Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - 48-spoke fixed gear hub?

Does anyone know of a 48-spoke fixed gear hub or fixed/free flip/flop? I have posted this over at BMX since I figure those guys might know. There are some 48-hole BMX flip/flops, but I can't seem to find out whether they are fixed/free or free/free.
Thanks,
Raymond

Why 48 - building a fixed tandem?

Why 48 - building a fixed tandem?

Nah, I just get these wierd urges sometimes. I have an old Schwinn Voyageur touring bike that I run single speed as my secondary commuter/heavy errand bike. It is a sturdy beast that I have affectionately nicknamed "Le Bouef" (The Ox). Nashbar put some 48-hole Mavic T519 touring rims on clearance for $19.95 so I bought a couple. A nice 48-spoke fixed/free wheel just somehow seems like appropriate footgear for a 2-wheeled ox. Slow but sturdy.

the bmx kids will not know. most of them are like, 12 and don't even know proper grammar and spelling, or even what a lot of the parts on THEIR bikes are called...let alone what goes on other types of bikes...

i know this, having been a 13 year old bmx kid once myself...and being a 22 year old bmx kid now.

check out sheldon brown. he's pretty much the fountain head of knowledge for all things obscure and fixed gear.

then again, someone might know something...you can never tell with these forums...

some companies do produce 48 hole fixed hubs....i know this bc some BMX flatland riders use fixed gear bmx's......sorry i dont know of any companies that produce them, but i know they exist! good luck finding one!

If you got the bucks, have Phil Wood make you a custom one. That'll definitely lighten your wallet, though.

i think maybe the BMXers who use them for flatland just use a 36H rear wheel...i googled it last night and i can't find anything.

Yep businesscycles could get you a phil wood hub that way I would bet they will let you order custom drilled phil hubs for $195. A phil hub along with that rim should be virtualy bombproof :)

Kev, are you the Kevin that used to be here in New Orleans a couple of years ago. Did I see a post that you were back here or maybe in BR?

Thanks, guys. Yesterday I sent an email to Phil's custom shop asking for recommendations and an approximate retail price so I can tell my LBS exactly what to order for me. I described my intended use (daily 22-mile round trip commuting on rough streets and sometimes heavy loads in addition to my 210 lb load) and asked the people at Phil's which way they would recommend - custom drill a Kiss Off flip/flop, assemble a custom BMX hub, flip/flop configuration starting with one of their tandem hubs, etc. If the fixed gear thing just gets outrageous I may just settle for one of their stock 48-hole freewheel touring hubs and a single speed freewheel, which is how the bike is set up now.
Regards,
Raymond

I remember Sheldon Brown on another site commenting on the virtues of a 32 spoke rim for fixed gear. He said that for 2 reasons:
1-The much larger flange diameter of the fixed hub which produces a much wider bracing angle to the rim, and
2-The fact that in a fixed gear all the spokes contribute to wheel strength, whereas in a dished wheel the left spokes serve only for lateral positioning of the rim, and do not share the load, that...

A 32 holed fixed-gear wheel is at least as strong as a 36 hole non-fixed-gear. He said that 32 is way stronger than 18 in that case. So, in your proposal, it should be equivalent to a 96 spoke geared wheel, all things being equal. Chris

Sorry I am not that kevin, I have lived in California for the past 16 years. I would love to come to New Orleans sometimes though :)

Thought I would give an update on what I heard from Phil Wood. Basically they will custom drill a hub for $40 plus the cost of the hub. That seems pretty reasonable though it does make an already expensive hub even more so, quality notwithstanding. I think for now I will start this project using an inexpensive Suzue freewheel hub I have and just run ss freewheel.

That is not to bad, you are correct that would be quite expensive you would look at over $200 if I remember correctly for the rear hub alone. How about just skipping some holes in the rim and say they are drilled to make it lighter :)

Wouldn't that let the air leak out?

I seriously don't know what consequences it would have as long as you use a rim strip I can't see it causing problems for the tubes but I could be wrong. I remember a while ago seeing rims that were actualy drilled out, can't remember where anymore. Honestly you woudl have same problem with hubs though, since that would take you down to 24 hole and how many 24 hole hubs are there?

You could use a 32 hole hub then, do a 2 cross on the drive side and 1 cross on non drive side and skip every other hole, I would only do this on a single sided hub though. I have one wheel built up like this and has been a excellent wheel.

a lot of trials riders drill out their rims, and a lot of trials-specific rims are pre-drilled.

Phil Wood will make one up special order. Bring your check book.

Fixedgearhead

there is a small LBS here that specializes in older stuff and i went threw his attic the other day and found 2 fixed/free flip flop hubs. they were made my shimano and pretty old. they were also 48 spoke if i remember correctly. i rememered it because a few days before I read this http://www.63xc.com/daves/sunone.htm and i was hoping to come across something like that.

I'm thinking of getting a pair of hubs from Goldtec in Wales, UK. Heard lots of good stuff about them. Plus: "Any Drilling you want!"

http://www.goldtec-cycles.co.uk/trackhubs.htm

Late post/old thread, I know but I did find 48 hole hubs. No clue how strong they are but here's a link: http://www.funnmtb.com/products/wheels.html

http://www.funnmtb.com/ distributes through BTI (http://www.bti-usa.com/) which most LBS can order through

-Angus

J3000 and Angus,
Thanks for the replies. I decided that I didn't really need a 48-spoke fixie wheel, though I still might do it sometime in the future. Instead I had one of the rims laced to a freewheel hub so I could ride it ss and the other laced to a 9sp Shimano tandem freehub as a super heavy-duty 9sp commuting/touring wheel.
Regards,
Raymond