C.P.Odom: I know Velosteel doesn't make the high-flange hubs, but I thought maybe Frankie had some Dutch connection for ppl doing similar drillium high-flange custom jobs
I like to dream big, y'know? The fears I have about Velosteel is that Guy's site (elegantwheels) is only showing 32h, and he put a message up that "resupply is uncertain".
Guy's "competition", coasties.com, only has 32h hubs as well. So, that's scary, for all of us coaster brake enthusiasts. Have you heard anything about US distribution?
Frankie, weird that they're cheaper than Shimano over there. Here, elegantwheels was getting like $50 USD shipped for'm, and coasties was getting like $70. Meanwhile, Shimano cb-e110s sell for a bit less than $20 USD, usually. KT's are ever cheaper. I think Shimanos provide better braking, but the Velosteels coast better and look much nicer. Mostly, I like the threaded driver on the Velosteel. Plus, the cb-e110's press-on flanges scare me a little.... Yeah, as far as I can tell, Velosteel bought the tooling from Favorit, and Favorit bought it from Fichtel & Sachs, and the hub is technically very similar to the old F&S Torpedo singlespeed coaster hub. That same design was found in vintage Sturmey-Archers, Perry hubs, and a few others. I find that the Velosteel hubs are finicky in regards to lubrication--- heavily greased, they don't engage properly, but under-greased, they make noise and braking suffers. I use some oil on the rollers, and grease in the balls.... seems to be the recipe for success, but even still, I feel like I gotta repack the Velosteels too often.....