Introducing the New: SNAFU Hubs. By McGoo.

Mar 23, 2010

Written by Bart de Jong

Read 12921 times

Back by popular demand for SNAFU riders: wheelsets with new lighter weight and more streamlined front and rear hubs for BMX: Last year's SNAFU Lite and Stout hubs had a good run, but our supplier was unreasonable about things like warranty parts, delivery and pricing. His unwillingness or inability to keep us competitive in this category was my reason for discontinuing them in 2009. Last December we set out to find a new hub supplier, one who understood the demands BMX place on two of the most used and abused parts on a bicycle: the hubs. Enter the King Kong company.

KK was more than willing to create a hub shell and lightweight axle assembly that met our requirements for simplicity, ease of maintenance and light weight. The one-piece sealed bearing dust covers and outside lock nuts on our new front hub are machined from aluminum, and feature rubber O-rings that seal tightly around the polished bearing flange on the standard 10mm axle. Why a solid 10mm axle and not male bolts that screw into an internal bearing spacer inside the hub? The simple answer is, I'm old-school, and I like the smaller diameter and radiused flange shape of low-flange hubs. The shape of our new front hub is reminiscent of classic Campy and Shimano low-flange road hubs from the '70s, and to my eyes that's a good thing.

The new rear hub. One-piece hardened chromoly driver in 9- and 11-tooth sizes? Check. Smooth radiused hub shell with machined spoke head recesses on the non-drive side as seen on our Stout hub? Check. Sealed bearings? Of course. Here's what you can't see in the photo: the 14mm axle is actually hollow, and houses a 10mm OD internal rod on which the bearings and races install. Reason: 10mm axle guts allow us to use bigger-diameter bearings for smoother rolling and greater strength. Because our bearings are bigger, we can use less of them (3 instead of four), which saves weight. Good idea, King Kong. Axle nuts on both front and rear are 17mm CNC'ed steel variety with integrated flanges for better tightening and extra strength.

I didn't get my hands on our new hubs before these wheels were laced up, so of course I can't share specs like final weight. Suffice to say they are much lighter and more reliable than the Stout and Lite SNAFU hubs they replace. That's because we've trimmed the flange heights to a reasonable minimum, and we've smoothed out all unnecessary material on the hub shells: no sharp edges, no high-tech styling.

Look for new lighter, stronger and lower cost SNAFU wheelsets at your dealer this summer.

www.snafubmx.com