Hmm.. mine had 14mm...

miche hubs are great! i used sealed miche primatos messing year-round in toronto (read: snow, salt, potholes, tracks, miles...). when i came to japan, i brought my rear hub for a build, and it is still rolling smooth; it is now about 4 years old. grab `em!

The Miche spline system works with any track hub. That shouldn't have anything to do with your choice of hubs.

There is nothing wrong with the bearings, but there are now lots of other, less expensive hubs with just as good bearings and generally superior design.

Here's what I don't like about the Miche hubs:

• They're one-sided, not flip-flop.
• They have crummy axle nuts with sharp built-in teeth, instead of a captive washer like proper track nuts have.
• The axles have the oddball 26 tpi threading so you can't even buy decent track nuts to fit, unless you go for the obscenely overpriced Campagnolo nuts (those are something over $25 each!)

I've recently heard claims that Miche hubs have been revised, and now have standard 1 mm pitch threading and now use a normal 15 mm wrench. If this is true, it would make me less down on them, but I'm not sure it actually is the case.

Sheldon "Miche-in Improbable" Brown

rant ahoy!

im gonnna go ahead and say.. i think flip flops are wishy washy.. youve commited to a single speed... now pick a gear and lets roll... if someone asked me to hold on while they flipped their wheel mid-ride... id leave 'em behind. If you need 2 gears... put some gears on the bike...

i know you like everythign to do all it can do, sheldon.. but not me.. i like cheese pizza, vanilla ice cream, one choice of toilet paper at the store.. and one gear...

does it get more american then a singlespeed bike with two gear choices? oxymoronic..

rant over........

I can confirm they do use the standard pitch threading on the axles now. My Miches came with honest-to-god track nuts and use a 15mm wrench.

Sheldon, if you check back... (or anyone) Is the axle replacable or loooong so that I can use a Miche in a 130 frame?

And would you mind me translating your wheelbuilding article into Hungarian and posting it on a local biker site so the local newbies can build decent wheels for themselves?

Mmmm, Miche. Maybe I'll update my review of the Primato group. I've put a good year or so of wear on it.

FWIW, the hubs have been great. I recommend them, but agree that there's a lot of stuff of comparable quality out there now.

Mine came with honest-to-goodness 14mm track nuts in the back, one piece 14mm nuts in the front, a standard threaded 10x1 rear axle, and a a standard threaded 9x1 axle in the front.

m.

Not wanting to start a long argument here but...

I think double fixed hubs are a smart purchase. If you damage the threads, you can flip the wheel and you're not out a whole wheel build. A little insurance goes a long way.

I also like to have my standard gearing on one side and my training gear for the track on the other. That way I can use the same wheel for both cause I can't afford multiple wheelsets right now.

I've talked with several people who have had the splined adapter get worn 'cuz it's tough to make the tolerances tight enough to really stand up to street use. Basically, eventually the cog's splines and the carrier's splines didn't fit super tight, and the cog rocked back and forth, which just made the whole issue worse. I'd recommend against it. If you're changing your gear that often, a flip-flop might be a better option.

I love mine. Smooth and easy to work with.

yeah. i mean, [poster whose username i've forgotten] can think they're wishy-washy, that's fine, but i don't know of anybody who flips a flop midride. mostly it seems to me to be different gears for different uses. i love my commuting gear but if i were to head north and head up into the hills on a fifty mile ride, i'd want four inches less of gear. or if i were to go to a velodrome i'd want five or eight inches more.

I will second this - I've heard 3 accounts of it working and becoming loose and the cog "feeling like it's slipping, just a little bit". Ugh.

They seem like decent hubs but responses (aside from this thread) seem mixed.

As for double-sided - I love double-sided hubs. Costs a bit more but it's worth it. Changing cogs out is a hassle. I ride street and track so that's necessary for me. I have different wheelsets but I still like double-sided hubs.

Until recently, AFAIK, there were no fixed-fixed options for track hubs of comparable quality in that price range. The Nashbar fixed-fixed have even more mixed reviews than the Miche, and are no longer available. I think IRO is offering a fixed-fixed now, which might make it a good mid-priced option. However, when I went with the Miche, the fixed-fixed options were things like NJS Suzues, Dura Aces, Phils, etc. Those hubs aren't really comparable to the Miche in either quality or price.

m.