bmwboarder

For this season I am hoping to find a good 130mm rear hub that I can use with spacers and a cog for singlespeed. I'm interested in finding either a lightweight bolt-on cassette hub, or a lightweight QR hub and converting it somehow. I have lots of questions regarding such, and am not entirely sure it will be worthwhile, but I think it might be.

Basically I'm tired of the crappy freewheels that I put on my flip-flop hub, and I think a cassette hub may have a better seal than the add-on freewheels. Plus, I think with the right hub, it could weigh less.

So my questions are:
-is there a good lightweight bolt-on hub that I've somehow missed?
-would it be possible to buy a longer axle and replace it on a Dura-ace hub? The 7700 "looks" like I could do that, but I haven't taken one a part.
-Could I do it to a dura-ace 7800, or a Campy Record? That would be super light/awesome.

Thanks!

c_m_shooter

The 7700 uses a new 15mm axle like my XT 775. It is junk, go for a 105 or ultegra. They use 10mm axles that can be easily converted to solid axle. The good news is they are cheaper anyway. In a year I have had one freehub lock up for no reason and just had a bearing race fall apart causing another freehub failure. The hub never has stayed tight for me either, always had a lot of slop causing the bike to handle funny. I will be using plain old Deore for my next wheelset, I've never had a problem with those.

Cynikal 

I know I'm not answering your question but why do you need a bolt on hub? I've never had a problem with a QR as long as it was a good QR.

bmwboarder

Thanks for the info C_M That is definitely good to know.

I guess I haven't tried using a QR very much. Even with bolt-on I've slipped the rear wheel (I tighten the nuts harder now), and once when I tried a QR, it sheared in two by the time I got it clamping to where I thought it should be. Have you found some QR's that seem reliable enough for track dropouts? I'm also 180-190lbs and more torquey than high revving... but that would definitely be a much simpler solution if it could be reliable

Cynikal 

I will only use Shimano external cam QR's on single speeds or fixed gears. They are strong enough for everything I've thrown at them and like you, I'm not much of a spinner.

c_m_shooter

If you want to use a quick release, a Surly Tugnut will keep it from slipping. The Surly version has washers that allow it to be used with quick release or solid axles. I have used it on bikes with track ends and forward facing dropouts, plus it has a built in bottle opener.

tashi

Shimano QR's have always worked for me on geared, SS or fixed bikes. Nuts, non-shimano QR's and wing nuts have all slipped on me on bikes with horizontal dropouts.

I recommend swapping the QR to a Shimano one and only converting the hub if that doesn't work.

bmwboarder

I didn't know that anyone ever rode singlespeed or fixed with QR's on a regular basis. I will definitely give that a try. Thanks for the help.