Curtis Odom is known for his gorgeous retro bicycle hubs, which include fixed gear and threaded road hubs as well as cassette road hubs. Now, he’s giving folks a double fix with a new two-sided threaded fixed gear hub.
“The double sided hub is basically at conceptual level now,” said Odom. “All I really need to do is develop a new center section to make the pieces fit together.”
Why should such a thing exist? Well, historically, roadies would have two cogs and flip their wheels around to the larger one when they hit the climbs. It was the inspiration for Campagnolo to develop the quick release (followed shortly thereafter by the derailleur), after all. Nowadays, it’s just, well, God only knows. Odom’s developing it because of demand. He said originally he didn’t want to do it because it’s not as aesthetically pleasing. But, people want what they want, and he said it’s not all that hard to do. Both flanges are the same as the driveside flange on his regular hubs, so it’s just a matter of creating a shorter center piece so that total hub width is correct. Speaking of which, these will be 120mm standard and 126mm and 130mm as no-charge options.
The hub shell centers are available in alloy or polished stainless steel, but the flanges on all of them are alloy. Glance at some of the finished hubs (pic after the break) and they look like one piece. Odom says that’s because his machining is so precise.
Odom: “I was originally planning on them for NAHBS 2013, but it might be out before then.”
Look for the double sided fixed hubs to be about $500 and available by NAHBS if not sooner. The price is a bit more than his regular fixed hubs because the threaded part, lock ring and driveside flange are all slightly more expensive parts. The image here is all that’s out at the moment, but Odom assures us it’s beyond vaporware, it’s just a matter of piecing them together.
