Some interesting news this afternoon from Superstar Components as they announce they will now manufacture their hubs in-house in the UK.
Better know for being a ‘buy it in Asia, sell it in the UK’ setup, Superstar Components have been steadily growing their ability to make their gear in house in the UK.
For the first time, Superstar Components are now making hubs at their factory in Lincoln. For now, they’ll produce The V6 MTB Hub and the Road 2 Road Hub in-house and can lace them into wheelsets.
Next year, they’ll produce more options with “a super light and high tech range for people who want the best performance and a budget lineup at a price which will make even cheap imported rubbish look expensive”. They reckon, if all goes to plan, they’ll sell 10,000 wheelsets in 2019!
Whilst making a few hubs in the UK might not sound like much, it’s actually reasonably rare and is typically only done by small scale, boutique brands (the sort of which you’d see at Bespoke) or the big dogs at Hope. Superstar reckon that they’ve spent a year getting their design and process right. They’ve spent the last 12 months designing, prototyping, testing and re-testing to get it nailed.
The new process means that the hubs are almost 100% British. They’re milled out of billet in lincoln “gently shaving away excess material to achieve the optimum balance between performance, weight and reliability, while maintaining a sharp modern look”.
They’re then anodised in the UK and assembled with freehubs (also made by Superstar) and engagement rings and Pawls (made in Leicester) back at HQ in Lincoln. The only bit that isn’t UK made, we’re told, is the bearings which come from SKF in Sweden.
The V6 MTB Hub
Superstar’s “flagship” mountain bike hub has 60mm flanges and a 17mm axle. It has interchangeable end caps, a 54 tooth engagement ring, 6 pawls and SKF bearings.
They’re £129.99 for a rear hub and £49.99 for a front. Wheelsets are from £299.99.
FIT: Standard or Boost
SIZES: Rear – 148x12mm, QR 141mm, Front –
12mm, 15mm/Boost, QR*
MATERIALS: 7075 T6 Aluminium
HOLES: 24, 28, 32 or 36
BEARINGS: SKF custom sealed bearing
INTERNALS: 6 pawl, 54T freehub
FREEHUB: Shimano, Sram XD/XDR
WEIGHT: 330g rear, 190g front
