Today I'm writing about Colima's aluminum body hub.
It's pretty amazing in many ways.
↑Here it is. The left flange position is slightly inboard, which is a bit disappointing,
but the extremely exaggerated high-low flange design is really well executed
in correcting spoke tension balance.
Both left and right flanges use butted spokes,
but the spokes used on the freewheel side are a bit special.
The direction spokes pass through the freewheel-side flange
is neither J-bend nor reverse J-bend.
Round spokes don't present a problem, but with aero spokes, they use
a special design where the bend is rotated 90 degrees relative to the flat section.
It's essentially a Colima-exclusive part.
The non-freewheel side uses J-bend spokes, just like a front hub.
Actually, this hub has a serious water-resistance problem—water gets in easily.
A few years ago at the Odaigahara hill climb, someone was racing on a Colima,
and after riding in heavy rain, they left it until the next race (it's a race-day-only bike, not for daily use).
On the morning of the next race, the freewheel body started freewheeling
even when pedaling forward—a real problem.
Normally the freewheel body pawls stay engaged thanks to spring pressure,
but water got into the pawl area and was left sitting for a long time after the race,
so the pawls rusted and stayed retracted, causing the freewheel body to slip forward too.
Colima seems to be aware of this water-resistance issue,
and they came up with this improved hub as a solution:
↑This one.
The Piercing Hub model.
True to its name, it has holes drilled in the hub shell.
The hub shape is
designed so water is easily expelled by centrifugal force as the wheel spins,
and the drilled holes help drain the water. It's a concept of emphasizing drainage over waterproofing—
a pretty bold idea,
but that's just so Colima.
Some versions still use this hub today.
Opinions might be divided, but I like it—this kind of thinking.
Though I should note my opinion is colored by my Colima bias.
It's pretty amazing in many ways.
↑Here it is. The left flange position is slightly inboard, which is a bit disappointing,
but the extremely exaggerated high-low flange design is really well executed
in correcting spoke tension balance.
Both left and right flanges use butted spokes,
but the spokes used on the freewheel side are a bit special.
The direction spokes pass through the freewheel-side flange
is neither J-bend nor reverse J-bend.
Round spokes don't present a problem, but with aero spokes, they use
a special design where the bend is rotated 90 degrees relative to the flat section.
It's essentially a Colima-exclusive part.
The non-freewheel side uses J-bend spokes, just like a front hub.
Actually, this hub has a serious water-resistance problem—water gets in easily.
A few years ago at the Odaigahara hill climb, someone was racing on a Colima,
and after riding in heavy rain, they left it until the next race (it's a race-day-only bike, not for daily use).
On the morning of the next race, the freewheel body started freewheeling
even when pedaling forward—a real problem.
Normally the freewheel body pawls stay engaged thanks to spring pressure,
but water got into the pawl area and was left sitting for a long time after the race,
so the pawls rusted and stayed retracted, causing the freewheel body to slip forward too.
Colima seems to be aware of this water-resistance issue,
and they came up with this improved hub as a solution:
↑This one.
The Piercing Hub model.
True to its name, it has holes drilled in the hub shell.
The hub shape is
designed so water is easily expelled by centrifugal force as the wheel spins,
and the drilled holes help drain the water. It's a concept of emphasizing drainage over waterproofing—
a pretty bold idea,
but that's just so Colima.
Some versions still use this hub today.
Opinions might be divided, but I like it—this kind of thinking.
Though I should note my opinion is colored by my Colima bias.