Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - creative uses for a trashed hub

so i had my fixed rear wheel looked at today since the rear cog has popped off twice now. lucky me, the whole fixed side of the hub is trashed. it's the stock wheel that came with my khs flite 100 so it was never anything to fancy. so now i get to think of things to do with the wheel. any suggestions as to what i should do with it or replace it with? i was thinking of making my road bike single speed and using it for the rear since the freewheel side is still nice and pretty. i was looking at the van dessel rear wheel since its all black but they are out of stock. :-( and i thought fixed gear would make maintenance easier......

just make it into a nice coffee table and treat yourself to some new rims.


....and now a word from Adbot.....

Drill two holes on the side of the hub, run string or what have you through the holes and wear it like necklace.

Then watch the funny stares you get when people see you.

Miyataphile

I think I got one of the last Van Dessel wheels two weeks back. Ordered it just after new years. For a while I was wondering what happened to it, made a call and two days later it's in my hands. Noticed that when I called they had listed it as out of stock. It's quite a nice wheel.

make yourself a big flesh-hole [might take some time] and put the hub through it. very gauche.

http://www.perforations.com/graphix/piercings/ear-lobe.gif
^think you can make one big enough for a hub?

fssb
sparky

Drill two holes on the side of the hub, run string or what have you through the holes and wear it like necklace.

Then watch the funny stares you get when people see you.

Miyataphile

but it's not my 144 spoke "trickass wheelset." a can of gold spray paint will help though.

i'm sorry to hear about that...i told you it was the threads.

take the hub out of the wheel and get a new rear hub. lace it using the same rim, and maybe the spokes...gut the hub and use it as a pencil/pen holder/paperweight on a desk.

i'll have to mention this to my friend who just recently got herself a Flite 100.

oh yeah, what are you gonna ride now? road bike? hardtail? what what what!?

we should hit the marina or lake merit sometime soon.

onetin.....you wouldn't want to help build it up would you since i've never done a wheel build before. i was looking at just getting a prebuilt wheel online. i think i would just tell her to make sure it stays tight on the rear hub. it probably wasn't on there really good and i didnt notice until it popped off. i've been riding the road bike and crying since fixed is 100x more fun.

Same thing happened to my Sovos hub. I bought a good quality cog (since the old one was cheap) and put it on the freewheel side w/ a BB lockring and lock-tite: back in business. Since I knew the hub was cheap quality I built a new wheel w/ a Surly hub. But the old wheel has been in use by a friend with no problems.

stinky:

yeah, i'll help out...i've only ever built one wheel before though, and all i actually did was the tensioning part. and since i didn't have a tensionometer...um...well...i had to have someone else fix it for me. but i'd be more than happy to help you out anyway. i've learned a lot since then...although, it might just be better to take it to a shop...i'm up for it if you are though. gotta learn somehow, right? :)

i got a quote from hiroshi at jitensha studios since i live down the street. luckily i can still use the rim i have and just replace the spokes and hub on it. i believe it was about $150 for parts & labor (new spokes and a suzue pro) which is reasonable i think since i hear he is a ninja with the wheels.

yeah, that's a really excellent shop. and yeah, judging from the jitensha site, he is indeed a ninja at the wheels.

good luck!

You'll be better off getting a new rim as long as you're replacing the spokes and paying for labor (if you can afford it). It's a b|tch to lace up used rims. Not many shops will even do it.
-s

yea. i am leaning towards the "upgrade the whole rear wheel" option now since the stock parts on the flite 100 aren't top notch. it's just hard to spend almost the same price i paid for the entire setup on a rear wheel. i got a *cough* below dealer cost *cough* price. he said the rim was ok when he looked at it but i think i will probably just cough up the cash and end up with a phil wood and skimp on food for the next month.

I was checking out their site and their bikes look really great. Wichita needs some custom bike builders.

Paul Components made some candle holders from rejected hub shells...he calls 'em 'Burnbuddys'.

http://www.paulcomp.com/burnbdy.jpg

A friend of mine would probably turn it into a pipe of some sort ;)

hahahah. that's so awesome. i could probably make a pizza cutter or the such if i epoxyed the blade onto one side. but man, those candle holders look sweet.

yeah, they probably sell 'em for like, $60 each too...

I also just stripped the threads on my stock hub from my khs flight100. since day 0 (test ride) the lock ring was started coming loose. the shop i got it at didn't seem to be too knowledgeable re track bikes and i don't think they do anymore. So eventually i just bought a lock ring wrench. I have had to tighten it 3 or 4 times in the past 6 months.

i figured it was just a cheap part that was a bit flaky. The lock ring actually unthreaded and fell off while i was riding the freewheel at critical mass just a couple of weeks after getting it.

but now i think that the cog and lock ring wasn't on right in the first place and in the process of tightening the lock ring i striped it by tightening it too much.

so it looks like ill be in the market for a new wheel while i try not to kill myself riding the freewheel on the other side of the hub. after getting used to being to pedal back to slowdown/stop its not much fun heading towards an intersection and thinking your going to slow down and then keep going. but it is nice to be able to coast down the small hills we have.

at the bike co op in dc they made a mobile from an old hub. Put some fishing line through the axle and hang crap(cogs, bolts, etc.) from the spoke holes with more fishing line...just an option for a bit of flair in a home

so i had my fixed rear wheel looked at today since the rear cog has popped off twice now. lucky me, the whole fixed side of the hub is trashed.

put a cog on the other side and jb-weld it on. that'll let you get another couple hundred miles out of it before you get a new wheel, and give you a beater backup wheel.

or make a lazy susan out of it, for pie-serving ease.

fatbat

Didn't Chris King make some salt and pepper shakers out of hubs as well?

If you have an old trashy cruiser, you should turn the hub into a propeller and weld the axle to the head tube. When you ride, it should spin.

If you drive a car, you could do the same but put it on the grille/hood.

salvage the old axle and build a new bike around it (obviously).

Didn't Chris King make some salt and pepper shakers out of hubs as well?

http://www.cyclesurgery.com/ProductImages/ev0063.jpg

Yes, yes he did (http://www.cyclesurgery.com/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/1022513)

Oh, and I second building around the axle. That just sounds right.