tipstall

Anyone have any sources for single speed rear hubs for rim brakes. The bike is a single speed cross bike. Looking for options outside of Chris King, which is my current selection.

Carcosa

Depends on your frame's spacing.

Here is a great selection for mostly track spacing at 120:

https://www.retro-gression.com/collections/hubs

Wider spacing selection:

https://surlybikes.com/parts/wheels/hubs

Spendy selections:

https://paulcomp.com/product-category/components/hubs/

https://www.whiteind.com/hubs/

50voltphantom

See also: Phil Wood & Co.

Scrodzilla

Literally any track hub.

ThermionicScott 

^^ And he's not misusing the word "literally" for emphasis.

fixedweasel

Carcosa is correct. The spacing will most definitely matter. If it's a 120 spaced rear, then yes, you can literally use any track hub. If the spacing creeps up to 130mm, then on most low(er)/mid range end (cartridge bearing) track hubs, it can start to make a difference. If you take IRO/Formula/etc. track hubs*, there is only so much axle. If the spacing is at 130, you have to move the hub over when building the wheel to get the proper chainline. With these cartridge bearing hubs, you cannot "move" the axle like you can when respacing a looseball hub. On a looseball, when you rebuild the hub to get your chainline, you can center the axle between the drops leaving equal distance outside the dropouts on both sides for your track nuts. On these cartridge bearing hubs, the bearing(s) is/are shouldered on the axle, leaving the axle immovable within the hub itself. Since this is so, you will be left with very little axle on the drive side, after respacing, for the track nut. Trust me, I've built enough wheels and have done this before on a few occasions before large options were available. I've been able to get track nuts on with most of these hubs on the drive side but I had to opt for the longer axle version at the time.
And on certain true track cartridge bearing high end hubs**, there will not be enough axle to do this at all. Since you are looking at King's, it looks like you are going high end. I love Phil's myself but when looking, just make sure whichever hub you choose will be center (or as close to) with the proper chainline. A straight up no dish wheel is optimal and would be nice for this. For those who are reading this and want an inexpensive option for SS, just find a nice set of used/older high end road looseball hubs and................

1) either use the QR and just respace the rear hub
2) If you want nutted, replace the QR axle with a threaded proper length axle, respace and build




*they are basically all the same
**Dura Ace and such

SquidPuppet

Just an FYI. Dura-Ace track hubs are loose ball. ***



*** because loose ball hubs are superior.

fixedweasel

Ha! Quite so, thanks for the correction. I had even built up a set in the past/long ago, laced to some Velocity Escape's.**** The axle is too short though. And yes, I agree, loose ball is the bomb. I run Sugino 75's on everything and even removed the balls from the cages on my track bike. That along with white lithium grease allows my chainset to spin forever. Thanks again for keeping me honest.




****the mind is a terrible thing to waste*****
*****don't get old my friend

SquidPuppet

Too late.

tipstall

Thanks for all the information. Yes, 120mm spacing.

Scrodzilla

So after all the jibber-jabber, we're right back to this:

fixedweasel

Ha! Yes, quite so! At 120 it's on point.*






*albeit we can find out some new stuff(s) from jibber-jabber, no?

tipstall

Opp's I was wrong, 130 mm rear spacing. Is using a standard 11-speed hub and a single speed conversion kit
a bad thing?

seau grateau

That's probably the most sensible way to go.

CliffordK

Using a freehub gives you the most flexibility for setting your chainline perfect... assuming your desire is a hub that freewheels (single speed), rather than one that locks (fixie). No need to go with 11s. 10s would be just fine, or even 7s.

In fact, going with 7s will allow much better dishing.

There is a HUGE selection of 126mm spaced vintage freewheel hubs that I presume can also be used, but you may have to adjust axles and spacers to your application.

Carcosa

Saw that coming.

SquidPuppet

Use a 5mm axle spacer on each side of a single speed/track hub. Put it between the cone and lock nut. Easy. Done. That's what they are for. no need for re-dishing etc.

50voltphantom

Since we're on the subject check out this unicorn: 120mm cassette hub (middle one): Hubs ? SunXCD - Bicycle Components

fietsbob

I have simply used a common freewheel hub and screwed a single cog freewheel on it..

shuffled the axle spacers to re center the hub in the middle , re dished the wheel , and has a 1 speed bike.

cost was the purchase of the freewheel ..

79pmooney

If you want the hub that has the chainline you want, is designed for SS/FG operation from the start and has the nutting/QR you want, consider Phil Wood. Don't see the perfect hub in their catalogue? Call or E-mail them. They aren't a distributor that has to work with a factory. They're a machine shop. It's the same labor to them to make your perfect hub and another typical one to put on the shelf.

When you talk to them, you get to talk to someone who really knows his stuff. He may well know a standard part they have in stock to do exactly what you want.

I contacted them at this time last year for a narrow BB with custom asymmetry to set up a unique "triple chainline" fix gear. Three entirely separate chainlines to use both sides of a flip-flop hub with a 2 cog "dingle" on one side and three chainrings up front. Each combination of chainring and cog adding up to roughly the same total so the hub always stayed inside a standard Campy horizontal dropout but the gear combinations are appropriate for true mountain ascents with 64 yo CP knees and really fun multi-thousand foot fix gear descents.

Since I was using a standard track hub, I needed to keep the chainrings as far inboard as possible. I designed the setup to have the 38 tooth inner ring just about brush the chainstay paint. Chainrings were spaced much narrower than standard since contact with adjacent rings didn't matter at all but chainline did. (1/8" chain.) I contacted Phil Wood with a request for a short axle with a given asymmetry. Figured it would be custom and was fully prepared to wait. Their rep came back and said they had on the shelf a symmetrical stock BB 2 mm different in length and my asymmetry was well within what could be adjusted to with the stock BB. It works really well! They were a pleasure to work with.

Another option here - stock Miche track hubs. Built to 120 track but with an axle long enough to get to 130. You just have to come up with spacers. One caution - most of the Miches don't use the standard lockring. It is a slightly larger ring. The limitaion is that you have to go to a "bell" lockring for the 13t cog as well as a 12t cog or the chain will ride up on the lockring. (Finding a 12t bell-shaped lockring with the Miche threading makes finding needles in haystacks look easy. You can have a machinist re-thread a standard lockring to the Miche threads but you may have to re-finance your house to have it done on the hardened steel.) I do have one Miche hub with the standard thread. It may be the "Primato" hub.

As you might have guessed, road fix gears is what I do. Setting bikes up to do on-the-road gear changes is a recent change for me but I have been riding road fix gears 40+ years. My true love.

Ben