Alto Cycling adds rainbow of colors for hubs & rims

Written by Tyler Benedict Aug 04, 2017 8:47 a.m. ET

Alto Cycling precision bearing bicycle hubs now come in anodized colors

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With a promise of more new products this fall, Alto Cycling has added anodized color options for their hubs. To match, the rims have fluorescent logo decals, plus a “Black Prism” option that’ll take you back to the days of heavy metal band stickers from 25¢ vending machines.

The hubs will be available in Red, Blue, Gold, Silver and Alto Green, each coming with a $100 upcharge on the price of a standard set of wheels. Rim decals will come in Hyper Red, Green, Orange, Yellow and Pink, plus that Black Prism. Pics below…

Curious what makes Alto’s hubs special? Check out this post for the internal designs that make them roll ultra smooth.

The Hyper colors are $20 extra per wheelset, and this new Black Prism option runs $25 per wheel and looks dark gray in the shadows, but reflects this rainbow of awesome when sunlight hits it.

AltoCycling.com

Tyler Benedict

11,186 articles

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for almost two decades. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves family adventure travel and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter.

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Shane Hall

6 years ago

woooooooooooooow !!!!!!

Steve McIntosh

6 years ago

These things look sweet! Bonus on made in USA. I popped on the website and have a question. Why are the drive side of the rear wheel radial laced??? That goes against everything that I know.

OldTimerCat1

6 years ago

Reply to Steve McIntosh

See the flange?

Bobby Sweeting

6 years ago

Reply to Steve McIntosh

Good question! We get that one a lot. I’ll try to give a condensed response that isn’t super nerdy, haha.

The more tangential the spoke is to the flange, the more tension is required on that spoke to dish the wheel to that side. So a crossing pattern requires more tension, and a radial/2x system puts about 6% more tension on the non-drive spokes than a 2x/2x system. This helps to balance the tension throughout the wheel, and results in better lateral stiffness at the rim. As long as you take material choice and hub geometry into account, all of the torsional stiffness translates across the torque tube to the non-drive flange, and you end up identical in torsion.

There are some durability requirements that must be considered in order to lace a wheel with radial drive side spokes, which I think is the main reason why some manufacturers abandoned it in the past. But as long as those considerations are thought out and tested properly, it definitely results in the best ride quality possible!

What the

6 years ago

$1250 aluminum wheelset? Quite a premium.

Bobby Sweeting

6 years ago

Reply to What the

There’s no denying that our A26 set is on the higher end of aluminum offerings! But it’s 100% US made, and we think the resulting quality is well worth the extra few hundred bucks when you consider the durability of the set. Plus, you could get a set with black hubs for $1150! 😉

Dayno

6 years ago

Reply to Bobby Sweeting

100% US made? Where do those NSK bearings come from? They come from Japan. I want more US made products, but don’t (deleted) us on the 100% part.

Bobby Sweeting

6 years ago

Reply to Dayno

Haha, yes, I apologize. When I said 100% I meant hubs (the parts we machine) and rims. Of course the bearings are from Japan, and the Sapim spokes are from Belgium. What do you think that amount to, maybe 92.7% by weight?

Colin

6 years ago

Reply to Bobby Sweeting

Bobby, you’re a legend.

Steve

6 years ago

Any plans for a Sram XD driver?

Bobby Sweeting

6 years ago

Reply to Steve

It’s actually being cut right now! Should be available by the end of this month, with an official launch at Interbike. We have quite a few new products to be released this Fall — keep an eye out for them!

Steve

6 years ago

Reply to Bobby Sweeting

Great!

extraspeed

6 years ago

Do all of the different color options come with the same feature of binding up whenever I sprint? So glad I was able to sell my Alto wheels to a triathlete who never had to get out of the saddle!

Bobby Sweeting

6 years ago

Reply to extraspeed

Hmm, I would definitely want to know more about this wheel set! Some of our earlier sets used a stainless steel sleeve washer in the freehub and it wore down over time if proper maintenance wasn’t done. If this happened on your set then it would allow the freehub to rock slightly and make contact with the ratchet ring. We’ve since switched to a hardened steel sleeve and completely eliminated the chance of this happening, whether maintenance is performed or not! I wish you would have contacted us about this instead of selling the wheels, it would have been a very simple fix!

Brent

6 years ago

Hi Bobby,
Any option to have the hubs per separate?
thanks

Bobby Sweeting

6 years ago

Reply to Brent

Of course! We have custom builders all over the country who source our rims and hubs individually. Please check out the dealer page on our website to find one near you. If you don’t have a custom builder close by then please shoot us an email and we’ll find a way to get you exactly what you need!

Matt

6 years ago

I was introduced to the carbon wheels from Fastrack Santa Barbara whom is a huge advocate. I then and went and did a search on this site for all the discussions. I really like how Bobby answers all the questions and how well thought out these wheel systems are combined with unsurpassed stiffness. Great product.

Bobby Sweeting

6 years ago

Reply to Matt

That’s very nice of you, Matt, thanks! Dave and the guys at Fastrack have been awesome, it’s a pleasure to work with them. Have a great weekend!

Tim

6 years ago

How many points of engagement does the rear hub have?

Bobby Sweeting

6 years ago

Reply to Tim

We have a 48 tooth internal ratchet ring and a 4 pawl design, which includes 3 individual teeth cut into each pawl. They’re leaf spring actuated. This provides super fast engagement and with extra surface area for a security under load, so there’s no risk of slipping. You can check out the freehub on the accessories page of our website, there are some good photos of the engagement system!

Eric Moss

6 years ago

I know it’s not color-related, but I was wondering if 28h drillings were waiting in the wings. I was *this* close to buying these front hubs, but really want/need 28 or more. Maybe the next wheelset I build?