TAIPEI, Taiwan (BRAIN) — Industry veterans Steve Metz and Rafe Schlager are at Taipei Cycle not only to promote a new aftermarket product, but to sell what they see as a valuable technology for both OEs and cyclists.
Partnered with Mike Wang of Taichung-based trading company Dragon Worldwide Logistics, they are here with the SpeedRelease hub, featuring a patented axle system designed for rapid one-handed wheel changes with the security of a through-axle.
On a 9-millimeter road fork with conventional dropouts, for instance, the user installs a threaded adapter with a Loctite patch on the dropout opposite the quick-release. A detent in the axle retains the axle shaft inside the hub, and double-lead threads attach the wheel to the adapter with four and a half turns. Flip up the spring-loaded snap and the wheel is fully secure.
SpeedRelease also has designs for 12-millimeter front road hubs, 142x12 rear road hubs and 142x12 rear mountain hubs. SpeedRelease Inc. sees huge potential for the technology in the road disc market, and the axle system is approved for UCI-sanctioned events, offering the potential to save crucial seconds during wheel changes.
SpeedRelease would prefer to license the technology to OEs to manufacture their own hubs, but absent that will sell to the aftermarket.
“The inside is what we represent. You make the hub; you make the lever,” Metz said. “We want this to benefit everyone.”
