Originally Posted by ephemeralskin
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=3677329123
"These were built with non-perforated flanges and stronger forged bodies so they didn't break under radial lacing or high tension the way Campy track hubs tended to do. And unlike the Suzue, Miche, and other similar hubs, which use sealed bearings and create significant drag from the bearing seals, these work with loose bearings. If you want, you can lubricate just with TriFlow and the wheels will spin forever."
does this make sense? is this talking about cartridge bearings causing drag?
The whole sealed/cartridge bearing vs loose ball issue is usually relevant to track usage only. Most trackies obsess about seal drag to the extent that they prefer loose ball bottom brackets and hubs to all others. If you think about it, it makes sense. Track races are run only in non rainy controlled conditions for short periods of intense activity. That is in direct opposition to the road fixed gear usage of any weather longer periods of use under varying environments. If you want a trouble free hub you would probably due well to use one of the sealed cartridge bearing hubs and ride without worrying about them. If on the other hand you want the ultimate in performance from the bike, and you don't mind re-greasing the hubs and accept the more frequent maintenance requirements, then the loose ball hubs would be more desirable. Those are the tradeoffs.
fixedgearhead