dnm_25

I have an old 105 laced to a Wolber box-section rim and the whole thing is pretty heavy and way beefier than I need. I'm looking to build a lighter rear road wheel in the near future.

I have been looking at the Circus Monkey hubs, which are really light. I looked up people's opinion on then and many seem satisfied. But one thing bothers me about them: they seem to have no fixing bolt on the freehub body. Nobody seemed to refer much to this in the forums/threads I read. What are people's opinion on that: is it safe to have the FHB held just by the axle? Some people said it takes no tools to take them apart... how can this be? Pretty much every other rear hub on the market seems to have one.

Alternatively are there similar lightweight off-brand rear hubs I could look into? I'm only 140lb so they don't have to be too beefy... still I don't know how I feel about no fixing bolt.

Thanks.

WhyFi

Novatec
BHS (BikeHubStore)

MajorMantra

What are you afraid of? It's not like the freehub can escape.

dnm_25

Well, is it true that if takes no tools to take it off? I don't see how the freehub can manage to not escape in that case.

Also since freewheels were dropped mostly because of broken axles, it just doesn't sound safe, even considering how cheap the hubs are. Granted the Circus Monkeys have more and better placed bearings, I still wouldn't want to end up with a cassette flying off due to misalignment. Unless I'm wrong and the axle can really take care of that... Even Freewheels had a lot less exposed axle if they failed.

Again I'm not sure one way or the other, I'd just like to know before I buy them.

dnm_25

Nice. Thanks!

Bob Dopolina 

The freehub on the Powertap is the same.

dnm_25

I see. That's definitely reassuring, tons of people ride powertaps and they seem to be pretty reliable.
I'll most likely go with these on my build then. Thanks.

Hiro11

DT Swiss hubs are typically like this as well. You can simply pull the freewheel body off the hub with your hands to expose the pawls. It's a little disconcerting the first time you grab the cluster and pull it off, but I actually think it's a great design. It makes relubing the pawls a foolproof job and works just as well as bolted designs.

dnm_25

Now, when you say you pull the cluster off with your hands, you mean after you use a cone wrench to remove the locknuts, right?

Hiro11

I'm not talking about how the cluster attaches to the freehub body (which is indeed locknutted in the traditional fashion), I'm talking about how the freehub body attaches to the hub itself. I believe this is what the OP is talking about. On DT Swiss 240s hubs, if you remove the skewer, you can pull the entire freehub body off the hub without tools:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8ZQJS0IQM0

dnm_25

I'm the OP... and yep we're referring to the same thing. It really is completely tool-less... Thanks for the video.
I should explain, I study mechanical engineering and I find this stuff very interesting, intriguing even. I'd think the bending at the hub-freehub connection from chain tension and axle deflection (from bumps and pedaling) could throw things off. Maybe there are enough bearings and tight enough clearances that a pop's worth of pressure is all you need to keep the whole thing together. Either way, it works.