Stealth is a brand that relatively few cyclists have heard of, yet it has accrued an impressive resume that includes several World Championships and Olympic Medals. Essentially a side project for a machine shop in Southern California, the hubs have gained a loyal following in the BMX world due to the their instant engagement, silent coasting, and reliability.
In addition to BMX hubs, the company also manufactures a line of Mtn and Road hubs. For this year, they’ve updated their road hubs to make them 11 speed compatible, and reshaped the hub shells.
The flanges are now symmetrical, which makes the wheels easier to build. They’ve also moved the flanges outward, because they’re using a wider bearing that lasts longer. They’re also in the process of developing a disc specific road hub, which will be slightly lighter than their existing MTB versions.
All of their mountain, road, and BMX hubs are easily convertible between a number of application specific sizes. They’ve also just finished developing an XD drive for road and mountain hubs which is retrofittable, although price is still TBD.
Also in the works is a new magnesium body and hollow axle for their BMX hubs, which is 3 0z (~85g) lighter than their existing aluminum options. They’ve had a few prototypes out for almost a year under pro level racers and have not seen any failures. Due to the impressive weight savings, they’re also considering doing a magnesium road hubset.
Probably the coolest thing on display at the booth was this stand, which showcased the evolution of Stealth hubs since 1999.
We’re not sure how many athletes were riding Stealth hubs at the first BMX Olympic event, but Stealth riders clinched Gold and Silver at the 2012 Olympics, and at the last worlds – 6 of the 8 finalists were riding Stealth hubs.
Learn more by visiting the Stealth Hubs Website
