Wheel hubs ?

[Trubritbiker]

We (myself and my 2 bosses) are looking into manufacturing wheel hubs, as yet we are just considering designs and aim to produce something that is not too expensive but looks the bussiness. I would say there is a market for a hub that uses a common disc size (cheapish disc) and by using different bearings would fit various bikes. The main problem is the different drill pattern rims that are out there which are comissioned by manufacturers. Maybe a bit of lateral thinking is required. Anyone interested ?

[Muzzard]

John, I rode a short circuit kneeler during the late 70's fitted with homemade disc wheels.... Thought of manufacturing solid disc wheels like 2 outers and rivet them together like a Centreline? Sorts out the drilling problems and only leaves axle bearings and a common disc pattern.

[Wobbly]

Sounds like what Talon do, with the exception of the "not too expensive" part :D

The talons seem to use an axel bushing that runs the entire length of the inner and a universal bearing, just with different thickness bushings to handle different axel diameters. They also bolt on to a standard pattern front disc which most of the after market guys accomodate (ebc, braking, etc), although if you found a reasonably priced OEM setup that you could easily get heaps of discs for then that might be a good way to go as well, although OEM discs aren't cheap.

There seems to be 2 standards for spokes, 32 and 36? I think talon just chose one (36?) and went with that, and when you buy raw excel rims they come undrilled and you just drill them for whatever you want...

[Trubritbiker]

32 holed rims are new to the market, 36 used to be european and 40 hole were british. Talon hubs seam to be expensive for what they are, if they were made for each model i could understand the expense. The disc wheels may be a good idea but the major drawback is sidewinds, also there is no flex in the wheel as there is in spokes but having said that "what is your suspension for "? It would not be too hard to get some discs laser cut, drilled and ground flat. I am guessing maybe $200 a disc, but that would have to be looked into in more depth to give an exact figure.