low-flange vs. high flange hubs??
 

why would anyone go with high-flange hubs? there's lots of aesthetic choices i wouldn't make (i guess that's why they're called "choices"), but i just don't get high-flange aesthetically. so is it a performance thing? phil wood makes both i know. so what is it?

this ain't no troll! i'm really curious.

thanks! :)

Sheldon Brown:
"High-flange" or "large-flange" hubs have a larger flange, usually drilled out for lightness. They are transmit torsional forces with less stress to the spokes than small-flange hubs do, but this is not a problem in practice with modern equipment. High-flange hubs can make a wheel with slightly greater lateral strength than equivalent small-flange hubs, because the spokes create a wider bracing angle to the rim."

so then really it comes down to aesthetics if indeed "this [making for less stress] is not a problem in practice with modern equipment."

to each his own i guess. but high-flange just doesn't look right to me. again, not a troll.

shoulda looked at sheldon's page first as usual.

thanks. :)

i love the asthetics of high flange hubs, especially those that are drilled out.

I think I have heard every possible argument for high flange or low flange, and none of them makes sense except one:

High flange hubs have a greater circumference, which makes more room for spoke holes and more metal around each spoke hole; and, small flange hubs have a smaller circumference, which makes for less room for spoke holes and less metal around each spoke hole.

If I chose to build a conventional wheel, today, I would go with a proven small flange hub, such as the Dura-Ace, for its lightness; and, especially so with 28 spokes.

The above said, I hope to have a set of Canecreek Volos Track wheels within the week.

From the "Art of Wheelbuilding" by Gerd Schraner:

"Large flange hubs have gone out of fashion, being used today primarily on track racing bicycles for reasons of tradition. They are relics from an age when the quality of the (steel) spokes was very poor and when people tried anything and everything to reduce spoke breakage. Today they are only effective on wheels with 36 quad-crossed or 40 or 48 (tandems) triple-crossed spokes."

Hi-flange wheels are probably a little stiffer than a similar wheel with a low-flange hub but low-flange is stiff enough for most uses and hi-flange hubs weigh more. Yes, they look cool.

Remember, no such thing as a free lunch!

I used to like low but now I think high looks better, especially my sparkly pro max hubs or some pretty colored hubs.

I'll admit that I like high flange because of the looks, but also because I'm not good enought to tell the feel and difference of the two. High flange is also more available, with more models to choose from. Variety is a great thing.

I'm also looking into those canecreek wheels, but I really hate the front, maybe I'll just get the rear.

those cane creek wheels are gross

I find the Canecreek rear hub especially beautiful.

Go to the following site and scroll down to the closeup of the rear hub.

http://www.businesscycles.com/trwheel2.htm

agreed. The rear is great looking but the front is ugly and radial laced. I think I'd try to get a rear and build up a front seperately.

i wish they had 4" diameter flanges with the word "sex" milled out of them around the edges.

Campagnolo C-Record high flange hubs are beautiful I think :) .

According to juvi-kyle, low flange hubs are more aero.

It makes some sense, since the lack of flange would produce less turbulence. Any ideas on this?

+1

High flange offers no benefits other than aesthetics [if you like them, that is]. Luckily, for us low flange fans, phil, paul, durace, campy, and iro among others all make low flange hubs.

If you really care about the maths, look at Jobst Brandt's data on the subject.

Ken Cox should write a book. He has the most clearly worded and thoughtfully composed posts I've ever read. Seriously.

I'd think the opposite would be true, though to such a minute extent as to be pointless. Spoke areas of wheels are uneven and consist of 32 (or so) little cylindars chopping up the air. Hub's are smooth. More flange=less spoke=more smooth=more aero?? Like I said, doesn't matter, probably.

Spokes used to break a lot more often than they do nowadays. The stainless steel they were made out of wasn't as pure as it is now.

One benefit to a high flange is that you can change a spoke on the right rear side without removing the cog(s). Having all the flanges the same size (tall) meant that you only had to buy one size spare spoke.

Touring bikes also often had high flange hubs for the same reason, although with a dished rear wheel you had to carry two sizes of spoke.

Today, spokes hardly ever break, even on low-spoke-count wheels. Modern high flange hubs are still around because we all think they look cool.