super sticky careful not to get it where it isn't supposed to be.

You will get the hang of it, I can get mine to shift without fully applying the brakes
But can you fully apply the breaks without it shifting? Or does it kick down to the lower gear for ease of restarting?
 
But can you fully apply the breaks without it shifting? Or does it kick down to the lower gear for ease of restarting?
No, every time you back pedal it changes gear, so low to high or vice versa. So depending on where you're at you may have to back pedal twice to get into the gear you want. If you forget as you start to pedal it is obvious what gear you are in and easy enough to get into the right one.
 
I have only ridden one bike with that 2 speed and the cable broke during my short ride. ☹️ that's my old one on Maurice's work bench🙂 ...MUCH better than the kickback style I just put on anther bike since every time you hit the brakes it shifts. that will take some getting used
 
Wait....I lost track here somewhere.....I thought we were talking about the 2 speed manual hub not the kickback. The Bendix manual stays in the gear the lever is in all the time.
I thought “manual” implied kickback, but I guess it does say “bendix automatic” on the kickback 😂 oopsie
 
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