bencooper – Member

There’s no common standard for stub axles, unfortunately.

That is a shame, as it sounds like one of those could be a goer for this in terms of simplicity.

I’ve been mulling over the axle fitting for this project half the morning I started off fixated on the idea of a single side clamped axle, but that would end up being a bit of a monster.

I’ve settled on the idea that you all you really need is to fix (Weld or laminate in depending on construction method) a tapped boss or of you like the whole stub axle itself, and it can all be held in place with a RH threaded pre-load bolt (pretty much what the lefty setup does) the fork needs to be a “Lefty” really not RH legged for the simple reason that a Lefty means that RH threaded axle fixings would be tightened in the direction of wheel rotation, if you do it as a “Righty” and you’ll be needing LH threaded fixings (bound to cause issues IMO) or to clamp everything, not perfect IMO…

Hubs wise I think you’ve actually got some options, you could track down and use a Lefty hub / axle, alternatively you could try:

-20 x 110 DH hub (pretty wide for this application though, hardly “Aero”)
-Space a 20 x 110 down to 20 x 100 (or narrower?) with some replacement end caps
-QR 15 x 100 hub – a 15mm axle might just work cantilevered for road only use?
-Hope Pro 2 or similar hub that allows different axle configurations, kitted out with RH 20mm LH 15 bearings and a stepped / tapered axle and end caps made up to suit…

I am liking the amount of thought going on in here, unfortunately a manic day at work has meant nothing constructive from me but very grateful to offers and contribution and a call to explain some items- thank you all

I like the idea of a single legged (composite?) fork on the road, especially for something like my commuter where it does away with taking a wheel out for changing / fixing a tube…

If it’s down to taking out wheels, the rear one seems more sensible to focus on to reduce hassle.
Or just fit Schwalbe Marathons 🙂

Although there are numerous incarnations of single sidedness around, this:

has to be the pinnacle. A thing of beauty and no mistake. It’s already been mentioned in here, but OP could do worse than just aim for a replica. 🙂

That is indeed some of the inspiration but the rear is a step too far for my available tooling and funds at the moment… Very cool though, that and a few cannondale concepts.

This has got me thinking too – as has something Mike Burrows said years ago when I asked him about his original Ratcatcher recumbent – “why does the frame have to be on the centre line of the bike?”

I wonder if something like that English, but with completely straight stays and a headset directly in line with the fork blade would work. The front wheel would need to be angled a bit to get the contact patch in line with the trail so it doesn’t bump steer, but that’s no big deal.

Hmm…