As for how well a rubber band keeps the hub clean, not as well as a genuine leather shiner (which works somewhat) but better than nothing. So it does have some shining value, so to speak.

Tom, for a start, take a piece of string, say, three feet long. Make a loop, say, four inches in diameter, near the center. Put the right end of the string through the loop from top to bottom and pull it all the way through. Repeat, repeat, repeat, so your string coils around itself in a helical fashion. Keep going until you have used up the whole right end of the string, leaving an inch or two free. Then do the same thing with the other end of the string. When the ends line up for the last time, tie them in a knot, cut off the excess, and poke the cut ends down into the middle somewhere.

If you want to get fancy, you'll have to figure it out for yourself. It's only as complicated as you make it.

Its funny as i just found an old Schwinn that had some leather hub shiners on it and i was looking to make a set for my Trek 613, and th was thinking of making something different . when i got the Idea to do a turks head knot out of paracord or leather for it. heres a animation on how to tie it.

Turk's Head | How to tie a Turk's Head | Decorative Knots

Always wanted to try this one too.

I second the fabric idea. My wife has a circular crochet loom for making tubular things like sleeves and hats and scarves

A leather or nylon strap from an old pedal clip should work if you can glue then sew the ends together.

I think I'm losing track of reality here.


Tom,
What was your original goal?
Do you really want some hub shiner-uppers?
Or was the rubber band just for fun?

If you'd really like some leather ones, I'll send you a couple.
I'll even get a little fancy.

Could you make one that was a Möbius strip?

If Mobius could do it....I'm sure I can. ;>

(I haven't hear that term in decades)

edit: come to think of it....maybe not. I don't even know how to do an umlaut on my keyboard. ;>

When I first started cycling as a teenager, there was an old-timer on our club rides that kept leather hub shiners on his wheels. I puzzled about their purpose for the longest time before I finally asked about them. What I still don't get, especially with the wider leather hub shiners, is why it's important to have a shiny hub if you are going to cover them up with a leather strip so nobody can see how shiny you've kept it.

Bingo.
I think they were mostly for "decoration" back then.

but I never used them.

It's like fuzzy dice hanging from a rear view mirror, I guess.......

Funny, but my 70s era S-A AW hub's finish stays pretty bright and shiny without a "shiner". I just need to clean it up now and then. Gotta love that British chrome (pre-South Africa embargo). Anodized finishes probably do worse with a "shiner" than without, too.

When i was a kid, all bikes had them. They just did.

Use the elastic from your manbun, [MENTION=152773]noglider[/MENTION].

Had em/removed them on my first bike (raleigh 3 speed) They ticked the spokes in the most annoying way. Had little reflectors for weights like posted above.

I think maybe he could weave a nice shiner out of spare mustache parts.

zip ties for the minimalists

My view exactly.

they actually work pretty well on small diameter hubs copied after Campy Record. After hubs flared for cassette pawls and cartridge bearings, added paper decals or pantographs with paint, they have no more use.

We need to figure out a way to make them out of synthetic fur or something, so the wheels build up a tremendous charge of static electricity. Then market them as anti-theft devices. Of course, you'd learn to be very, very careful about getting on and off the bike.

Another of my not-ready-for-marketing free ideas, and worth every penny.

Considering our litigious society, I suspect some would-be thief would hire a lawyer and sue you.

I don't think that everyone read Tom's original post.

Yeah...I think everyone is just having some fun with this thread, GB.
However, to quote the initial post:

"I like to put a rubber band around the shell of the hub as I start to build a wheel. It's not so much so that it will shine the hub like those old leather things. It's more for the curious look of something without a joint in a seemingly inaccessible place, seemingly unless you know how wheels are built. But rubber bands don't last more than three or four years before they break. What is more permanent that I could use?"

I still go with the O ring idea. However, a rubber band will stretch over the hub flange. An O ring stretches some, but not as much as a rubber band. So it might require a pretty large O ring on a large flange hub, etc.

But a red or green silicone O ring might look nice. If that's your thing, that is....