Tuesday, January 4, 2011

My Bullseye hubset...

In 1995 the team I was racing for at the time, Team Xtreme, held an intrasquad time trial series, two flat and two mountainous courses during the year. I think the two flat ones were held at the Rose Bowl, the others being up the hills of Griffith Park, and Big Santa Anita Canyon. Anyway, I somehow found myself tied for first with best overall time, and was recipient of a new set of Bullseye hubs. Bullseye was a sponsor that year and put up at least a couple of these sets for us.

After a while I found myself in need of a new rear wheel, and since I had a hub sitting around, I used it for the build. The build was completed by Steve Lubanski at Open Road Bike Shop in Pasadena, and while I don't remember too much about the wheel, I think it spun fast and free while I had it. I have read some forum posts complaining about noise, but do not remember that being a problem with mine. Eventually, I suppose that rear hub was sold along with whatever bike it was on, but I have kept the front one ever since. Like a kind of trophy, it sits on a shelf; I can't imagine using it to build up a wheel, but I sometimes think of doing something artsy with it - I don't know what.

Bullseye began manufacturing bicycle parts in the 1970s, and continue doing so to this day. I believe the company experienced steady growth through the 1990s when the company was led by founder Roger Durham, and for the past few years have been attempting something of a resurgence under the design direction of Steven Jackson. The company was well known in the BMX world for a long time, but also became popular on the road and in the mountains with a line of components ranging from hubs to pedals, cranks and rear derailleur pulleys (I think I still have a set of red aluminum pulleys around somewhere). bmxultra.com interviewed Jackson a couple years ago, the interview has some good info on the company, and can be read here. You can find additional info scattered around the web, on forums and other sites if you search. Unfortunately, the company website seems to be under construction, so there is not much info there.

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