Minnesota machining, Enve engineering: inside Wolf Tooth’s first hubs

Wolf Tooth, a Minnesota-based machining company, has entered the hub market with a new line of colorful, customizable options for cyclists. The hubs are available in six colors and come with a range of tooth counts for the ratchet mechanism that controls when the rear hub engages when pedaling.

Enve, another Minnesota-based engineering company, has licensed its INNERDRIVE™ mechanism to Wolf Tooth for use in these new hubs. Enve chose this design after testing competitors' systems and even prototyping its own. The INNERDRIVE™ mechanism features large opposing toothed ratchets that sit over the bearings, reducing stress and prolonging the life of the hub. It also includes a "Perfect Preload" system that adjusts bearing preload via a wave washer, ensuring optimal bearing life and performance.

Wolf Tooth chose INNERDRIVE™ for several reasons, including bearing load/life, robustness of the drive mechanism, performance options, weight, and serviceability. The hubs are machined in-house from 7075-T6 aluminum and come in five colors. They offer different tooth counts for varying ride styles, balancing quicker engagement and reduced drag while coasting.

Compared to Enve's own hubs, Wolf Tooth's new hubs offer color customization, ratchet selection, and Made-in-the-USA production. For Enve, supplying the technology represents a reversal of roles, as the company previously used Mavic's ID360 in its hubs. The licensing agreement with Wolf Tooth is a testament to Enve's confidence in the INNERDRIVE™ mechanism's performance and reliability.