Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Fixed Rear Hubs: What makes one better than the other?

Just curious what makes a rear hub better than the other aside from the flange ...

Mostly just the process and the quality tolerances.

the colors. some make you go faster.

better threads, cleaner finish, bolts.

the bearings speak alot~ like how smooth they spin i.e. ball vs sealed, sealed vs phil-ed ;D (but then again some can be swapped out)

also the hardware such as the spacers and the locknut of the hubs are important because ones like formula are prone to cracking due to excessive tightening

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/373/20100202171658.jpg

(replacement here: http://mikesbikes.com/product/surly-rear-hub-locknut-10mm-x-1-sku-hu1032-qc129.htm)

Lateral stiffness and vertical compliance are very important.

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3725/washington.gif

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3725/washington.gif
..

the bearings speak alot~ like how smooth they spin i.e. ball vs sealed, sealed vs phil-ed ;D (but then again some can be swapped out)

Phil Wood doesn't necessary make bearings, they are Phil-spec'd.

They get their bearings for NSK, which is a bearing company in Japan.

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/3725/washington.gif

Awesome!

the colors. some make you go faster.
i dont like the colors

Most expensive hubs are a mix of:
- Reliable
- Light weight
- Low rolling resistance
- Easy to maintain
- Strong
- Aesthetically pleasing

The more of those features you combine, the more valuable a hub is.

Then for the vintage nerds, add value for:
- Rarity
- Period Correctness


Actually, all of this goes for bike parts in general. Except for "low rolling resistance". Change that to "doing the task well that it was designed to do".

money tint ftw

the rotory telephone gold phils are expensive because they're ****ing crazy.

nowadays if you're spending more than a formula hub, you may as well get a phil because you aren't getting anything of higher quality for your dollar. unless you like the dollar.

i do like the all city new sheriffs. if i had the money to teach myself to build wheels that is what i'd do it with barring phils.

Street cred makes a hub worth more.

Hub clarification:
Rather than start a new hub thread (there are about infinity+1 already) i figured id tack this noobish question onto this thread:

everyone says "formula" hubs are the best bang for the buck (not including top-shelf, cash-money hubs). Poking around online, all of the mid-range and up wheel-sellers stock wheels with formula hubs, some are branded ones: origin8 formula, bianchi formula, etc. others just specify "formula".

is there are difference? are these just co-branded? is formula used as a standard? is any formula hub just as good as the other?
clarifying this would be really helpful in my quest for a lightish, not obnoxious, smooth rolling, but not-too-pricey wheel. Im looking for something just a bit better than decent, the wheelset that is as good as you can get before popping up into the $300 (on sale, deal of the year) range.

all right, thats it. hit me!

money tint ftw

the rotory telephone gold phils are expensive because they're ****ing crazy.

nowadays if you're spending more than a formula hub, you may as well get a phil because you aren't getting anything of higher quality for your dollar. unless you like the dollar.

i do like the all city new sheriffs. if i had the money to teach myself to build wheels that is what i'd do it with barring phils.


Do you have a picture?

Do you have a picture?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__LBTG15DORw/SvB2vioi74I/AAAAAAAAAWo/jgiumZUB9fI/s400/phil-wood-gold-limited-edition-hubs.jpg

the hardware such as the spacers and the locknut of the hubs are important because ones like formula are prone to cracking due to excessive tightening

the only time I have had a formula lock nut crack is when my track ends were misaligned

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__LBTG15DORw/SvB2vioi74I/AAAAAAAAAWo/jgiumZUB9fI/s400/phil-wood-gold-limited-edition-hubs.jpg

Wait aren't these those tsunami relief ones?

I've stripped 2 formula hubs and since then have been spending more money on "quality hubs" and have never had further issues. I've had dura ace hubs since then and have recently switched over to a rear chub hub since I found an awesome deal on craigslist.

If you have the extra cash flow

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y188/liberalswine/IMG_20110304_100706.jpg

no those are special gold ones...only 10 madeee

the only time I have had a formula lock nut crack is when my track ends were misaligned

maybe it had to do with not cleaning or lubing you drivetrain for 5 years...

no those are special gold ones...only 10 madeee

They offered anodizing for the tsunami relief hubs... I'll see if they offer gold as they didn't start shipping them yet.


As much as I like the chub hive, it always seems like a novelty for me for some reason... maybe it's the name.... "chub"...

Bolt-on hubs and the Miche system offers alternatives for our market.

Those limited edition gold Phil hubs are gold plated, not anodized.

Those limited edition gold Phil hubs are gold plated, not anodized.

:eek:

They made 100 sets but only 10 were gold plated.

http://www.uncoached.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/bling_1.gif

I bet the gold plate would get mad fu**ed up if you rode it on the street.

or mad stolen... you'd be crazy to even lace a wheel with those hubs

Better bearings, smoother races, lighter weight... all mentioned earlier. I race on Dura-Ace hubs and they are liquid smooth. Also, the threading and metal used are a higher quality. I ripped all the threads off of my XRP (likely Formula) hub while commuting. It basically just spun the threads out of the cog as well so it became a single speed... or no speed. Made for a long commute home. If these are for the street just use Formula and be happy. A nice loose-ball hub will need to be rebuilt as opposed to simply dropping in a new cartridge bearing.

ridden two or three formulas with no problems.


not sure how it happened, but i stripped a dura ace hub catastrophically yesterday when bombing downhill brakeless.

bombing downhill brakeless.


http://owstarr.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/mushroom-cloud.jpg