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Got hold of a cheap bike to commute on and in the process of converting to tubeless. The rims are pretty basic unbranded rims and not very tight fitting with a few different tyres I've tried. The tyre beads don't lock onto the rim and even with a few wraps of tape, they still feel very loose. Though they do seal, I'm still looking to replace them in the future.
Rather than replacing the rims on unbranded hubs, I'd quite like to build up something a bit more robust and struggling to find a half decent single speed hub. 135/100mm spacing with a threaded axle and nuts.
Or a complete wheelset would be easier. 700c, disc.
Hope do, but I suspect they might cost more than your bike https://www.hopetech.com/products/hubs/trial-ss/pro-5-trials-singlespeed-rear-hub/
Find some unfashionable but decently sealed Shimano cup and cone hubs with a steel freehub, then rebuild using the existing cones etc around a solid nutted cromo axle (usually about £10 for the axle and nuts).
Surly Ultra New are absolutely lush, but again spendy.
...I suspect they might cost more than your bike
Um, yup. But so worth the money. 🙂
Edit - Winstanleys are showing the Halo one for 68 sheets, that's not too bad.
Good to see not only do Hope have exploded views of their hubs, but it appears to show the diabolical unsealed needle bearing in the freehub has been retired. Must have missed that in the intervening decade since mine. The extra width, steel freehub, 36 spokes and axle bolts had a reassuringly solid feel I've not felt from any other hub. Have a look at Onyx or Chris King, then Hope will seem excellent value.
Think DMR still do one.
Mine is pre disc mount and doing well for a minimally maintained bike.
Phil Wood FTW
I have a pair of wheels in the garage I could do with getting rid of.
Hope hubs Pro2 front 100mm, Pro2 singlespeed rear bolt in on Mavic rims.
I'll have to have a look what model rims they are but they're definitely 29/700c.
Drop us a PM if you're interested?
A freehub with singlespeed kit would be fine. Just needs to have a threaded steel axle with nuts.
Any old hope wheelset.
Get bolt on axle if you want big threads. But there us no reason to as normal qr is solid (aslong as the skewer says Shimano) (mine have been qr 10mm qr and bolts (because i was running a gear hanger in a track end so it was more convenient for the wheel to just drop out.)
All the trials hub gives you is a shorter freehub and bolt axles by default. They're fine but really nothing much different to the normal geared hubs in use.
Goldtech hubs from betd
I used surly for my single/fixed MTB back when, but would have gone goldtech if I'd ever but up a road/track frame fixed
The major drawback to using a multispeed hub with a spacer kit is that they look weird. And that's important right?
The more minor issue is that the increased dishing will make the wheel slightly weaker in use, but that's a marginal argument as they don't collapse daily anyway.
Surly Utra New hub with a White Industries freewheel if you're feeling extra flush! 😉
It's been a while since I looked at the price of those, I could never bring myself to cough for one when I had my SS MTB. My lone no-gear bike is a fixie now, so not a dilemma any more.
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/freewheels/white-industries-332-inch-single-freewheel-16t/
I was musing over the idea of using a 120mm track hub, replacing the axle with a longer one (there's a few for 130mm hubs which should still have enough threads unless it's a thick alloy frame.
And I believe these screw on adapters were originally intended to adapt tandems with drum brakes. Obviously if you aim for chainline on the drive side you'll need to adapt either the caliper of disk with spacers. I'd probably go with the narrowest BB possible that clears the stays in order to keep the chain line as far in as possible and use the axle spacers on the drive side.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/145858248474
Either that or you might find an old fixed / free DMR or On-One hub going cheap.
The more minor issue is that the increased dishing will make the wheel slightly weaker in use, but that’s a marginal argument as they don’t collapse daily anyway.
Is that even a marginal argument, I ve never had a wheel collapse due to dishing weakness - it’s just a normal rear wheel after all.
How about:
https://freshtripe.co.uk/classic-large-flange-sealed-bearing-hubset/
Priced per pair.
I'd need 135mm spacing and bolt on. QR will likely slip in horizontal dropouts.
I’d need 135mm spacing and bolt on. QR will likely slip in horizontal dropouts.
Not in my experience. A proper Shimano qr done up properly on a freewheel is a pretty robist option.
I would rather use qr and tugnuts than fudding about with aligning a nut a trackend and a wheel with no lip on the hub as they atleast help with consistent placing.
Also trackends point backwards. Horizontal drop out point forward...
QR won't slip with decent internal cams. Shimano or Campag to name the best. They never did in the decades when we all used horizontal drop outs. They work nicely with track ends as well.
That kick back hub is very tempting. I'll have to see if they do a disc brake compatible one.
Isn’t the whole point of a kick back hub that it has an internal brake so you don’t need a disc?
No, that's a Coaster Brake. This is kick back to change gear.
Cheers, I think i was confused by that hub coming with a coaster brake and a ****ing appalling hangover.
Why not a normal freewheel type hub?
SRAM used to make a two-speed hub that changed gear automatically, with sprung weights inside the hub. In the best tradition they never fully developed it (Hammerschmidt, anyone?), and I think it got binned when they closed down their hub gear division.
Why not a normal freewheel type hub?
Happy with one as long as it has a steel threaded axle or equivalent. Don't want QR.
The one I linked to up there is bolted and cheap.
That Charge hub is 120mm. I need 135mm.
Sturmey Archer S2K is the 135mm, kick back 2speed with disc mount. Looks like it might be quite tricky to find.
I'd agree with you not wanting qr - we've never found them very reliable, especially with smaller chainrings (higher chain loads) and chain tugs can be a tricky bodge.
As said before, a rubber sealed Shimano 29er hub / wheel with steel freehub body is very reliable, and easily and cheaply converted to a nutted axle.
I have an old xt 756 with a solid axel. Bought from velosolo. I also have a stack of single speed spacers and cogs and a disc mount bolt on cog to fixie my inbred. I used to fix round GT. (Secrets and lies was horrid on it).
Id find an old 756 hub and a solid axel kit.
Ah balls. Sorry.
I think you've reached the niche paradigm
Cheap / exactly what you want / doesn't requires bodging ; pick two.
Eliminate cheap and what you're asking for is a Surly Ultra New
Eliminate it being an off the shelf product, then a basic 120mm track hub will meet your requirements, but will need a screw on ISO disk adapter, probably some disk spacers, a longer axle and spacers,.(although as everyone else has said a Shimano one won't slip, and if it does cheap chain tugs are cheap and do the job.
Otherwise the answer is probably the good old dependable Shimano XT M756, you will still need to source an appropriate axle though from VeloSolo, yes you can use M10 threaded bar from B&Q, it looks the same but it's nowhere near strong enough. By which point you may as well have bought the ultra-new.
www.velosolo.co.uk/shopsale.html
Happy to change axles etc. Should be pretty easy on shimano hubs. Hope hubs too.
I'm 99% sure the hope bolt up axles use an internal thread , i.e. you're putting bolts into the ends not nuts over them. Same with the Ultra-New actually.
The correct answer is still "a shimano QR, and if that doesn't work add a chain tug". You can get cheap tarty anodized ones ones that do up with an Allen key on ebay.
Which means you don't then need to carry round a 15mm spanner to fix punctures or correct it if it does slip. I commute by fixie with track hubs and do the occasional long road ride on it. remembering the tools is a PITA because you can guarantee you'll forget the day you get a flat because it was stashed in the other bag.
Hope pro2 evo has 135mm spacing and 10mm bolt in, not bolt through. I’ve been using one with a steel freehub for a few years now on one of my ss bikes. Would recommend.
You can actually convert the Pro2 ss hub to a bolt through 142 or 148 as well as the standard 135 bolt in.
Just a change of axle and end caps. Useful for ssing slightly more modern frames or using on a Pinion gearbox bike.