Hub recommendations - High Flange, fixed/fixed, SIlver and Sealed?

I'd thought about on-one for an upcoming build, anyone use them and like them?

Saw some pics of a Fixie Inc hub recently - solid high flange and silver. Can't link to them cos their site is a nightmare, but might be worth a look.

The on-ones are rebranded dimensions which are similar quality to formula/ambrosio/system ex etc.

Ha went and ordered a Soma hub last night and of course, today I get an email from Gromada about their hubs. So if you're interested, see what you make of this:

"We make the hubs only for available. At the moment we production only silver hubs.
It is make from alloy 7075 T6 (the hardest alloy), The bearings are sealed cartridge. The rear hub is flip flop 2 x fixed. We production hubs with 36, 32, 28, 24, 20, 16 holes for spokes.

The medium size flange is 75 mm high, the small 55 mm, We production
the hubs about typical track standard width 120 mm, and for road and MTB frame 126 mm, 130 mm 135 mm.
The the rear medium flange cost 98 euro, the small flange cost 69,5 euro.

The shipping 1 hub to UK cost 10 euro."

got an almost identical email reply this morning, I'm seriously considering them, just trying to work out if i can justify them... the other main contender were the soma's too,
or the budget option of miche primato

Has anyone come across any high flange gromada's built up yet?

I've got to express my love for Condor's new (made by goldtec) asymetric hubs. Tyey are gor-ger-ous. Can be bought exclusively through condor on the greys inn road in LOndon. I was one of the first to have them on my new pista and they are lovely and very nice touch as they taper from one side to the other when looking down on them when riding. Only thing is i am not sure they do them in a polished finished - but i am sure they could do a special set if you asked nicely. Cheaper than Phil's and in my experience just as good.

I am trying to source a hub for a new build. The rear space is 128mm should I go for a hub that is too small and squeeze the steel 531c tubing in or should I get one to big and try and open the rear triangle out a bit ? Which way is best and which one will lead me to steel failure / rear triangle dropping off ? As per the Gromada's above they have a 126mm and a 130mm which is better ?

or are there 128 fixed hubs around I have done quite a bit of searching but nothing has popped up yet. I guess I would even look at flip flops but single sided are preferable ?

If you get 126mm and put chain tugs on, they will act as 1mm spacers and give you your 128mm.

Just an idea (may be wrong, but sounds feasible).

If I was you (in fact I was in this position and wished I'd done the following) I would buy a 120mm hub and respace the frame down to 120mm, which is pretty easy. That way your hub is ready to go onto any other track spaced frame in the future. If you buy hubs that don't have easily changed spacers, e.g. Goldtec or Gromada, then this is the best way forward.

If you buy hubs with spacers, e.g formulas or loose ball hubs, then you could space them out to 126mm (as it involves less spacers than 130mm). 1mm on either side isn't worth worrying about IMO.

As the spacing's not 120 the dropouts are probably forward facing, if this is the case you can't use 'normal' track chaintugs, right?

I squeezed my 126 dropouts to fit a 120 hub with no problem, they just spring back to the original spacing once you take the wheel out (in case you were worrying about doing anything irreversible). I'm fairly certain you'll be able to run a hub 2mm smaller than your dropouts with no problems at all (or 2mm larger for that matter, but inserting the wheel might not be as easy, and I haven't dont this personally).

Go for it, you aren't going to find a 128mm hub in a hurry unless you space it out yourself (or maybe ask Gromada if they wouldn't mind doing this for you)

Re sizing the rear triangle sounds like a recipe for disaster ? Will it mess the paintwork up will it damage the integrity of the steel who can do it ? and what should it cost ? is it an irreversible process ?

I have been told I shouldn't mess the frame up in case it ever wants to go back to original geared ?

But then again if it is 120mm then I can switch over wheels from my other bike and not have to splash out squids on new wheels hmm

It's steel - you can bend it one way and back the other without a problem. Search google for "cold setting steel frames", read all about it and then see if one of the competent bike shops will do it for you if you don't want to. Barrie Witcomb or Roberts would probably be happy to do it if you want a frame builder involved.

Rattlebag As the spacing's not 120 the dropouts are probably forward facing, if this is the case you can't use 'normal' track chaintugs, right?

)

Chaintugs for forward facing dropouts can be picked up at cycle jumbles from a £1 to £3 a pair or pay about twenty quid on E-Bay, they were made by Cyclo of Birmingham.

I want one of those

I've got a butchered bmx one that does the job ok'ish, but it's not ideal.

Suzue Eco? Cheap as chips and start off a bit rough, but run in very nicely.

I don't have a picture of the finished thing (it is all painted) but this is my chain tug for forward facing drouts, two bolts thread into the two holes and push onto the back of the drop out. Easy to make. I did use a welder but not it is not necessary.

fixedpip Ha went and ordered a Soma hub last night and of course, today I get an email from Gromada about their hubs.

have you got your hands on the soma's yet?
what'd you think?

My Phils arrived this morning, I am so grinning now. Easily pleased I am.

not surprised those are sweet hubs

1bhp
have you got your hands on the soma's yet?
what'd you think?

Nope, they took a while to ship 'em, so am still waiting. Will post a comment when they turn up.

Since learned that Mosquito Bikes in Islington are an official SOMA dealer and you should be able to get hubs, bars etc through them. Haven't been to confirm though.

fixedpip [quote]1bhp
have you got your hands on the soma's yet?
what'd you think?

Nope, they took a while to ship 'em, so am still waiting. Will post a comment when they turn up.

Since learned that Mosquito Bikes in Islington are an official SOMA dealer and you should be able to get hubs, bars etc through them. Haven't been to confirm though.[/quote]

yeh, soz i assumed you knew or that's where you got them from.
they've got several pairs in stock I've been in to have a look, and they seem nice, was just wondering if you'd had them built yet?
where did you order yours from?

i think the soma's are my favourite at the moment, haven't heard back from gromada after their initial response so don't think I'm willing to wait. Having said that i've been waiting months for the rims...

So the SOMAs finally showed up. Not that impressed with them (partly cause the Royal mail charged me 15 quid in customs and 'international clearance fees' because the seller was honest)... ahh!!!

Anyway back to the hubs. The bad things:

1) Don't like the hollow axles. Didn't think it would annoy me but it does.
2) The fixings (nuts and serrated washers) feel cheap.
3) The bearings are cheapo 6000RS? (can't quite make out last letter but it may be a 'l' meaing they're single sided) which don't last when its wet - bearings are stamped Joytech, so I'm guessing thats who really makes the hub.
4) The threads are full of burrs and are poorly finished.

Which granted says nothing about the performance but it says a lot a lot about the 'premium' nature of these hubs. As far as I can tell, these are just rebranded generic Joytech track hubs (very similar in finish to the St Johns Street basic hubs at 40 quid a pair). Would love to be proved wrong.

The good things:
1) They're quite shiny - better finish than most cheap hubs, nice rounding to the flanges too.
2) They have the word SOMA screened on them.
3) They were still cheap.

But like all things, the proof is in the riding, so I best get these built then.

bugger!
i was kinda dreading hearing that. :(
my rims arrived this morning and was just going to go have them built with the soma's tomorrow, but I've been a bit reluctant to commit to them, so that may swing it.

anyone got any other suggestions...
silver, large solid flange, 32, 120 double fixed, sealed bearings.

My suggestion would be to buy a Phil rear and then use something cheaper in the front.

Apparently the Dia Compe Gran Compes should be available in silver (if not now, v. soon), so you may want to talk to Brixton Cycles. They're probably the best cheapo hubs out there right now.

cheers fixedpip,
where'd you hear about silver dia compes?

I'd swear I read about silver Dia Compes somewhere recently but haven't been able to find where, so I would discount that bit of news as coming from a rambling f***wit.