Best budget mtb hubs

Or to a track hub, the on one ones are sealed and good for very cheap.

Oops, didn't refresh page on my phone. This would have been my advise at the start, if only you'd answered WHY?

Thread wouldn't have been quite so entertaining though

Why?

Sulaco, there's not a lot of point in lacing a road/track hub to a MTB rim (unless you want fixed-gear, of course). 80s/early 90s MTB hubs were spaced 130mm too - essentially they are completely interchangeable with road hubs.

If you want a 26" wheelset, I would get a late 80s/early 90s MTB wheelset (check retrobike), with either screw-on freewheel or freehub, because they are spaced 130mm. Your old road frame will be 126 or 130mm (unless it's really old in which case it'll be 120mm) so it'll either just plop straight in, or it'll need the minimum of cold-setting - and then you can use your existing SS conversion kit. And then you get all the benefits of a freehub, and it'll only cost about fifty quid for a decent used wheelset. Cheaper than buying a track hub, 26" rim, spokes, and sprocket/freewheel. And no need for any of that wheelbuilding malarkey.

Oh, sorry - I see it is a track frame, which will be 120mm spaced. In that case, a track hub is your best bet - or a 126mm road hub.

Have you thought about brakes? Your track frame will almost certainly be built for 700c or 27" wheels - if you fit 26" wheels then AFAIK there are no brakes in production that have enough drop to fit. You'll (almost certainly) be able to go from 700c to 650b, though, but that has its own problems (namely, supply of rims and tyres).

bet you wish you'd never asked now, don't you sulaco

Try some U brakes on it, I've been wanting to see if you could get a U brake to work on a 26" wheel from 700c mounts, it looks like it's close. Remember that U brakes are a bit shit though and I've not actually done much more than measure things with my fingers.

Or you could make some drop bolts a la Sheldon Brown. Could be more hassle than it's worth, to be honest - if the frame has close clearances, you'll still only be able to run a narrow tyre even with smaller 26" wheels. If you're really set on 26" wheels with fat tyres, get a different frame; if you're really set on using your track frame, use 700c/650b wheels.

@ otter - ubrakes sound interesting...i was going to run fixed on the rear with maybe a brake on the front (possibly making use of the disc mount)

@ lae - retrobike is looking like an option now as wheelies just got back in touch saying the hub I ordered is out of stock (blessing in disguise!)
im now looking at late mtb hubs to reduce the amount of cold setting, like you suggested. thanks again!

@ dicki - never!! you fellas are a wealth of info :] cant thank you enough.

Track frame with a disc mount? What frame is it?

MTB fork with disc mounts on a track frame, I'm looking forward to this crime against nature.

d'oh! i wasnt clear at all, was I? basically im planning on turning my old track frame into a sort of hybrid (fat mtb tyres / without the added weight etc)....Ive got an old mtb rigid fork that fits and a front mtb wheel (so that ends all sorted), all thats left is the rear... then I heard bout cold setting. I wanted to keep the front and rear running on a 26" rim hence I thought Id need a rear mtb hub...also Furry, I hear about what youre saying about chainline...I guess an added concern is wether the cold setting will spread the frame way too much and affect this....but seeing as the frame was never going to be used I thought I may aswell experiment a little! [:]

Running fixed 26" wheels on a frame designed for 700c will increase the chance of pedal strike.

If you want a lightweight fixed wheel MTB there are better ways. I admire the desire to make use of stuff you already have, but I think the end result is going to disappoint.

Don't put him off, just get short cranks with a narrow q factor and tiny pedals and, as always, don't lean.

Also get tt bars.

MTB fork with disc mounts on a track frame, I'm looking forward to this crime against nature.

yeah...me too..?

Running fixed 26" wheels on a frame designed for 700c will increase the chance of pedal strike.

If you want a lightweight fixed wheel MTB there are better ways. I admire the desire to make use of stuff you already have, but I think the end result is going to disappoint.

yeah its gonna be interesting i think...so many factors for utter fuckedupness...but if it all goes south ill see you on classifieds section.

(no dibs!)

Also get tt bars.
ill see if the cash holds out! ;]

you could get a relatively cheap mtb wheel on ebay with a disc hub and use your freewheel spacing kit (guessing its like the dmr kit) also if you ever wanted to convert to a fixed gear setup you could just use one of these kits on the disc side http://www.velosolo.co.uk/intro.html

if you ever want to use canti brakes on a 700c wheel I know mavic used to do adapter kits for their speedcity wheels which allowed 26" bikes to run 700c wheels without the need for disc brakes but you will need to search hard for this as they were produced in small volume when they were released

3pc bmx cranks like profiles can be spaced along the bb axle in order to adjust the chainline however this may mess with the q factor.

I have a few bits such as a practically new mtb rear disc wheel (kore xcd) and a singlespeed spacer kit (dmr) and profile cranks that I will put up for sale if you are interested

BMX cranks have a wide q factor as is, with the extra low BB he'll be asking for pedal strike.