I would imagine that the hub would be cast with a little bit of machining to finish it off. The prototype was machined from a billet, but we machined away probably 80$ worth of aluminum.

I think I would stick to 9 speed and 10 speed compatible, I would imagine that's what most people would want. I don't really understand using an 8 speed nowadays. The 9 speed 34 tooth cassette on the prototype doesn't interfere at all with the spoke rigging, you can rotate it out of the way so that the spokes come in between the teeth. It was fairly easy to lace all the spokes without bending them too much.

Cast aluminum hub failures are legend.. engineer your chip recycling with the aluminum supplier

and stick with using billet. until you have the resources to make the blanks cold forged.

I'm not an engineer, but my first thought on looking at the prototype is that the spoke "ears" look like they would be prone to cracking or snapping off as they don't have much reinforcement. But, I imagine you already thought of that and designed in extra support or something.

The prototype seemed to be robust enough, but I haven't done any Finite Element Analysis yet, I'll be doing that next year and I imagine that the design will get a little more refined as well as lighter at the same time.

Cold forging is very interesting, I'm going to do some research into what the initial investment looks like to get cold forging set up for this. Also, I don't know if the finished shape could be cold forged, maybe the general shape would be cold forged and then there would be some machining of the drive side flange to get the slots in there.

Here are some professional photos of the hub. I'm currently still gauging demand for this, as I'm negotiating with suppliers. What do people think?
Thanks,
Matt

still think the drive side hub flange looks like it's "Achilles' Heel" .. have you beat it up on field testing for a few years?

At least, load it up with 100pounds of gear in the Panniers + a 200 pound rider, and ride Dirt roads for a few months ..


You dont seem to under stand, .. the Forging comes first, then the final machining. ,
you don't get a finished piece from the forge..

it does mean you have less metal to take off , than if starting from a Billet.

I can't believe I never thought of that. I have the Phil touring hub, and I've broken a spoke on it, and never thought of this uber-easy way to get at the spokes.
Thanks for that dose of common sense.

I see this a lot:

"The weight of tools don't matter to a touring bike."

Wrong. You pay for every ounce with your legs, and your food bill, and your tire wear, and your drivetrain wear, and your distance and effort. Even if you can't perceive a difference, there is one, and a lot of people on this forum who went "ultralight" realize that it's rewarding to reduce weight.

This hub is not obsolete just because you threw a tool in your pannier.

The OP is offering a new product. it sounds like a lot of people are saying "Come back when you have the reputation of [insert best hubs available]

I think you can go ahead and ignore that attitude. If this hub performs, more helpful and optimistic members would likely pay for it and report back how it works.

Out where hundreds of riders pass thru in just 90 days . if there is a major rim damage,
there is not that much time too busy often to do custom wheel building.. on the spot.

then an off the peg wheel is actually going to be exchanged.. and the hub out of custom one gets shipped home ..


so far he offers pictures .. no field tests.

You can put a dogleg in a $1 spoke and use it to replace a broken spoke on the drive side without removing the cassette.

The spoke flanges should be coined......Even if it is billet.

Thinking outside the box.....Good!

IIRC, Mr. Brandt - in his book on wheel building, advised against transmitting torque through the hub (getting your spoke bracing angle from the off-side not the torque-side.). I remember it because I was surprised that hubs would fail from torque in the body.

I am in the process of testing the design myself, and the next stage is to create a website to recruit volunteers who will test it on real extended tours. The advantage over Phil Wood or Rohloff in addition to a much lower cost will be ease of finding replacement parts, i.e. freehubs, which can fail on tour. Will you be able to find a Phil Wood freehub on a tour in Africa or Vietnam? Fietsbob, I understand the forging comes before the machining, I'm not sure how to respond to your last comment though. There isn't much transmission of torque through the hub, the drive side is crossed.

Or this

Me, my touring wheel (1st one built in the early 80's) has been built around a Phil Freewheel hub .. only 1 spoke needed replacing ..

replaced it with a Bullseye freewheel hubset .. another one with a super strong Axle assembly .. and drop in cartridge bearings.

The other one was still fine when I sold it, as a set, just the Mavic Mod 4 rim ferrules were getting a little rusty .


the typical freewheel hubs are assembled around a 10 axle . those bend and break .. occasionally .

wish you luck in your enterprise , nonetheless ..



Know people are already crossing Africa and all parts of the world, on Rohloff hubs ..

the Germans do get around touring and traveling, on their bikes, with German Components, a lot.