The middle portion of a bicycle wheel is a nucleus. It consists of an axle, a hub shell and bearings. Usually, the hub shell has two machined metal flanges to which it is possible to mount spokes.
The hub is the core component of the wheels of your bike (front and rear), which attaches through the spokes to the wheel’s rim and to which the axle is mounted, allowing the wheel to rotate on two sets of bearings freely.