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"...and there is no new thing under the sun."
Why so long before freehubs became the standard?
Did it just require someone with Shimano's clout, or was eight speed the critical limit (that could no longer be ignored) for freewheels, as eleven is for 130mm OLD?
Scilly.Suffolk-
Did it just require someone with Shimano's clout?
I'm sure that's part of it. However, even today a freehub is a premium product, as can be seen from the screw-on multiple freewheels on BSOs, so probably just as large a part was the rapid increase in productivity and wealth which made previously high-end products mainstream.
gbj_tester
That was already a problem with any multiple freewheel hub, and freehubs were invented quite early*, although not really popularised until Shimano brought out their 6-speed models in the early 1980s
*e.g. Bayliss-Wiley in 1938
