unterhausen

I never was too impressed by the Cinelli version of this, forget what it is called. To avoid making you watch the video, it's a rear wheel system where cassette stays on the bike.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ase-rear-wheel

RobbieTunes

I didn't read the FAQ's. It's certainly interesting.

It's obvious that it replaces the rear hub.
It looks like you keep whatever cassette you're using.

Michael Angelo 

There has to be some deflection at the joining splines.

frantik

no

bobbycorno

Bivalent. And the big advantage that Cinelli has over hubdock is that the Bivalent system made front and rear wheels interchangeable. Oh, and from what I've heard Cinelli was not the first to come up with something like this.

SP
OC, OR

unterhausen

I vaguely remember that Cinelli stole the idea from someone, but can't find a reference to that.

I'm a little surprised that you can actually buy Bivalent hubs if you are patient, I have never seen any in the wild. Only aware of them because they were pushed pretty hard in the CONI manual.

prathmann

Here's one design from 1932 for a separable rear axle with the sprocket kept on the bike when removing the rear wheel:
https://www.os2.dhs.org/~john/roller-bearings.jpg

unterhausen

that's interesting, maybe that was what I remembered.

The prototype in the kickstarter looks really impressive, too bad that talent isn't being used for good

The_Joe

Strange that one of the selling points is "never adjust the tension on your quick release" when in actuality you need to completely unscrew it.

thirdgenbird

Even stranger considering rear quick releases don't need adjustment to remove and replace the wheel.

clasher

So I watched about 20 seconds and gather that this hub plays lackadaisical music while riding... groovy. I like in the video how any time the hubdock rider changes the wheel he just has to toss it off-screen and never puts the bike down while quick-release joe is just suck there bike in the air for no good reason. Heh. I guess it's as good idea as any and while I don't see myself contributing I kind of hope enough people give him money... so many ****tier things have been funded on quickstarter. Heck this will be stuff of C&V legends when we're wearing google cyborg eyes or something.

IthaDan 

Am I missing something or is that not much more than a shimano freehub body, a bolt to mount the freehub body to the right dropout, and a half length skewer to hold the wheel to the left side dropout?

So is all the rider's weight focused on the splines of the hub that key into the freehub body?

I think the idea could have merit (if "lefty forks can work...), but this application doesn't seem like much other than an axle solution and some blue anodizing.

Edit:


VS:


(this is a 7800 cassette that kept falling apart before I mounted it on an old freehub body I had lying around)

A better look at the splines:


Watch the video around 2:28, there's nothing going there but a normal hub with the freehub body and the hollow 8mm allen keyed bolt removed.

Snake oil. I could fab this tomorrow.

OH, I get it, there's nothing innovative about the hub, the key is the AXLE, basically a 9mm rod that has a threaded union in the middle.

Savagewolf

I'm not sure I've ever really had that much trouble with the cassette on the wheel. Seems like one of those issues where it's more of a pain to come up with a solution than just keep things how they are.

tcs

In 1954 BSA offered an IGH with a separable axle/cog. You could pull the wheel and leave the cog+chain+chaincase in place. In 1955, Raleigh bought out BSA and ended BSA's independent IGH production, substituting the in-house Sturmey-Archer hubs.

unterhausen

thus the market failure of the Cinelli Bivalent hubs. And as noted above, those had the advantage of being usable on the front too.

Dux_Helm

I think it's a fabulous idea.

If priced correctly, this could potentially become a mainstream solution down the road.

In my opinion it will make wheel swaps or tube changes faster and cleaner.
I won't have to mess around with gears before or after taking the wheel out.

For spoke repairs it will be very convenient, quick and easy.

Even if one wanted to change the gear ratios for ..say a more hilly ride, or faster, flat ride, all of the sudden you don't need to mess around with any tools, or multiple wheel setups.

I consider myself pretty good at wheel removal, yet all said and done, I pretty much always end up with some grease on my fingers.

This solution will solve that problem.

I wish them good luck, and hope their kickstarter works out.

mapleleafs-13 

it's got a couple flaws. it's not made by campy or shimano.

also was it me or did the guy narrating the video seem really high or suicidal....

RobbieTunes

embarassed.

JReade

https://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jhYS_tF31Q...bs+%281%29.gif

The last line of this review... WHOA MAN

lostarchitect 

I agree. People are grouches around here sometimes.

lostarchitect 

So, let's see your version, then?

Italuminium

One more part to break, and the fact that we moved from 6 in the bivalent days to 11 cogs now (sometimes even with negative dish) won't help that much with wheel strength. Besides, if you have trouble with QR rear wheels, I'm surprised you made it past kindergarten.

The Bivalent Days - I think I found the title for a novel.

Dan Burkhart 

Watched the video, and I think it's a sound idea. As he said, it's meant for the casual recreational rider, and that's a huge market.
The ability to remove the wheel for transport and not having to worry about a loose chain rattling about is a cool feature on it's own.
I think there just might be a place for this in today's market.

IthaDan 

Posted that before I realized the axle halves threaded into each other. At the time I was thinking that the hub was attached to the left dropout and the cassette/freebuh to the right with nothing but the hub shell's splines for the freehub to carry the load.

There's nothing magic about the hub, it looks like a semi generic hub that's had the inventor's branding laser etched (in a very boring font IMO) on it, I'd bet there's another manufacturer's logo on the other side of the barrel. I have a feeling it's something like a [larger diameter axled] tandem hub with threading for a drag brake with a cover over the threads or a center lock disc hub with a cover. Notice the seam along the left flange of the hub- https://i.imgur.com/XUpEMm7.jpg.

The novel idea here is a split axle (probably with tapered ends to wedge inside the freehub body and hub shell) with coarse enough threading to tighten in a few turns while getting the needed overlap to be strong enough. Emphasis on enough. I'm still somewhat baffled why they aren't making a retrofit axle for the gazillion hubs already in service that use a shimano splined ratchet interface (perhaps there's an issue with the straight 10mm section on a shimano axle, and aftermarket, bling bling cnc hubs have a larger axle inside the dropouts. There's no magic to the blue hub.

If it were me heading down this path, I'd thinking bigger- something along the lines of what English cycles did with their "Project Right", and put the drivetrain outside the chainstays to help support the hub- https://www.englishcycles.com/wp-cont...s_017_2945.jpg. It seems to me that you'd have to do something like this to have the support of both the drivetrain and the wheel to have an easily swappable solution. Of course, there are myriad issues with wheel dish and wheel strength as well as the dead end of a proprietary system, but that's how you'd probably have to do it to get back to existing levels of strength and longevity.

lostarchitect 

Fair enough. I just dislike when people look at something and say, "Well, I could do that." I hear it all the time in reference to anything from artwork to bike parts. From my perspective, maybe they could, but they didn't--and not only that, they usually seriously underestimate the skill that went into it.

Anyway, I think it's an interesting idea and I wish them well.