MrCjolsen

I use quotes because I believe the terms are misapplied if one uses a brake. So much for my disclaimer.

My question is this. Does anyone think there's a way to use the potential of the Miche cog and carrier system in order to take a common threaded freewheel hub and safely use it as a fixed gear.

If one rotofixed and used JB weld or red loctite to fasten the carrier to the the hub and then a bottom bracket lockring to secure the cog to the carrier, would that work?

Or maybe drilling some very small holes through the cog and into the hub body and inserting some kind of screw or pin that would permanently securely fasten the carrier to the hub body.

The idea is to put the carrier on so that it never comes off.

Thoughts?

chase.

the advantage would be that you could still change ratios, not that it would be any safer— unless you used a setscrew or locating pin. the carrier provides you a place to drill into the hub body once it's torqued down, but i'd put in three setscrews to be safe.

zacked

The first option would be less secure than simply loctiting a standard cog, but I assume you want to be able to change cogs. The second option would depend on the hub, but most hub shell designs don't have the material or shape to drill into like that.

Honestly if you are riding with a brake and don't weigh 290, rotafixing the cog and using a BB lockring is safe. That's all I've ever done and I've been riding like this for years. Check to make sure everything is still tight once a month.

dirtyphotons

well, i don't see how using the carrier has any advantage over a regular cog (edit: no safety advantage, i guess you could change ratios if you don't loctite the lockring). you're still relying on the carrier and lockring not to come unscrewed when you apply back pressure. there's just another piece in there. using adhesive on the lockring would be highly advisable, as the fit between the cog and carrier is not perfect, and any play could cause the lockring to loosen over time.

regarding drilling holes, at that point you're basically talking about a disc cog setup. which is a great design, but i think one would be better off just using a cheap disc hub.

fwiw, i agree that "suicide" hubs are plenty safe if you have a good working brake, and wouldn't hesitate to use one on a bike of mine or a friend's bike (as long as i'm confident that friend will keep his or her brake). i wouldn't do it on a customer's bike, but that's more of a best practices issue than a safety one.

allencb

Seems like a lot of effort to avoid building a wheel.

Get the $30 pair of hubs from Iro (assuming you can't find something cheaper), spokes and nipples from your LBS, and reuse the rim (not ideal, but it'll work, I did it with my SS MTB). Load up Sheldon Brown's page on wheel building and get to work. I laced my wheel while watching TV and used the frame of the bike as a wheel truing stand. I checked tension initially by plucking the spokes, but when I checked the wheel a week later with a Park tensionometer, I was very close all around (better than what folks say you should be).

I think it took me less than 2 hours from start to finish, but I didn't do it in one stretch. I laced and initially tensioned the wheel one night and trued it the next.

Chris

chase.

these are two very valid points, OP. wheelbuilding is a nice skill to have, and you're ruining any value of a nice threaded road hub by using adhesive and rotafix to run it as a suicide hub anyway, not to mention drilling it.