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Spotted: 13 Speed Phil Wood Hub and Cassette?

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Phil Wood 13 speed hub

So this just happened on Facebook – Phil Wood posted a photo of a hub that to our eyes looks like it is carrying a 13 speed cassette. Is this a sign of things to come? Or perhaps a one off teaser meant to get us excited for Interbike? Start the speculation below…

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36 Comments
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SketchyD
SketchyD
9 years ago

Clearly a 190mm spaced Fatbike hub, disc specific, for a bolt-on horizontal drop-out Campy Seatpost.

Take my money.

Sevo
Sevo
9 years ago

I seem to recall something similar with even more gears years ago. Vapor ware on purpose. But it gets their name out that’s for sure.

Xris
Xris
9 years ago

I’d ride it for kicks. Imagine this. Setting the limit screws on your 11/10sp derailleur for either a hilly day or a flat day. Just turn the screws and away you go!

anonymous
anonymous
9 years ago

Shame it isn’t 14 speed. With a 11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-21-23-25-28-32 cassette I could give up the triple.

DT
DT
9 years ago

• 13speeds on 135 O.L.D. hubs first I say •

pdxfixed
pdxfixed
9 years ago

I’m really looking forward to a straight block 11-23 cassette. LIKE REALLY.

Philo
Philo
9 years ago

Why??? Because they can.

Metalhammer
Metalhammer
9 years ago

use chain 11 speeds?

ApeEscape
ApeEscape
9 years ago

This is awesome. You could make a super wide range cluster for a fat bike without huge jumps between ratios. Kudos Phil.

Jim
Jim
9 years ago

For friction shifter?

ononecog
ononecog
9 years ago

all you need is 1

Noah_Deuce
Noah_Deuce
9 years ago

It’s a 222mm spacing rear hub with the first 11 gears shifted via indexing, and the last two via friction…or at least that’s what Phil Wood says on their Instagram feed.

azBike Freak
azBike Freak
9 years ago

@ononecog I’m with you. It has 12 gears too many.

Frank
Frank
9 years ago

I’m calling it PhotoShop. Look at gears 5 & 6, (starting from the right side) they appear to be exactly the same.

bc
bc
9 years ago

@Frank, Phil doesn’t need Photoshop, they have Machineshop.

Jesse Edwards
Jesse Edwards
9 years ago

Would it be impossible to make a chain that was narrow enough for this but had really deep links so that there was enough material to maintain strength? I’d only be against more than my 10 speeds that I have now cause I dont want even sh*ttier chains.

Christian
Christian
9 years ago

I’m in high school, a senior. I work at Phil Wood after school and on weekends. I’m here Saturday morning helping sort out production parts. They let me ride the bike (as long as I didn’t crash it). It’s a 222mm wide 12mm-thru-axle rear hub with 13 awesome gears. Peter at Phil calls it the “Bakers Dozen”.

Terry
Terry
9 years ago

isn’t Campy Super Record supposed to be 12 speed soon? I keep hearing this rumor from lots of diff sources.

CXisFun
CXisFun
9 years ago

@Terry: Since 2015 Super Record is out for 2015, it’s going to be at least a year.

Bryin
Bryin
9 years ago

Oh boy! a 13 speed chain should last, what?, about 500 miles? as if 11 speed was not stupid enough. The bike industry needs to stop designing ways to making more expsensive (oh, look at that) parts and make stuff that lasts more than a season.

No one needs 11,12 or whatever speeds. But the moronic masses will buy whatever the latest gizmo is and deal with whatever stupidity comes with it. Road discs, road tubeless, stupid light carbon frames, electronic shifting, bikes that cost more than motorcycles that are as fast a GP bikes… Interbike should be renamed Stupidbike

MB
MB
9 years ago

At 222mm wide, who says the spacing needs anything but a 10 or 11 spd chain? Maybe they have a derailleur in mind that can be tweaked…

MB
MB
9 years ago

BTW, they have a video of it in action on their FB page, looks like a normal off the shelf chain. I’d be way more concerned with needing a custom frame to slide this thing into.

Duner Isley
Duner Isley
9 years ago

Thinner the chain the stronger it is. An 11 speed chain is superior to all 8/9/10 speeds. Seems counterintuitive.

rupert3k
rupert3k
9 years ago

Kick those nasty front mechs to the kerb where they belong!

Jack
Jack
9 years ago

Chain line would be a nightmare on ordinary roadbike length chainstays but might be okay on the long chainstays that fatbikes have. Still, as many have said, it is a bit irritating that progressively less reliable and practical things are coming out of the “top end” of development. Nothing has equaled the reliability, durability and flexibility of the first Shimano 8 speed drives. (Where youe could easily swap out individual cogs.)

kt
kt
9 years ago

S O P W A M T O S , for you newbies that means, society of people who actually make their own sh!t. Kudos Phil !

anonymous
anonymous
9 years ago

@Bryin

11 speed chains don’t wear faster than 9 speed chains. This is a myth, and people need to stop spreading it. The part of a chain that wears, which is the pin under the pivot and the rollers, has not gotten narrower than 9 speed. Not even significantly narrower than 5 speed. What has gotten narrower are the sideplates, and the part of the pin riveted to the sideplates, which are not what wears on a chain.

In fact there was a test published showing 10 speed chains lasted longer because of improved manufacturing techniques.

Arguably, an 11 speed chain is a little weaker than a 9 speed chain, and if you manage to abuse your equipment, might break more easily. But really, they don’t break under normal use, and I know you don’t put out more watts than sprinters in the pro peloton that use 11 speed chains.

@MB @Jack
It probably works fine for a 1×13. The extremes wouldn’t be worse than cross chaining a double.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
9 years ago

+1 on anonymous’ chain facts.

@Bryin: don’t confuse what you feel like you need with what anyone else decides what they need. It’s very likely you use something that someone else thinks you don’t need.

Andrew O' Shea
Andrew O' Shea
9 years ago

Why do we keep adding gears to the back which adds weight to rolling mass yet keep taking rings away in front. For me its not making sense. Oh lets not forget how thin the chain will have to be now.

Bryin
Bryin
9 years ago

If you think a 11sp chain does not wear faster (I never said anything about strength) then you did not actually ride 7, 8 or 9 speed stuff.

Open mold
Open mold
9 years ago

@bryin

I just removed my 11 spd 1171 chain after 4439 miles on it. The chain wear still measured less than .75 on the park checker. Previous best with ultegra 6600 chains was 2600 miles or so. This experiences squares with my teammates as well. Most of us have found the 11 spd chains lasting close to twice as long as 10 spd.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
9 years ago

“Rolling mass” for a hub and cassette? I think, Andrew, you need to investigate the radius-squared dependence of a hub and cassette’s moment of inertia and realize how small that moment of inertia is.

anonymous
anonymous
9 years ago

@bryin

Somehow I doubt you actually ride 11 speed stuff.

Dylan
Dylan
9 years ago

@Psi Squared, if Andrew meant “unsprung mass” instead of “rolling mass” then that would make a little sense for full suspension MTB applications. But when many “Enduro” tires are pushing 900g, adding 100g to the hub is kinda academic 🙂

This just screams “FAT BIKE” to me…you would have to run such a wide Q-factor for your heels to clear the chainstays that you may as well run big rubber as well. The fat bike guys also seem to love ’boutique’ parts like this that serve no real purpose other than “because we can”;)

MB
MB
9 years ago

Geez, get over it. Buy another chain folks. Simple. They’re pretty cheap nowadays.

I got 2500+ miles out my last 11sp chain and cassette, riding in all sorts of nasty conditions. Keep it clean and keep it lubed. It’s science 😉

Bill
Bill
9 years ago

(deleted)

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