Hubs, hubs, hubs - best choice for function & value? XT vs. Pro II vs. XTR

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Hubs, hubs, hubs - best choice for function & value? XT vs. Pro II vs. XTR

38 posts & 28 voices | Started 2 years ago by Farticus | Latest reply from TheLittlestHobo

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Farticus - Member

Time to get some new wheel sorted out for my 69er project, so a 29er front is needed to run on rigid forks, and I might as well get a matching rear too but 26". So, looking at JRA as I want to go tubeless on both, and Stans rims look sound.

Priced up hubs on Arch rims - for riding around on, not racing, not jumping off stuff, just riding around on in a sort of point-it-and-cling-on-and-hope style, all 13.5 stones of me. Roughly, prices come out at:
XT £300
Pro II £400
XTR £500

All 3 substantially cheaper than DT and CK, which I don't want.

So, what (other than front axle flexibility) justifies £100 premium of Pro II's over XT? And what justifies the hike to XTR?

Opinions please.

Posted 2 years ago #
Dougal - Member

Easy serviceability and awesome warranty.

Posted 2 years ago #
Onzadog - Member

Hope are worth it for the backup/spares and the fact that when they die, pop new bearings in and they're like new. The shimano stuff is good, but once the races have pitted, they're trash.

Posted 2 years ago #
pedalhead - Member

If CK isn't on the menu, I'd go Pro II every time. Much longer intervals between servicing than Shimano cup & cone stuff, albeit a bit more of a faff when it is time to do it. Nice colours too, and British of course if you care about that sort of thing.

Posted 2 years ago #
tombell1989 - Member

XT are pretty heavy hubs and they have never seem well sealed at all. Hope every time I would say. Light, well sealed and as pedalhead said, they are British made,

Posted 2 years ago #
jobbyheid - Member

Pro II's are very noisy, which annoys me.

Also cup and cone is a better system than sealed bearings, just tighten up when bearings get worn instead of paying for new sealed ones.

The ratchet system in the ProII's is a bit low tech too, I know some people who've had longetivity problem with them..

So XT's for me, but buying British is admirable.

Posted 2 years ago #
nickc - Member

Easy serviceability If it all goes to plan, and you don't mind beating the shite out the hub to get the bearings out, and the axle's still straight and awesome warranty. knowing Hope; you'll need it.

I'm kidding (mostly)

Given those choices, TBH it won't make a shed load of difference.

Posted 2 years ago #
mudshark - Member

I'd need some convincing to go XT as deore are only a few grams heavier. Hope for me.

Posted 2 years ago #
jobbyheid - Member

I know you've picked out your rims already, and Stan's rims are lovely..

But I think I'll do the singletrack classic of answering a different question, why not eh?

How about DT240's on 4.2 rims? £380 form Merlin?

DT's freehub mechanism is much better than Hope's (I own ProII's and DT440).. just a thought.

Posted 2 years ago #
renster - Member

Tune?

Posted 2 years ago #
Crag - Member

The new Hope Hoops come in at under £300 for a pair of 26". Not sure if they come factory made in the 29" but got to be worth a question.

For the same price as the XT you've got priced up then there's no question, Hope every time.

http://www.wheelpro.co.uk/

Posted 2 years ago #
nukeproof - Member

XT for me, certainly on the rear (Having just bought a Hope Hoop 20mm front from Wheelpro)...my XT rear developed a little play after over a year of riding: resolved in about 10 minutes with a 5mm hex key and an 18mm cone spanner.

Posted 2 years ago #
jobbyheid - Member

So these DT hubs will be no good, being normal size, sorry for not reading proper,,,, my bad.

Posted 2 years ago #
jobbyheid - Member

I agree with Crag, go for Shimano rear and if you really want a hope, chuck it on the front..

Posted 2 years ago #
mikertroid - Member

Have had an XT on the rear for a while now and it's a P.O.S. compared to my Hope Xcs on my old bike. Just keep on developing play time after time. I've sent them in to a 'proper' mechanic and they didn't stay tight for long.

Crap!

Posted 2 years ago #
AdamM - Member

No point buying anything other than a ProII front hub these days, with the expanding range of fork mountings. Rear wheel, get whatever you like. If the collars and cuffs have to match, then ProII, but Shimano rears are pretty good if you ask me.

Posted 2 years ago #
jonb - Member

I've been thinking the same.

I've had XT hubs on for 4 years and they're starting to wobble regardless of how much tuning I do. Regularly serviced them and they were good.

Rims are bent anyway so will be getting complete new wheels soon.

I've always considered wheels to be complete units and replaced everything when a part breaks. I've been using Mavic 717 rims so by the time the hub dies the rim is looking very worn and damaged anyway.

Have you considered the hope hoops? only olympic and flow rims but prices are about £260. 819 is very similar to the arch but a bit heavier but cheaper, on Merlin you'll get 819 on XT hubs for under £200.

I think I'm going to end up going for the flow hoops, only 50g or so heavier than the 819 and they should last me a long time with a rim that strong!

Posted 2 years ago #
Jimbo - Member

£100 buys a *lot* of grease, bearings and above all, BEER. I'd go for the XTs.

Posted 2 years ago #
snowpaul - Member

I love my DT240s - rather like shimano too for servicability - yet their freehubs dont last me that long vs Hope / DT... PITA re DT rear hub tool to service bearings too...

paul

Posted 2 years ago #
dobo - Member

XT centerlock for cheapness built with sun equalizers, probably under £200, new xt centerlocks are a fair bit lighter than old deores

hope proII if you need axle flexibility and a **** noisy rear hub.

XTR centerlock if you are going to race them

and i wouldnt use JRA for any of these builds as they are so expensive!

Posted 2 years ago #
Farticus - Member

Hmmm.

Just as I thought, divided opinions.

Was thinking of going to Roger at Wheelpro - I've had 5 handbuilt from him in the past - but Hope Hoops only come on 355s / Flows - one is more than I need, the other maybe a bit less? Hence I wanted the Arch.

OK Dobo - where else does 29er size on Stan's rims?

Posted 2 years ago #
glenncampbell - Member

I've had Hope XC Hubs on a set of wheels for 5 years with Mavic 317 rims and only had to have the rear hub serviced 2 months ago - they're excellent, long lasting and very durable. Have XTR centrelocks with DT 4.2d rims on tubeless and they're lovely but quiet. Have had XT hubs on a different wheelset but they didn't last long - they hated winter riding. Then again - there's always Chris King.......

Posted 2 years ago #
Solo - Member

Another vote here for Hope, I've XCs and a Pro 2, all going good. They're competitive weight and cost. Quite durable too and as mentioned earlier in this thread, good range and supply of spares.

Solo.

Posted 2 years ago #
oldgrump08 - Member

XTR/717s handbuilt by lbs for £260. Job's a good un.

Posted 2 years ago #
BadlyWiredDog - Member

Why would you buy a hub which is basically dead when its bearings fail instead of one where you can simply replace the bearings and carry on riding?

Posted 2 years ago #
Dougal - Member

To the people who claim to have XT hubs for a year and have had no work done on them; Do you only ride in some sort of entirely moisture free environment? I stopped running cup-and cone hubs when I got fed up of re-greasing them every few weeks, and rebuilding wheels when the races were worn out after about a year.

To the people struggling to get bearing in and out of hopes; RTFM and get the proper tools. And a vice.

</rant>

Posted 2 years ago #
Farticus - Member

Shimano only dead when the races and pitted, not the bearings which can be replaced? So, with a bit of TLC I'm struggling to see why any of them can't last.

Winter riding is point mind as these will be used all year, about 100 miles a week most of the time.

Had CK before - overrated IMHO.

Leaning towards Hopes, I suppose, but I'd prefer the steel freehub so I can SS it without worrying about knackering it.

There's always Mavics, I guess!

Posted 2 years ago #
cynic-al - Member

Dougal - that seems extreme - I only need to service mine after very wet rides or immersion.

Posted 2 years ago #
Dougal - Member

Dougal - that seems extreme - I only need to service mine after very wet rides or immersion.

I sense the sarcasm here, but that's about once every two weeks in the UK, unless you're a fair weather fairy.

Posted 2 years ago #
dobo - Member

Farticus, Stiff and rutland sell 29er arch rims, maybe they can build them too
Even though BETD and cleecycles dont list 29'rs maybe they can help you
Freeborn seem to do 29'r rims too.
Give em all a call get quotes
or even ask your lbs to build some

Posted 2 years ago #
Farticus - Member

Must look around at those places, dobo. Grafham (Rutland) was my LBS, but having moved to the middle of nowhere I don't really have one now.

Right, decision (for tonight anyway) is to go for Hopes.

Posted 2 years ago #
hungry monkey - Member

i've had XT hubs lasting 3 yrs with only occasional tightening/greasing, and currently got an 8 yr old LX hub which hasn't had anything done to it for 4 years - used every day on a hack bike. the XT was used all year round...

Posted 2 years ago #
MikeWW - Member

Mavic 717 with XT hub about £70 from Merlin-can't go too far wrong. I ride between 70 and 120 miles mainly off road a week and Pro2's are a PIA and don't last.

Posted 2 years ago #
cp - Member

Shimano only dead when the races and pitted, not the bearings which can be replace

it only takes a bit of dirt to get in the hub and you'll start to get damage on the races. You have to replace the balls pretty frequently to avoid getting damage unfortunately. In the first two years of my ownership of hope xc hubs (bought in 2002) i went through about 3 shimano rear hubs. It was only after another 2 years I replaced the bearings on the hope, which made them as new. New balls in one of the shimano ones was actually worse than with worn bearings in - the race was too damaged for new balls to run smoothly.

The front hope is now STILL on its original bearings from 2002... the rear got refurb'd by Hope last year for a grand total of about 29 quid for 4 bearings, new freewheel and postage!!

so... buy shimano, be forever adjusting, cleaning, greasing... miss one and the hubs fubar'd. replace the balls and they 'may' be OK, they may not.

buy hope, have years of pain free ownership, then if you do it yourself, a 30min tops job to replace the bearings, if you post them off, a quick friendly cheap turnaround... and they're as good as new

Posted 2 years ago #
jonb - Member

Has anyone got any comments on the freewheel of Hope hubs. Shimano ones are steel and I've never had any problem running deore steel casettes and singlespeed rings with narrow bases. I've been told that because the hope freewheels are alloy you need to run a casette with an alloy carrier and there are issues with singlespeed rings as they can chew the grooves up.

Posted 2 years ago #
freeridenick - Member

Pro 2s so much better than XT, and I love the sound of the rear hub. My XTs were always coming loose on the cone

Posted 2 years ago #
nigew - Member

What about On One/ DMR hubs
They are very well priced, use cartridge bearings and have served me well.
I find
Shimano Freehub bodys die within 3-6 months and
Hope rears are fairly poor, bearings always seemed to go and cracked two XCs, i havent tried a Pro 11 on the rear.
I ride all year in Calderdale muck and grime

Posted 2 years ago #
TheLittlestHobo - Member

I was a shimano user for many years. Deore/LX & XT. They all ran smoothly untill the 12mths mark and then you got freehub and bearing issues. My experience was that when they worked they were fine but once you had the slightest hint of bearings getting gritty, your hubs were on the 6mth downward slope to death.

I have since moved onto Hope ProII Rear & Hope XC Front. I went XC front because of all the reports of years & years of reliable use and i didnt plan to change my forks in the near future. The XC is light and has been as good as gold. Cant ask for more in the 2yrs i have had it.

The Pro II has had a couple of issues in the 2 yrs. The hub has developed a creak on a couple of occasions and i have taken it to the LBS to be told its just a bit of crap in the hub (Not bearings). Each time 10mins later they have been sorted and it hasnt cost a penny.

Recently my freehub gave in so i decided to have a look inside the hub to learn how it works. I downloaded the video and set to work. The cassette had indeed notched a couple of bits due to the loose rings on the last few cogs of XT cassette, but nothing to major. The freehub came off exactly as per the video and after 20mins of cleaning i had a hub that looked like brand new, inside and out. Turned out the little springs on the pawls had all snapped due to the crap in there. A quick call to hope and they arrived the next day. Freehub went back together as easily as it came apart and i had what felt and rides like a brand new hub.

That would have been impossible with a shimano hub in terms of both cost and time.

Posted 2 years ago #

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