The first step in getting the Edge XC rims going is to gather some wheel building components and get to building these beauties up into a usable set of 29″er wheels. To that end, I contacted American Classic and purchased a sweet set of their new Disc 130 front and Disc 225 hubs to lace to these Edge rims.
These hubs are pretty light. As the names of each suggests, the numbers refer to how much each hub weighs in grams. The rear weighs 225 grams and the front weighs in at 130 grams. That’s not too amazing for a rim brake hub, but for a disc hub it is pretty amazing.
Just about every aspect of these hubs has been scrutinized for weight savings, strength, and performance. The hubs both sport 17mm axles and sealed bearings set as widely as possible within the hub shell. The large hub flanges help with shortening the overall spoke lengths. Those flanges are also milled out, with the exception of the drive side on the rear hub, for light weight. The rear hub features the patented cam actuated 6 pawl engagement system and (new for this year) steel inserts on the free hub body that prevent your cassette cogs from digging into the aluminum splines.
These spline re-inforcements are an ingenious way to alleviate a frustrating problem when it comes time to swap out cassettes, and it only adds a few grams. This feature is found across the entire range of 2009 American Classic hubs.
The quick release levers are a new design for 2009 and are available in a chro-moly shafted version and a titanium shafted version. In terms of a 29″er, the steel quick releases are preferred, especially when we are dealing with disc brakes. The steel versions only add a few grams anyway. Well worth it for our intended application.
Stay tuned for our wheel build up, and then it is on to testing!
October 18, 2008 at 8:22 pm |
Those babies looks so sweet!
October 18, 2008 at 11:28 pm |
Wow, what a neat idea…the little steel inserts. Those hubs look very sweet, more so than I remember.
October 20, 2008 at 2:03 pm |
Do you have a complete package weight on them. Spokes, nipples, hubs, and those really sweet looking carbon rims?
October 20, 2008 at 6:04 pm |
Upsidedownbiker: Eventually, all in due time! 😉
October 21, 2008 at 8:04 am |
I dont know how the new AC hubs stack up against the old ones? However two years ago I had AC’s laced up to stans 355 rims. I has issues with the bearings going out, but I am 6’3″ 195lbs. They were super easy to rebuild and replace bearing’s since all are the same size, but it sucked replacing $60 worth of bearings every six months. Engagment was a bit slow on the old models also. Hopefully they have worked out all the kinks, because they are silly light.
October 21, 2008 at 9:14 am |
Rider Dude:
In late 2005 we changed from Chromium Steel bearing to Stainless versions to help fight the corrosive properties of steel. Also, in late 2006 we introduced a slotted sleeve inside the hub shell. This sleeve is used to preload the bearings from the inside, and the slots make the sleeve act like a spring. This added component increases bearing life and makes the hub easier to adjust. So, yes, we have worked out all issues with the premature wear of the cartridge bearings!
October 22, 2008 at 10:17 am |
Jeremy,
So how hard would it be to upgrade these new hubs to ceramic bearings later down the road by the consumer?
October 24, 2008 at 11:12 pm |
Bearing change is pretty easy. I say this after working on thousands of these hubs. BUT, I do fee it is a simple task. No special tools required, just some basic wrenching and bearing adjustment after wards. Bearing code is 6803. There is a tutorial PDF on http://www.amclassic.com help page that is very easy to follow. Just READ every step!
October 25, 2008 at 1:39 pm |
Thanks Jeremy,
Thinking I might give the AC hubs a go on the new set of wheels planned for spring.
May 9, 2009 at 1:44 pm |
Awesome looking!
I really like them.