Originally Posted by
twocicle
There certainly has not been any response from hub mfrs to produce 145mm hubs in the 28h category. Case in point, discussed in this
3 year old thread.
With all the deep section carbon rims on the market these days, you would think those mfrs could anticipate more hub requests for fewer counts than 32h. But, 28h hubs are still nonexistent.
As Ritterview stated in that old thread, Chris King sells maybe a handful of tandem hubs per year and spec'ing anything new is not a priority. That pretty much sums up the availablility and importance of niche products. 145mm is going nowhere, maybe even backward IMO (cite the demise of the WI Daisy rear hub as the last victim).
I suspect two issues that come into play on 28 hole 145mm hubs:
1) The bicycle industry in general seems to be moving to complete wheel sales and away from hub only and rim only sales.
2) 145mm is a tandem hub and the thinking may be that the 28h hub demand would be only a very small percentage of that already very small market. From the makers perspective if you ask for a 28 hole tandem rear hub then you are basically asking for a custom hub.
The nice thing is that some makers will respond to a single buyer's request. I wanted a 36 Hadley 160mm hub while Santana went to 32h hubs years ago and had none in stock. A call to Hadley and they offered to pull a Santana hub off the line to be drilled 32 and drill a 36 hole hub as a one off. I feel certain I could have asked for a 28 hole hub or any standard hole drilling.
I agree however that there is an advantage to going with the crowd when selecting specifications. I may be looking at a custom tandem in the next year or two and will consider 135mm and 145mm hubs. I think 130mm standard is on life support and there is no reason to go with 160mm on a custom frame that I can see. WHo knows what the next road standard will be. 135mm seems like a good bet but Shimano may go with something else and then everyone will follow.
The center to right on a 135mm White industries
MI5 hub is 21 while the left is 166% greater or 35mm. I am not sure I like that big of a difference. My stoker also likes a really wide Q Factor so for us there is a chain line advantage to a wider rear spacing.
The best solution for a 28 hole rim at 145mm spacing may be to build it on a 32 hole hub. I have been told that it takes some time to get the spoke selection right but the resulting wheel is just a s strong as a normal wheel.