The Radavist

For everyone that pisses and moans about “always missing out on the cool stuff”, this one’s for you. Ben’s Cycle now has every single purple anodized Chris King component in stock. Head forth and swoop up the purple.

Usually when you see Campagnolo Pista hubs with drillium, chances are, they came from the Paramount facilities in the 70’s, complete with Paramount track bikes. Rumor has it that they misdrilled them too large for spoke holes and had to re-drill them, giving the flange a nice, light, facelift.*

While the technological advancements (i.e. weight) of hub designs have improved since then, there’s still that nostalgic allure of a classic Italian component with little circles cut out of it. As others have noted “nothing is lighter than a hole“. Drillium Revival are the minds behind this masterpiece hubset pictured here. Their holes were drilled intentionally and will be gracing one of Chris Bishop‘s 2013 NAHBS bikes.

Oh and they didn’t stop with the hubs. They kind of went all out! See more drilled, milled, profiled and polished Campagnolo Pista at the Bishop Flickr.

*source: Cicli Devotion

These Spike Parts track hubs remind me of the old Zipp hubs and that’s a good thing. They look damn sharp. Check out more at the Spike Parts Flickr!

This just in from Chris King:

“We are pleased to start the new year with the release of our 11-speed compatible R45 road racing hubs. Our R45s will seamlessly interface with Shimano’s new 11-speed drivetrain and are available giving our customers the ability to add legendary Chris King performance to their 2013 builds.”

If you’re looking for an 11-speed hub option, those are for you!

Now these look sharp! The only product I’ve seen in person from French component company Victoire Cycles was the early prototype Supersprint hub collaboration with Bishop Bikes and they looked just as good in person. New for 2013 are the HTF threaded rear hubs, for those who prefer traditional hub threading over the splined interface of the HTF splined.

See the full 2013 Victoire line here.

UK-based blog, Headset Press visited the shop of British manufacturer, Royce in the summer of 2012 and just posted up a great story on this small company. Check it out here!

In an interesting spin on the typical “made in the USA” editorials, Bloomberg Businessweek visited Chris King in Portland where they found that there is a huge demand for US-made products overseas. Check out the article here.

The wait is over. Paul Components have just announced their new RHub‘s availability. These beautiful, American-made hubs have been floating around their tradeshow booth for about two years now. If you’ve ever owned Paul track hubs, you can attest to their quality and finish. It’s real tempting to pick up a set now, just for the hell of it!

Check out more details at PAUL.

Photo by Michael Graves

I’ve seen Curtis Odom hubs popping up all over the internet lately. Even Dan from Shifter Bikes recently built up a set. But don’t be fooled by the vintage aesthetic, these hubs are high tech. Case in point: the new Magneto Bearings (shown here with the cup reversed to show bearing).  Right now, these bearings are offered as an upgrade to the standard track hubs, but cassette hub bearings are on their way. See more photos at the Curtis Odom Flickr.

Stay on top of everything Curtis Odom at his Facebook.

This just in from Chris King:

“We are ecstatic to be offering a handpicked selection of our most popular products in a moody dark purple. These components will be released for a short time and in limited quantities so make sure to place your order with your local Chris King dealer by December 10th.”

You know I’ve gotta get my hands on this stuff ASAP!

Finally! The Victoire and Bishop Bikes Supersprint Hubs are available:

“After one complete year of development and testing, the Victoire Supersprint hubs created with the famous framemaker Chris Bishop from Bishop bikes are available now. We spent the last few days shipping the hubs that were pre-ordered and we have a few left for this first batch. They are available in 32 and 36 holes versions in black, silver and dark grey finishes. Other drilling options and colors are available on request.

The Supersprint hubs share most of the caracteristics with our HFT hubs, with added features like drilled flanges and a new specific logo. Each hub is also numeroted. The front hub is available for 150€ and the rear one for 180€ (prices are indicated for Europe and for hubs without options). The product section will be updated soon with all the Supersprint specs.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions regarding the Supersprint hubs, using our contact form.”

Check out more information here.

While information is not yet on the White Industries site, my guess is that the new T11 hubs will be a huge hit this fall. From their Faceboook:

“The t11 hub is are new road hub that will be replacing the h3/h2 hub set, the drivers both campy and the new shim 11 speed will be in titanium and include a spacer for 10 speed compatibility”

Keep an eye on your local stockist so you can fondle a pair like I did at Interbike.

We all have seen Victoire Cycles‘ exquisite hubs and last week, Julian emailed me a few teaser shots of their new made in France track frames along with this little blurb:

“This frame is built around a really special set of tubes, made in France. Each tube is triple butted and D-shaped. We only made 8 sets of tubes so this frame will be available in only 8 units.”

More to come on this… In the meantime, what’s going on with those Bishop hubs? They’re too nice!

Are your Risilion hubs not spinning like they used to? Bacon Slicers pitted? Cracked flange on the GS Campy pista? Look no further. For those wanting a little vintage flare on their bike but modern reliability is key, check out Curtis Odom Hubs. All they have is a Facebook page now, but there’s lots of pretty, shiny things over there.

Unknown has joined the fixed driver race to arms with the new Jaws rear hub. Completing the set is the front hub: the Nailhead. These hubs are in stock and ready to ship with a 9t driver. 10t will be available next week. Swoop a set up at Unknown.

Justin Spinelli has spent years as a professional racer and mechanic. His company, Luxe Wheelworks is nestled in the freshly-established HQ in Boston, where he assembles high-end wheels for clients all over the US. Even if you have no use for his wheelbuilding expertise, you really should check out his blog for some wheel porn.

Also, Justin, thanks for the water bottles!

These bad boys have been coveted by fixed freestyle riders for months and they’re now available from Resist:

“Our long (very long) awaited Contact micro cassette hub just arrived and we’re already shipping them out to shops.  The thing is straight badass for anyone that wants to go to a micro drive fixed driver.  You can check out the specs on the Contact page.  Get at em’ quick, our orders are already looking slim.  Thanks for the patience on these guys.”

Thanks for pulling through on this one Resist. Everyone’s gonna be stoked.

Very loud.

I recently built up a set of 24 / 28 Profile Elite Road hubs and could not believe how loud they are. In fact, they sound more like a BMX hub than a road hub. 6 pawls dig into 68 steps on the ratchet ring, making them the bane of your riding buddies’ existence.

Made in the USA, from hell hornets apparently…

See more information here at Profile.