Introduction

We are a group of MTU students who have partnered with Tech Alum Tony Senger to aid him in developing a patented bicycle hub design. The team for the Fall 2025 semester includes three Mechanical Engineering majors: Carter Elmy, Luke Rosinski, and Kobe Skogmo, as well as one Electrical Engineering Technology major: Austin Kluck.

Overview

The Senger Innovations LLC Clutch Hub is a novel type of hub engagement mechanism designed explicitly for bicycle applications, aiming to reduce the high frictional drag commonly found in other modern hubs on the market. Anthony Senger approached the Velovations Enterprise of Michigan Tech with a patented roller clutch design, seeking assistance in development and testing to bring a new low-friction hub to the bicycle market ultimately. The project saw its initial kick-off in the Spring 2021 semester to break down the hub from its rotational design into a simplified linear model to serve as a proof of concept. We started by creating a multi-body dynamics model in Altair’s HyperWorks MotionView software to complete our simulation. This model was then redesigned for ease of manufacturing and finally transformed into a benchtop-sized physical prototype.

Early Prototyping

In the Fall 2022 semester, the team took the benchtop prototype, which had excessive friction due to manufacturing and design errors, and completely revamped it with many new components and tweaked designs. In the Spring 2022 semester, the final version of the benchtop prototype was professionally recorded by a local production company, MONTE. These videos/benchtop models will serve as a tool for Tony to show to investors and interested parties, helping to explain the technology in the future. The Spring 2022 team also performed structural analysis on multiple different spring configuration options in the radial hub to determine which materials would best suit the application. Our team has also begun developing a DVP&R plan to test future prototypes against the competition. We will be building our own testing fixture that future Voodoo Hubs teams can utilize.

Developing Tests

Between 2023 and 2024, we developed a series of repeatable, quantitative tests that accurately model several key characteristics, including drag, durability, and lifetime, as well as various acoustic analysis methods. LabVIEW was chosen as our program for the life cycle testing. The life cycle test utilizes a disk brake as the resistive force, while a pneumatic piston applies an 80-lb force to simulate a rider pedaling.

The other test is for the sound/drag, this is done by getting the wheel up to a certain RPM and then allowing it to coast down to a stop. During this coast down we capture sound data in two locations, as well as the RPMs.

Initial Prototype and Testing

In 2025, using the fixtures, we have begun testing the Senger Innovation prototype, along with a multitude of other brand-name hubs. Using the gathered information, we can begin to infer the benefits and drawbacks of Anthony Senger’s revolutionary hub.

We first decided to get a baseline of all the hubs in our sound/drag test. Using MATLAB we processed the data from the microphones into SPL vs Speed, we also plotted RPM vs Time, to show the difference in internal drag that each hub has.

Below, we can see that the Senger Innovation hub is significantly quieter than the other hubs, even the Onyx Versper, a market-leading example of an accredited silent hub. Similarly, we can see the Senger Innovation hub spins a significant percentage of the time longer than others when in pure spin-down deceleration, signifying a lack of drag force within the hub.

Additional Notes

All of our team’s developments are centered on the long-term goal of developing a working hub prototype and providing a standard for comparison with Anthony Senger of Senger Innovations LLC.