Fat bikes use big tires to absorb shock loadings from intense, off-road adventures. Riders love to push them to the limits in ice, snow and mud, and because frame sizes are bigger to accommodate those fat, chunky, tires, the axles and bearings have to be wider too, which increases torsional loading on the hubs. Revv’s forged, CNC machined fat bike hubs are optimized to meet all these engineering challenges!
Why is it hard to make fat bike hubs?
When you think about it, it’s easy to see why making rugged, high performance fat bike hubs is a real challenge for most manufacturers. High loadings, wider axles and harsh working conditions are not kind to traditional billet and tube hub styles. This is a challenge that Revv is in a really good position to solve, however, because our innovative forged and CNC machined hub engineering is both heavy duty and durable.
Explainer: why do we need to make fat bikes?
The fat bike market is one of the most rapidly expanding markets for bike manufacturing, with a forecast annual growth of 8%, so it’s a good market for global brands. People are taking advantage of the damping effect of fat bike designs to use them on roads and not just in snow or sand because they give a very smooth ride in all conditions. There is also research to indicate that the exercise benefits of fat bikes are the same regardless of what type of road surface you are riding on.
The first engineering challenge that we have to meet to make better fat bike hubs is to ensure that the hub is stiff enough and strong enough to absorb the additional loadings created by off-road riding with only the tires to absorb impacts and shocks. Tires provide some damping of impacts but tend to bounce over objects rather than conforming to them.
Don’t fat bike tires absorb a lot of shock?
People often imagine that the purpose of fat tires is to be a substitute for full suspension, but that simply isn’t true. Fat tires give improved grip and smooth out the ride on rough surfaces, but do not have the damping and rebound characteristics of engineered suspension. There are good reasons why automobiles have tires and suspension! Tires are mainly for traction, suspension is there to absorb sudden changes in the road surface.
Do tires really make that much difference to hub stresses?
Bike tire characteristics change significantly with changes in wheel diameter and tire width, and the wider, heavier, tires on fat bikes create higher gyroscopic forces than are normally encountered with narrower tires. When you combine this feature with a lack of suspension, you actually increase both the impact loading and twisting forces on the bike hub compared to a bike with narrower tires.
What are 4 exceptional features of Revv fat bike hubs?
- Forged, CNC machined hubs
- Optimized spoke angles
- High strength bearings and axles
- Responsive Revv SRS ratchet system
How does fat bike hub width affect spoke engineering?
The wider hubs of fat bikes change the spoke insertion angles, making it imperative that the set up is perfect. That’s why Revv fat bike hubs are precision engineered with 32 holes for J-bend spokes to make it as easy as possible to get optimum spoke tension without distortion to withstand every bump and jump of any fat bike ride.
Revv fat bike hubs solve the engineering challenge of fatter tires
At Revv we solve the engineering challenges created by fat bikes at all levels. Starting with the structural demands, we manufacture our fat bike hubs by CNC machining of precision forged blanks to eliminate the structural weaknesses of cast billet or tubular construction methods. A 32 spoke design is integral to maintaining wheel stability and transferring force evenly through the hub.
Our patented SRS ratchet hub ensures smooth, efficient power transmission. We use our experience in road bike, gravel bike and MTB hub design to ensure our fat bike hubs continue to demonstrate the excellence and reliability of all our high performance hub designs.
Revv fat bike hubs – at a glance
Revv front fat bike hubs feature a durable, modern, 15mm front axle, and a high count of 32 J-bend spokes for increased stability and strength.
- Hole Count: 32
- Front Axle: 15 x 150mm
- Style: J-Bend
- Disk Brake: Center Lock
Our rear fat bike hubs have the same optimized J-bend spoke strength, and both front and rear hubs have forged, CNC machined alloy bodies that maximize strength without excessive weight.
- Hole Count: 32
- Rear Axle: 12 x 97mm
- Style: J-Bend
- Disk Brake: Center Lock
Options for Shimano HG, Shimano Micro Spline & SRAM XDR cassette styles.
The 3.75-degree engagement angle of our patented SRS hub pawls delivers the optimal balance of responsiveness with low friction. Our fat bike hubs are a scaled-up and strengthened version of the classic Revv road bike hub to improve resistance to fat bike specific side-loadings and impacts. The Revv fat bike hub is forged and CNC machined to exacting quality standards like every other Revv bike hub.
Revv fat bike hubs deliver instant power and smooth freewheeling on and off road, in the wet, snow, or sand, or on the daily commute. We have road tested our hubs for over 8,000km without any failures. Contact us to discuss how a Revv fat bike hub can be made part of your bike design, increasing performance and improving customer satisfaction with your brand.
