Like a lot of fixed riders, I have been going through rear hubs like girlfriends. I make it about three months before I do something horrible to them and they break down on me. In the past four months I’ve gone through two hubs, one was a Phil Wood, and I just don’t have the money to keep investing in new hubs, especially the pricey kind. My main problem is I keep stripping out my lock ring threads. I’ve thought about suicide mounting a cog to the rear, but the idea of trying to stop at 20+ mph BMX style if the lock tight gives out, seems like a death sentence.
So I did some looking and fell for the idea of a bolt on hub, but the two places that looked like the go to for them were way pricey, Level and Phil. Both hubs are super nice, very fast and amazingly well constructed but well over the $200 mark. The other issue is I wanted something that was beefy enough to grind on. Destroying an axle on one of those hubs would bring tears to my eyes.
After some massive inter-webbing I found that Shimano XT 756 front disc hubs could be converted to a solid axel. They come standard with a dinky quick release that a stair set would eat up and forget tossing pegs on. The axel size is a 10mm x 1mm thread pattern, which is a pretty easy order for your local bike shop, and beefy enough to take some decent abuse. With that size axle you can reuse the hubs standard cones in combination with 20mm of spacers used accordingly, the standard front hub spacing is 100mm and most track rears are 120mm. The hubs themselves are rough $50-60 and the axle shouldn’t be more the $5-10. That’s a bolt on hub for roughly $55-70, pretty fair priced to end the stripped lock ring issue.
If you take a look at some of the photo’s, the build worked out way better then I thought it would. I had a bit of a headache figuring out spoke lengths, because the wheels have to be dished to accommodate the disc. The other issue I had was getting the cones tightened just right, they came loose on the first couple rides, but after a few rides I got them dialed in just right. If this kind of dialing or build make you nervous, don’t fret, that’s what bike shops are for.
Anyway, now I have a pretty bombproof set of hubs and I felt they were totally worth sharing. They aren’t the fastest, the prettiest, or the lightest, but then again they aren’t meant to be. I needed something sturdy to trick on. If they give out or I break an axle, my wallet won’t hurt as bad.
Knowledge shared,
Antimo
10 comments:
Is that the right way to put the chain?
I have mine the other way...
Thanks
Most major problems with lockring strips are simply due to lockrings that aren't actually locked in tightly enough. If you find yourself having these problems, you could try to double check your cog and lockring after each ride, and tightening them.
I say this because I've got a cheap-ass Formula hub that doesn't strip, an ultra cheap cog I found online with no name, and a lockring that's similar to that. But I've got a monster of a shop mechanic to tighten it for me, and I've beaten the crap out of the hub through intense use, with no issues ever.
Good luck with your new hub.
THIS IS THE KINDA STUFF I WANNA READ !!!! thanks for getting 407 fixed back on track
@Anon - The chain is definitely on wrong. I bought a chain that was too short and wound up lengthening it with some extra standard links to get the bike up and running, but because i did this it took around two hours to get the chain set. After the first hour, getting the chain direction wasn't a priority anymore. I just wanted to ride.
@Andrew - You are absolutely right, if you do things the right way you generally won't strip out your hubs. I tend not to do things the right way, and like the ease of being able to do them on my own time. A lot of times friends will pop up on a Sunday after the shops close and I've got my trick ratio on and their trying to go for a fast ride. No dice getting that swapped properly, so I do it myself and that's generally what the problem is. But I think with this set up it's a lot more idiot proof.
What are some sturdy wheels to trick on?
Most people are pretty happy with the velocity chukkers or a set of Sun MTX's. Both seem pretty beefy without many complaints.
are you running a 1/8 chain? any problems with the tomicog only being a 3/32?
Cody, I've been running a 1/8th chain with that cog for about a month and ridding pretty heavily. I haven't noticed any unusual wearing and the ride has been fairly quiet.
Yeah, no complications to note. I'm pretty sold on these cogs with how well mine has been running and the fact that they are hand machined in the good ol' US of A.
i'm with you on this one. i have stripped 3 hubs in less than 6 months and cannot afford to buy new hub or new wheels all the time.
mind you both lockring and cog were installed properly with large amount of grease and tighten like a mofo. these were good quality cog and lockring too!
i have used jb weld on one of my wheels to keep the cog in tact. the only down side is that you're pretty much stuck with that cog and its not coming off unless you grind it off.
Disc hub conversion to fixed gear cog is the way to go. especially if you like to bomb hills and skid like a mofo!
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