Originally Posted by mattface

I'm glad to see you survived that little experiment in tact, and didn't clobber anyone, and I apologize for insulting your welding skills. I only brought that up to make the point that welding bike parts is not a good idea if you can't make a good hot weld.

Now let's hear it for the voice of experience! It was all well and good for us to point and laugh, but then none of us pointing/laughing types had tried it. Despite all the voices shouting "that things a deathtrap", you had to try it and prove us right. In a way that's a good thing, because in spite of a firm belief that it wouldn't work, a part of me wondered if I wasn't just parroting the common belief.

In a desire to keep costs down I too have contemplated various "suicide hub" ideas for my first fixie, and though I decided not to risk it, a part of me wondered if all this hysteria over suicide hubs wasn't a little alarmist. I certainly think it's fine to say better safe than sorry, but an example of what can go wrong from someone who's experienced it is more valuable than all the safety parrots in the world shouting "Suicide hub!"