This year at Sea Otter the Hive showed two new products from their e.thirteen brand including a lightweight LG1 TR ‘trail’ chainguide and branded cross-country and trail hubs featuring the Chub hub ‘large flange’ design.
A little background before we dive into the new product details: the Hive is an engineering and brand collective made up of four owners, two of which are engineers, and four brands — Chub, e.thirteen, Formula and Revl. The company is spread out between multiple locations in California and has manufacturing (and design) in Taichung, Taiwan.
The group was established in 2008 as a distributor for Formula brakes and Hive designed products bearing the Chub and Revl brand names. In June of last year, they acquired e.thirteen.
LG1 TR 'trail' guide
The LG1 TR is the latest single ring guide from e.thirteen, which is specifically designed for those wishing to run a single ring on a lightweight trail bike.
The new guide weighs just 118g — 51g lighter than the LG1 — and lighter than most front derailleurs alone. The low weight is derived via a lightweight 6061-T6 frame and lack of any sort of bash protection.
The new LG1 Trail weighs just 118g, less than most derilleurs
The guide accommodates chainrings ranging from 33- to 38-teeth and fits ISCG ’05, ISCG Old mounts or can be bottom bracket mounted. The lower arm offers three adjustable mounting positions to best fit today’s multi-link suspension systems.
It will be available in black or white for US$129 in July.
e.thirteen XC and AM hubs
Large hub flanges equate to shorter spokes, which build stiffer, more durable wheels. This is the main tenant of the Chub hub design, which was created by Joe Graney, the current engineering director at Santa Cruz bikes. He studied the influence of flange size in regards to wheel strength, which led to the creation of Chub Hubs, according to Chris Costello of the Hive. 'Back in the day,' Graney made the first Chub fixed gear hubs in his garage, but since sold off the brand name and concept, which are now owned and utilized by the Hive.
The Hive showed their new e.thirteen branded XC and AM hubs at Sea Otter. The new hubs use Chub design tenants, but are ultimately the work of Hive co-owner and engineer, George Dubois.
e.thirteen's new mountain hub range
From this point, the Chub design will fly under the e.thirteen brand name when designed for mountain bikes. The Hive, however, will continue to use the Chub name for their single speed and fixed gear hubs.
The new cross-country hubs feature full 6061 alloy hub bodies and flanges. The front hub weighs 165g and is 9mm and 15mm compatible, while the rear is 9mm/135mm, 12mm/135mm, and 12mm/142mm compatible at 295g. The flanges are available drilled with 24 or 32 spoke holes and compatible with 6-bolt IS rotors.
The all-mountain hubs feature larger 6061 flanges mated to uni-directional carbon shells. The front hub weighs 180g and is either 100mm/15mm or 110mm/20mm through axle compatible. The rear hub uses the same alloy-carbon construction is compatible with 135mm QR and through axles as well as 12mm/142mm and weighs 350g. Spoke counts for the AM hubs are either 28 or 32 hole. Both XC and AM rear hubs feature 3-pawl internal mechanisms with 6º engagement.
e.thirteen has yet to set a price for the new hubs, which they say will be available from mid-summer.
