The new Supreme cassette hub from WeThePeople is a bit of an interesting innovation with its new freehub design that inverts the cassette driver internals to overcome some typical hub limitations and add more flexibility. By putting the pawls inside the hub (instead of on the cassette body), and in a symmetric configuration that can be flipped around, you can reconfigure it for a lefthand drive setup with no other part swaps.
By putting the pawls in the larger diameter hubshell, WeThePeople say they had room to double the number pawls to 6. That makes engagement stronger and more secure, plus it cuts stress on the pawls and return springs which will make the hubs last a lot longer. It also makes it easier to switch out the more simple driver body, which in turn means that it is easier and cheaper to swap in different size driver cogs.
The symmetrical layout of the pawls also means that it is easy to switch them around in the other direction to make the hub freewheel backwards for a lefthand drive setup, suing the same driver cog. All you need to do is pop out the 6 pawls and their springs, and stick them back into the hub pointing the other way. And voila, lefthand drive. Since the ratchet on the cassette driver uses a square tooth design, you just slide it back on and roll away in the opposite direction.
The driver itself uses a wide German-made IGUS bushing instead of a bearing, which WeThePeople claims delivers comparable resistance and more durability than many other solutions, while letting them stick with a large 17mm axle all the way for exceptional strength, especially when paired with pegs. While the cog slides on a bushing the hub itself spins on 3 bearings, with 2 on the non-driveside, for better longevity and smoother rolling over time and abuse.
In addition to boosting strength with the large diameter axle, it now gets counterintuitively smaller 12mm bolts that should add even more strength to the hub/peg connection. That is because combining the 12mm bolt (with the standard 14mm bolt shoulders for the dropout) in the 17mm axle there is actually more material to thread into yielding a more durable connection.
The new 391g Supreme cassette hub and its matching 262g Supreme front hub are both available now from your local shop or WeThePeople dealer, with the rear hub retailing for $180/230€. The both are available in either black ano or polished silver finishes
