English Cycles in Oregon develop in-house aero hubs

British engineer Rob English who has been based in Oregon, USA for five years and has so far based his reputation on building frames has branched out into component making and launched his own hubs.

An avid time-triallist, English developed the front hub for his own use over two years, in particular to be as narrow as possible to fit within standard 100mm forks for an aerodynamic advantage with aerofoil-section end caps to smooth the air between fork and hub flanges.

According to English, "With a deep section rim the spoke bracing angle is similar to a shallow rim on a regular hub, giving a wheel with good lateral stiffness, but a small frontal area for aerodynamic efficiency." The hubs are machined to English's design by C4 in California.

English recommends Enve 6.7 carbon tubular rims which have 60mm profiles at the front and 70mm at the rear.

The complete wheels are stiff and claimed to be strong enough even for road-racing as well as time-trials and triathlon. English furthermore claims that the rims despite being relatively deep are also relatively unaffected by cross winds in his experience. 

The front hub weighs 120 grams and costs US$225 and the rear for either Shimano/SRAM or Campagnolo 182g / $450.

Complete wheels with the Enve rims and Sapim CX straight-pull spokes weigh 1,435 grams and sell for US$2,600 or £1,950.

The titanium-skewered quick releases with carbon and aluminium levers weigh 44g /pair and cost $95 alone or come included for no extra charge with the complete wheels. 

Details: englishcycles.com