im re doing a bike for lady ...it has a red band bendix ...on the break arm it says "rb2" does this mean its a 2 speed ? thnx mike
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hey cman thnx for the fast response ..no dissapointment ...i was just thinkin if it was this lady didnt need anything like that ...LOL what is on of those worth if i did have one ? just askin mike
wow cool ...ill keep my eyes open for some of those ....!!
Along with yellow, red, and blue, is the legendary orange band 2 speeds. The story that has been passed down from the old Bendix factory says there are 3 orange band hubs out there somewhere.
One of the new employees kept having things go wrong and was worried about keeping his job. This was early 60's, and Bendix was just starting to change from red band 2 speed hubs to the new yellow and blue band hubs. The new guy was trying hard to do a good job, but was trying too hard and accidentally spilled the new yellow paint into an old can of red. Everyone else had left for lunch, so he hurried up and painted 4 dozen hubs with the mixed paint so they wouldn't notice the waste of paint. He hung them up to dry and then started filling orders. A few small vendors showed up and he loaded them up as they waited. A large truck for the Detroit shipment showed up. That would take the rest of the hubs he had painted, then no one would know the better. He had the big truck almost loaded when the foreman came in. He was just about to commend the new guy on a good job when he noticed the orange paint on the last few hubs. After a quick chewing out, they had to get all those hubs back. They unloaded the Detroit truck and called up the local vendors to return the defective hubs. Then they did inventory to be sure. Someone didn't return all the hubs, and they couldn't track it down, because the new guy didn't write down exactly how many hubs went to the local vendors. But they had 3 hubs unaccounted for after recounting twice.
Poor guy lost his job, and there are 3 orange band 2 speed hubs out there somewhere.
One of the new employees kept having things go wrong and was worried about keeping his job. This was early 60's, and Bendix was just starting to change from red band 2 speed hubs to the new yellow and blue band hubs. The new guy was trying hard to do a good job, but was trying too hard and accidentally spilled the new yellow paint into an old can of red. Everyone else had left for lunch, so he hurried up and painted 4 dozen hubs with the mixed paint so they wouldn't notice the waste of paint. He hung them up to dry and then started filling orders. A few small vendors showed up and he loaded them up as they waited. A large truck for the Detroit shipment showed up. That would take the rest of the hubs he had painted, then no one would know the better. He had the big truck almost loaded when the foreman came in. He was just about to commend the new guy on a good job when he noticed the orange paint on the last few hubs. After a quick chewing out, they had to get all those hubs back. They unloaded the Detroit truck and called up the local vendors to return the defective hubs. Then they did inventory to be sure. Someone didn't return all the hubs, and they couldn't track it down, because the new guy didn't write down exactly how many hubs went to the local vendors. But they had 3 hubs unaccounted for after recounting twice.
Poor guy lost his job, and there are 3 orange band 2 speed hubs out there somewhere.
that sounds pretty real! :lol: is it true?
stretch said:
I don't know if it's true, but that's the story from the old timers who worked there. A bike mechanic I knew in Pace, FL, back in the 80's, had his bikeshop in an old quonset hut in his backyard. I was trying to get a standard 2 speed to work and he told me he worked for a place called Eclipse where he had heard the story. So I've followed the story and researched. I've heard the same story and read about it on a blog somewhere a few years ago. I always check every 2 speed automatic I see for sale anywhere. I have noticed one thing, the paint, whether red or yellow, doesn't seem to fade, even when left outdoors for years. There's an old guy with a junkyard, up in Yulee, Fl, north of Jax, who says he has 4 or 5 old bikes, rusted solid, with 2 speed hubs on them. I'm going to try to get up there next weekend to have a look.
FYI, the RB-2 was introduced in 1963, the first RB in 1961. -Adam
wow what a sweet story man ...id love 2 have one of those babies ...is bendix the only one that made these type hubs ?
Sachs has or had a 2 speed, and Sturmey Archer is just now offering a new 2 speed automatic. With a coaster brake or without, and in different colors. This is from their webpage:
cman said:
I talked to the old guy back in Pace, fl the other day. I actually still had his phone number. He verified the green striped hubs, he said the same new guy had also spilled the new colors, blue and yellow, together then painted a dozen hubs before throwing away the paint. That was only his first big screwup, so he didn't get in trouble, but the other guys working there supposedly kept the box of 12 hubs for souvenirs. So that's probably a real green band hub, my apologies to Adam because I had pointed out irregularitries in the stripes last year, thinking it was a hoax. The orange band hubs probably aren't painted perfectly either.
How about 3 yellow bands? is that a standard marking?
I have a Coppertone Deluxe Racer with a Bendix 2 speed kickback with 3 yellow bands. According to the Schwinn site it was mfg in June 1970.
Once I figured out how you shift it, it works perfectly.
I think it has an exercise bike seat on it. It's a Schwinn seat, but very wide and has the 2 raised butt pads.
This bike is so near perfect, I'm afraid to touch it to clean it up. I need to get Steve to do the cleanup, I guess!
.
I have a Coppertone Deluxe Racer with a Bendix 2 speed kickback with 3 yellow bands. According to the Schwinn site it was mfg in June 1970.
Once I figured out how you shift it, it works perfectly.
I think it has an exercise bike seat on it. It's a Schwinn seat, but very wide and has the 2 raised butt pads.
This bike is so near perfect, I'm afraid to touch it to clean it up. I need to get Steve to do the cleanup, I guess!
.
These seem to be the most common model.
The yellow band 2-speed was a standard offering on a lot of Schwinn models. I have a '64 Racer with one, and recently salvaged a 66 Breeze with one as well.
If you ever have the wheel out to tighten up, regrease, or otherwise service the hub, do not turn any of the hub nuts unless you make a tool first to allow you to tighten the bearing cones back up.
You'll want to take a 9/16" socket, or something close to that size, and grind the end off leaving two square points about 1/8" long, to engage the serrated nut on the inner race of the sprocket side. Without this, the bearing cone backs out as you try to tighten things, or turn the sprocket.
--Rob
The yellow band 2-speed was a standard offering on a lot of Schwinn models. I have a '64 Racer with one, and recently salvaged a 66 Breeze with one as well.
If you ever have the wheel out to tighten up, regrease, or otherwise service the hub, do not turn any of the hub nuts unless you make a tool first to allow you to tighten the bearing cones back up.
You'll want to take a 9/16" socket, or something close to that size, and grind the end off leaving two square points about 1/8" long, to engage the serrated nut on the inner race of the sprocket side. Without this, the bearing cone backs out as you try to tighten things, or turn the sprocket.
--Rob
jerrykr said:How about 3 yellow bands? is that a standard marking?
I have a Coppertone Deluxe Racer with a Bendix 2 speed kickback with 3 yellow bands. According to the Schwinn site it was mfg in June 1970.
Once I figured out how you shift it, it works perfectly.
I think it has an exercise bike seat on it. It's a Schwinn seat, but very wide and has the 2 raised butt pads.
This bike is so near perfect, I'm afraid to touch it to clean it up. I need to get Steve to do the cleanup, I guess!
.
What about the mythical purple band hubs?
