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Bendix MANUAL 2 speed, years available on Schwinns?

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I've often though that too.
It's hard enough just to understand how the hubs and all the parts function, much less think it up in the first place.
A couple of other things to note...the levers say Aviation Division, as in made by the same folks as the Bendix Aircraft carburetors.
The popular hubs before Bendix MS were the New Departure 2 and 3 speed. ND made one called the Twin Streak that was oddly similar being high flange....during the same years...now that I think about it, I've not nailed down which came first. Google isn't cooperating to find ND patents.
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You can see the shape of the hub above, and note they were part of the General Motors Division. Same folks that developed transmissions...?

Below is part of an ad with a Twin Streak on an early Schwinn Middleweight, from 1-1-56.
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So they would have been selling two speed kickback hubs as early as 1959?
The other day, I took apart the original hub from my 1959 Schwinn Catalina, for a little cleaning and grease. Anyway, there's a planetary gear set inside. Could this have been a two speed the whole time,?
 
It explains a lot. I figured that maybe they just used the same housing as the geared bikes. It certainly is bigger than other one speeds.

If you look into the axle you should see a slotted screw head. That piece may be missing as well. If the axle is hollow then you have to determine if exactly what parts are in need of. The gear levers are specific to the manual it has a solid metal cable cover that needs to be securely mounted to the bike frame. bicyclebones did sell the part that mounts on the end of the axle and is activated by the cable which he also sold at one time. I do not think he sold the lever but they do come up for sale. It seems like cables in good condition and the clamps are the most often the hard part to find. Did you say you had the hub apart?
 
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