Different take on bearings/flange in hubs

[LeonLikesToRock]

Spotted this on some Eurobike coverage and thought I'd post it. Sort of hub flange micro suspension that keeps the hub spinning smoother and also keeps spoke tension away from the bearings. Interesting to see a different take on this and even little things like the spherical cone nut. I wonder if it would be any benefit to BMX bikes and how that flange would look after a couple of grinds.

http://www.gokiso.jp/en/

[Narcoleptic Insomniac]

Looks like it'd be good to soften hard landings but not good for carving. Wouldn't it result in brake run on a road bike?

[LeonLikesToRock]

Suppose it could do but I think it'd be more about road vibration than actual jarring hits so it might not move enough to hit your brakes.

[metalbmxer]

Which discipline of bicycling does this happen the most in where it actually makes a difference? Novel concept nonetheless

[JFax]

I wonder if it would wear out from flexing too much too often on a BMX.

[MEAT]

If it flexes as much as they show it moving, i bet your wheels would be all over the place, rubbing chainstays, forks, etc? Seems a horrible idea when flex can so easily be engineered into a carbon frame?

Does look cool though...

[Mahoney]

I don't see it flexing enough to be a problem... I mean, its only .5mm and on a round surface, it can't really move much. I doubt we'd even notice a difference on a BMX bike honestly.

[weedbix]

Whilst they mention shock absorption first, they are taking tiny elastic deformation of the hubshell super seriously.

http://www.gokiso.jp/en/products/hub_02.html

About 2/3rds of the way down they talk about deformation of the bearings as a consequence of hubshell deformation

If it was on Sheldon Brown's site it'd probably be presented like this:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

[14thStbikes]

So glad to see a bike part discussion... I couldn't just lurk.

[ediotism]

just a few thoughts off the top of my head

1. holy mother of flex - if those novelty flanges made a difference, your wheels would behave like an uncooked taco

2. the same could probably achieved by running slightly lower tension in the spokes, if you have problems of spokes 'pulled' the hub apart like that

3. ever built a wheel? after you laced the spokes and tensioned it up, the first thing you do is put the wheel on the floor sideways, with your hub axle/ bolt resting on a block of wood or something. have you hands on 3 and 9 o'clock of the rim, then press down with your body weight. repeat at  2-and-8, 1-and-7 etc etc, flip the wheel and do the same. you'd hear quite a few pings as the spokes and the hub flange settle properly against each other. this is the point that you re-tighten and then actually true the wheel, and it'll stay true for a long time. when you do that, the spokes leaning against the hub flanges make indents into the flange holes - that is the 'give' that the the flange has, instead of pulling the bearing seat all out of shape. the bearing seat isn't a place that sees a lot of deformation, if at all. unless (4)

4. the manufacturer is so focused on cutting weight on the hub, that the bearing seat and surrounding area just doesn't have enough material to hold itself together. so do you add this extra novelty lip thing, with a fuckton more material and weight (relatively speaking), to deal with the bearing seat issue? or, do you go really crazy, and just add sufficient material to support the bearing seat like a mad man?

5. i wonder if it's cheaper and less weighty to just wrap your hub shell with a jubliee clip next to each flange, a la G-Sport George