I'm thinking of buying some hubs for my Bantam. I know Alan Whitton does some but others are also available. I'd love to hear peoples comments and suggestions as to the pro's and con's of each. For example, I understand the Whitton hubs require over size brake shoes. Prices would be good too.

I've got some of Alan Whitton's hubs, and they take standard, not oversize cub shoes.

Is your inbox full, tried to send you a PM?

Sorry. Yes it was full but should be space now

The reason for buying oversized shoes is to get them machined to fit the hub increasing the area of the lining in contact with the liner to improve braking . Std shoes only use a fraction of the material.

alloy hubs are great.and machining linings to fit is a winning idea.. consider keeping it real.. the originals..machine down the shoes just the same and off you go..do alloy hubs stop you putting your feet down..only tie wraps on your boots can do that!

Totalshell
How very dare you make such a suggestion,
don't you realise this is a fashion driven industry and any man worth his salt would not be seen dead in iron hubs.
 

Brilliant, Charlie
I'm arranging a mortgage right now !!

Totalshell:-
That's the second outrageous suggestion you've made in the last few days.
You'll end up like Richard III (under a car park in Leicester), but I admire your guts.


 

Edited December 1, 201510 yr by sparks2

Going back to the original question, cast iron hubs are usually worn thin and oval. Alloy hubs are about 1/2 kg ligther I would start with seeing what rims are available. Original hubs are 40 spoke, Alloys are usually 36,(although i hear 32 spoke fronts may be available, it is not possible to drill the rear for 32 spokes).

then there is the question of tube or tubeless rear . Personally i think the time will come when tube type tyres will be hard to get hold of. You can put a tube in a tubeless rim if the regs say you have to have a tube.. the only other consideration is the sprocket fixing pattern .. Not all hubs take the standard cub sprocket. Give whitton a ring, or try max heys, his number is on the armac website.

Edited December 1, 201510 yr by alan

This is all a bit old hat... We are currently testing fully enclosed disc brakes using titanium rotors and carbon fibre calipers. No cables,lookalike hydraulic lines and the master cylinder hidden into the lever clamp.

The Amal Concentric has now had its guts removed,it now hides an injector,pressure reg and throttle positon sensor. The ecu controlling the digital ignition on my 410 short stroke rigid hides inside the oil tank,powered by a super capacitor.(Topped up by an AC generator hidden in the mag body)Fuelling is closed loop as soon as the engine is warm,there is a 6 wire UEGO  hidden in the back of the exhaust,this gives feedback to the ecu,obviously as a wideband sensor it is capable of close control of fuel adaptions for max power on snap wide open throttle situations,whilst keeping the throttle response crisp at low revs.

All undergoing daily tests at a secret West Country location.

Hi Guy's

 

 Jon.

 

I have bored out an old concentric and turned down one of the cheapo Mikuni's to fit inside, you can even machine out the concentric bowl to fit the better Mikuni unit inside.

 

It is just like fitting the Bulto ETC, forks into Norton sliders. you can disguise most parts if that is your desire.

 

Don't ever look under one of my tanks, because you will see the wires for the ECU coming out through the spare fuel line.

 

Nearly got copped on that one once. 

 

Then I also made a big mistake by leaving the Aspen fuel in it original can, and was caught pouring this into the tank, I said I had the ethanol in another bottle.

 

To put in so that I was not cheating.

 

Regards Charlie.

Just for fun, when did anybody last weigh a set of alloy hubs against a set of originals?  I mean really weigh, complete with the axle, bearings, brake plate and fixings and shoes?  When we did it years ago with standard Tiger Cub components against the fashionable at that time, Rickman alloys - the Cub was far lighter................

I think Paul Jackson did it a while ago and the difference was negligible.

I weighed my large original 1969 Cota 247 front hub against the later smaller hub, difference negligible, looks neater though.

The British Hub Company full width alloy rear, is heavy though when compared to it's contempories - due to cush drive arrangement.

Considering that aluminium is 1/3 the density of iron, there is obviously a lot more material in the rickman conical hub compared to the cub cotton reel. i guess they did it to get better brakes. Comparing the similar geometry cub hubs, there is a weight saving for the aluminium version but not as much as you would first imagine as some of the sections especially around the brake drum are thickened up to compensate for the weaker material.

Apart from the bling factor of the aluminium version, getting a 40 spoke rim, and finding an unworn, non -oval cast iron cub hub is getting tricky.

Yes, I fully agree.
And the Rickman hubs would surely have been developed for motocross, (for the Mettisse)
So would be accordingly beefed up.

I just fitted them because i liked them. Sorry