I'm toying with treating myself to some new wheels (my Deore freehub's dying for the 3rd time in ~18months). Hope hubs seem a popular choice, but looking on their site there's a billion and one options (well 22). I know I need 6 bolt ones and Quick Release, but the other options mean nothing to me.

– 28H, 32H, 36H??? Presumably the number of spoke holes, but why would I want one over the other?
– unmentioned mm, 135mm, 150mm??? I guess the larger you get the more rugged they are, but what's best for general off-road trails/bridleways/forests with the occasional drop off?

All help much appreciated.

Cheers,

Verses

you need 32h 135mm unless you know why you want anything else

28 h uses fewer spokes, lighter, intended for racing and XC work I reckon
36h uses more spokes to provide extra strength

150mm is a wider spacing at the back to allow the dishing to be the same on both side of the wheel and again improve the strength. If your frame is 150mm you'll know about it, if you're not sure it's the standard 135mm

32h hubs are what most people use, a good compromise between weight and strength. 36s are stronger but heavier, 28s are lighter and probably best kept for racers

The width of the hub (135/150) is goverened by your bike. Most MTBs are 135 axle width, 150s are for DH and FR bikes.

32h will probably be just fine for your intended use. I'm no lightweight and 32h hubs/rims (Mavic 717s) are just fine for my riding 🙂

The more spokes the heavier duty a wheel you can build, the less spokes the lighter your wheel will be. Simple.

135mm – 150mm is the axel spacing most modern bike frames will be be spaced for 135mm.

135mm/150mm is the hub width. What's your frame? 95% of bikes (so the standard) will be 135mm.

A well-built 32H (yes, spokes) wheel is perfectly strong for most trail riding.

Thanks for the pointers 🙂 I'll pop in the LBS at lunchtime and melt my plastic.