Originally Posted by
ericm979
How does your hub put the DS hub bearing where the arrow is at the end of the axle? That's pretty cool. Does it use a bushing under the freehub? Most hubs have two hub bearings and then two freewheel bearings all on the same axle (viewed left to right). All stiffness comes from the axle. The only ones I know that have the hub bearing on the outside are DA hubs (and I'm not sure the newer ones do that). There's a new Alchemy hub that has the DS hub bearing in about the middle of the freehub. Because the hub body takes up room under the freehub, one of the freehub bearings is a bushing.
There are two freehub bearings and two bearings inside the hub. There is a spot where two bearings touch and having the bearing underneath the pawls means the freehub also has the bearings spaced out as far as possible. If both of the bearings are located on the right side of the freehub body then the left side of the freehub body (where the pawls are) can have a little bit of play in it. With our current design (and most hub designs) having the freehub spin over top of a bearing instead if a bushing is better for longevity. I know Mavic has had the bushing design around for a while and there have been a lot of reports of people having issues with that system.