Review: Robert Axle Project Drive Thru Dummy Hub
(2021) It’s that time of year in the Bucks County hills - sure it’s spring and pollen has dropped a sheet of yellow on everything. It even blows in clouds when the wind blows. What I am referring to is the brief manure season for local farmers. They squirt the pungent slurry down rows of yellow corn stalks snapped off from last season. After successfully forcing locals to slam their windows shut on perfectly wonderful days, they apathetically jump in front of traffic and move on to the next field. How can you find them? Follow the brown marks on roadways. It’s that time of year in Bucks County, where riders get the bucket of suds out to get cow and horse poo off the bike despite not owning either animal.
Cleaning a road bike has become extremely convenient in the past few years. Sealed bearings and hubs mean the bike can be sudsed up, agitated with fabric, and hosed off. Minimal lubrication and pasting is the bike cleaning norm. It can get easier still, and we have been using our Robert Axle Project Drive Thru Dummy Hub to make bike cleaning all the more easier. Robert Axle Project, the leader in threaded axles, even features a simple dummy hub for drivetrain cleaning or separate wheel focus.
This two part tool needs hardly any explanation. Once removed from the packaging, the dummy axle slides into the dummy hub with minimal tolerance. Both pieces go together in a satisfying union. Once the rear wheel is removed from the bike, the Dummy Hub can be threaded into place with the chain resting in the Dummy Hub’s canal. This allows free spinning cranks and full use of gears while servicing. It doesn’t get easier than that. It’s hard to choose a favorite aspect of the Dummy Hub, but single hand usage is difficult to top.
Headed into the stand, the Drive Thru Dummy Hub goes on single-handedly. The Dummy Hub reacts to gear shifts by sliding back and forth on the axle.
Prior to going into the stand today the bike had a lovely combination on the frame. There was the yellow haze of pollen, the chain lube splatter, tire spray, worm carcasses, and a weird dead fly that could indicate the speed we have been hitting lately. No doubt the speed is from the sparkly clean bike. Removing the rear wheel for cleaning and for ease of access to all the secret spots was made simple by Robert Axle Project’s Drive Thru Dummy Hub. While it’s nice to have in the service course drawer, don’t expect to see us looking for manure tractors to get it out sooner. Sheets of yellow pollen and brown streaks are where we draw the line.
