Brian Ratliff

I think the hub manufacturers are thinking of consumers in this regard. Before, when the standard was 126mm and road bikes were transitioning to 130mm, during the transition time hubs had sort of rounded shoulder nuts to help spread the dropouts of 126mm bikes. This was when all bikes were metal and most were steel. Now, we have super stiff carbon frames with carbon dropouts; it's not so easy to persuade customers to just spread the spacing an extra 5mm (even though it probably won't hurt the frame at all).

Who knows, the transition might be five years away with a significant overlap (say 5 years) between 130mm hubs and 11 speed cassettes and 135mm hubs and 12 speed. That is kind of what is happening with integrated bearings in the bottom bracket. With electronic shifting, it's pretty easy to switch between 11 speed and 12 speed, to the point where moving from 11 to 12 speed might be a simple change of cassette and reprogramming of the shifter when you get the new frame and wheel that can accommodate the 12 speeds.