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Find, Build, or Modify - High flange 135mm OLD front hub

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Find, Build, or Modify - High flange 135mm OLD front hub

Old 02-13-19, 01:48 PM
  #1  
The Speaker Guy
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Find, Build, or Modify - High flange 135mm OLD front hub

Hi everyone

Dreaming up next build, a 2-passenger delta trike. It is going to have suspension, and it's going to have 4" or so tires. Which leads to my question:

What is the best source for a high flange, 135mm front hub?

Requirements:
  • 135mm most likely, possibly 145 or 150mm. Forks in mind seem to have 135mm OLD spacing.
  • I want large diameter flanges with wide spacing as this is a heavy application with abnormal lateral forces
  • Asymmetric flange placement is OK, and preferred (disc side is closer to center than other due to spacing needs for the disc)
  • 36 hole, see comment about strength
  • Disc required, or drum, no rim brake, well, really not desired

Buy:
I can find 135mm disc, but the flanges are small diameter, and also not very wide apart. This seems to be due to the desire for symmetry in flange spacing over lateral strength, not too important on a 2 wheel bicycle, but very important on a trike.

Build
I can do a drawing and have a machine shop make this from billet, but that would be $$, and not as strong as a forged hub
I could also buy a lathe and learn, doing this myself. This is likely almost break even with having a machinist do it, and I've been eyeing the Chinese minilathes for a while. I could have the flanges laser cut out of aluminum, steel, or SS.

Modify
Buy an existing 100mm hub, cut it in half, and add a spacer. The hand-down winner for this is a Sturmey-Archer XL-FD 90mm Drum hub. This has 109mm diameter flanges, measured at the spoke holes. This is 2x or more from most hubs.
The modification route could also be done with a standard MTB style hub as well with disc. Either of these requires finding a new wider axle, but that should not be too hard. I assume the spacer would be turned from thick aluminum tubing, and the hub would be turned on either side to accept this tubing. The two sides would be epoxied together.

Repurpose
Use a 135mm IGH electric hub on the front, with no cluster. Not a great idea, as electric hubs are not (almost never) supposed to be used on suspension forks. The plan is to have 2 IGH fat hubs on rear, so this motor would see only 1/3 the load if powered. i could even program its controller to limit torque or something like that. So, not an elegant solution, as the external controller has to be bought, mounted, wired and programmed. Alternatively, a smart pie direct drive with internal controller would work

Anyway ... Your thoughts?

Thanks in advance
John
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Old 02-18-19, 05:50 PM
  #2  
fietsbob
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Over 30 years ago seen, because of all the builders taking on the Humboldt county Kinetic Sculpture race * A bike shop in Eureka/Arcata had some special hubs to built some rather wild wheels around

such as strapping 5 rims side by side fattest tire in the center for The paved highway 4 smaller, circumference, along side all 5 on the sand & mud for support

They had to float, too..

*
Kinetic Universe
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