Behind Qvist is a team of three and a spin-off from the Technical University of Dresden. The name comes from the old Swedish and means branch. This is intended to symbolise the founders' love of nature and at the same time the freewheel mechanism is visually reminiscent of the branches and twigs of a pine tree.
The Qvist product range shown so far includes two rear wheel hubs and two front wheel hubs, one for the Boost and once for the non-boost standard.
Qvist hub + freehub: Rear Boost
- Toothed discs CNC milled from hardened high-strength stainless steel
- 17 mm axle
- Stainless steel bearing
- ISO brake disc mount
- Aluminium parts made from 7075-T6
Specifications
- Weight: 295 grammes
- Brake disc mount: 6-hole (ISO)
- Freewheel options: XD, Micro Spline
- Thru axle: 148 x 12 millimetres
- Flange diameter DS & NDS: 54 millimetres
- Made in Germany, assembled in-house in Dresden
Qvist hub - Front Boost
The Boost front hub matches the rear hub because it follows the same design principles. The company founders are always up for a joke and guarantee that this front hub comes without any engagement points and can rotate freely in both directions. Large bearings made of stainless steel are also used here. The disc brake mount is for 6-hole discs. All parts made of aluminium are made of 7075-T6 alloy.
Specifications
- Weight: 140 grammes
- Disc brake mount: ISO (6-hole)
- Available with 28 and 32 holes
- Thru-axle: 110 x 15 millimetres
- Flange diameter on both sides: 54mm
non-Boost: older MTBs, gravel bikes and road bikes
The main difference between Boost and Non-Boost is the width of the axle, which is 142 millimetres at the rear hub. The brake disc mount comes with a centre lock standard.
Specifications
- Weight: 280 grammes
- Disc brake mount: Centrelock
- Available with 24, 28 and 32 spoke holes
- Freewheel options : XDR, HG or N3W
- thru axle: 142mm x 12mm
- Flange diameter: both sides: 54 millimetres
Made in Germany, assembled in-house in Dresden
Front non-Boost
The same stainless steel bearings are used because they are reliable. The only difference is that this front hub will also be available in a version with only 24 spoke holes.
Specifications
- Weight: 115 grammes
- Disc brake mount: Centrelock
- Available with 24, 28 and 32 spoke holes
- Thru axle: 100 x 12 millimetres
- Flange diameter: 45 millimetres on both sides
6 questions for QVIST
BIKE: How did you come up with the idea of developing a freewheel?
Willem Rijper: Roman and Alfred are engineers and passionate cyclists. Or primarily cyclists? Either way, they were not happy with their hubs. Some of them broke. When they switched to hubs with toothed disc freewheels, the problems of short life disappeared. However, this created a new problem: the pressure angle. It was still too large even with the finest-toothed disc. So the two sat down together in search of a solution to the dilemma of meshing points versus durability. At the same time, the hub could not be heavy, which was a real challenge.
What is special about your freewheel?
The special thing about the hub is that our two engineers have managed to find a solution to this dilemma. The hub has a disc with more engagement points than conventional hubs. One disc has 64 teeth. The outer discs are offset by half a tooth, so the total number of engagement points is 128, resulting in a free travel of less than 3 degrees. Your readers may be familiar with idle travel from the past, on children's bikes with coaster brakes. After braking, you first pedalled into the air before generating propulsion. The more technical the terrain, the more important a low pressure angle.
Who is your target group? Who would you like to address with your product?
The technological innovation is particularly relevant in the technical sector. In other words: MTB, BMX, CX, Trail. This has to do with the smaller engagement angles. The more technical the terrain, the more important a direct drive becomes. However, the technology also offers advantages in terms of service life for all other applications due to the load distribution over several surfaces.
You write that as many individual parts as possible should be manufactured in Germany and Europe. What difficulties do you face in doing this?
We primarily see advantages here. The supply chains are more manageable, the quality is easier to control and adapt, it is more sustainable because it saves resources, etc. etc. Only the production of prototypes has so far proved to be more costly. There are some suppliers from Asia who can do this very cheaply at low quantities. Nevertheless, we did not want to do this for the reasons mentioned above. The aim is to have production completely in our own hands in our own factory.
Your freewheel is repairable and can be serviced. Do you need special tools?
We currently only have one procedure for which a tool is required: Bearing disassembly and assembly of the freewheel body. We will also offer this tool, which can be used for both operations. Everything else is tool-free, or you don't need anything that you don't already have if you service your bike yourself.
Do you have any other products in the pipeline?
We have plenty of ideas, but for now we are focussing on the double ratchet system.
Thank you for the nice chat. On behalf of the entire editorial team, I wish you a good start with rich stereo sound :-)
Sandra Schuberth
Editor
