Product Description
Saturnae/Saturne HC20 + Specialized Racing Sealed Bearing 700c Wheelset: 28H x 126mm - Mid 1980's (Near Mint+
This is an OEM Specialized-built wheelset from a 1985 Specialized Allez or Allez SE. In this 28 hole format, it's a super light road racing clincher or a fast trainer. If you have a Jim Merz or Yoshi Konno built Allez, these are for you! If you have a mid to late 1980's Specialized road bike of any sort that needs lightweight clinchers, these are a great option. If you just need some killer road wheels with style and flair, these are definitely for you! The rims are hard anodized and feature the bold white SATURNE decals opposing a trio of colorful brand, model, and "1984 Gold Medal winner" decals.
Saturne was Specialized's house rim brand, and all the rims were designed by Jim Merz. The HC-20 was the French Wolber-made clincher option and the C-20 was the Italian made tubular option. The HC20 rims (well actually the previous year 1984's HC19 which was the same rim just one mm narrower) were advertised as the lightest clincher made at 400g.
The hubs and quick release skewers are the familiar and high performance Specialized cartridge sealed bearing hubs, which were made by Sanshin and were the same hubs as both the Sunshine low flange and Suntour Superbe Pro.
Nobody seems to know exactly how Specialized spelled it's rim brand, and that's because it's been spelled all of the following; Saturn, Saturnae, Saturae, and finally, Saturne. Jim Merz tells me Saturn was the original name he came up with, but there was another brand using that name and they eventually changed to Saturnae to avoid litigation (back in the days when Specialized was the one avoiding litigation, not pursuing it). Jim doesn't remember when/why the change to SaturnE happened. Saturae without that N, I believe is really Saturne but the N is just highly stylized to the point of looking like an A. You'll see in the images Saturne in an ad, and Saturnae in the 1984 Specialized catalog.
Condition
Near mint with very few miles ridden! These are show bike worthy for all but NOS level wall hangers. Hubs are buttery smooth, rims true to within 1mm or less. Braking surfaces have very light and even wear. Decals are near perfect. Spokes are near perfect. Hubs are very clean, skewers free of scrapes (just a touch of very light corrosion/dirt in the deep corners that I haven't tried hard to remove)
Details
- 700c clincher
- 28H front and rear
- Rear spacing: 126mm
- Made in France by Wolber
- Dark grey hard anodized rims
- Silver hubs
