Looking to do a new 29er wheel build.

Which hubs would people go for out of these two.

Just had some Mavics which were nice but neded lots of looking after

Want something thats bomb proof – the noise of the hopes always puts me off a bit but not sure how the new Pro 4s are?

240s 🙂

The 350s are good but they do have less good bearings than the 240s as standard. That’s not the end of the world since obviously you can replace them when they need done, but you may find they need attention a little earlier than is entirely cool. OTOH even then the bearing life is equivalent to Hope ime. The pro 4 may have upped their game there but tbh, I doubt it.

I’m still a big fan of used DT240s. They’re light, reliable and longlived- well proven as a downhill hub, and better sealed than most. You can often pick up a 26er wheelset for less than the price of a set of hubs, which is ridiculous. The only thing to watch out for is, ironically, because they’re so longlived there’s still a bunch of really ancient hubs out there that aren’t 15mm compatible, and likewise rears that pre-date 12mm bolt-throughs and need a new axle. DT parts, endcaps etc unfortunately ain’t cheap.

EX1750 wheels are a safe bet, as battered as you can find.

I recently got a set of crest rims built onto pro4 hubs nice light & the free hub isn’t as clicky or loud as the pro2s

If you don’t like the sound of the hope hubs then just stick a bit more grease in. Mine stay deadly silent for months. I like the sound of the hopes on my other bikes but but also like to just hear the sound of the tyres on the dirt on my nomad.

I recently got a set of crest rims built onto pro4 hubs nice light & the free hub isn’t as clicky or loud as the pro2s

I think it depends on the assembly – mine are the noisiest Hopes Ive had for a while!

Thats the thing for me. I loved my old pro 2s and i know some people like the sound. I just found them too loud !

Anyone else using the pro4 and can let me know how loud they are compared to pro 2’s

Like the sound of getting some bargain DT 240s though !

As andysredmini says just stick more grease around the pawls but not too much that the springs won’t make the pawls engage.

I’ve heard Pro 2 hubs that are like football rattles and others that are virtually silent. Mine are about halfway along the scale and don’t really bother me.

I don’t know what tools DT hubs need for servicing but if you’ve already got tools for one particular manufacturer’s hubs then I’d stick with them. Unless of course you apply the N+1 rule to tools as well 😀

Recently had a pair of DT 350 Straight pull’s built onto EX471’s (27.5 & 26) and am really happy with them. The lack of noise, compared to a Hope, is a little weird at 1st but I now really like the silence especially when on tracks that are quite (noise-wise).
Quality of the hubs is very good and built into a really nice, strong but light wheelset. Had the old Pro3 AM4’s on Flows before and, even going bigger on the rim, I’ve saved a fair chunk of weight too.

I wouldn’t trust anything DT swiss made after the hubs that I had on the wheels that came with the Spark.
Pile of crap and useless for British weather and riding.
Hope every time.

mrmoosehead – you probably had the old Onyx type hubs – they were not a high point in DT’s history, and pretty common as an OEM hub. Thankfully they’ve gone, and none of the current line up are similar. All simple and rebuildable.

350 and 240 models with the star ratchet free hub are better sealed and more reliable than Hope – I’ve used them all, and always go for DT now.

For a 29er rim for trail riding would you guys go 28 hole or 32 hole?

For the sake of the weight of 8 spokes, I’d go 32H. In the event of a snapped spoke, a higher spoke-count wheel will hold its shape better.

I’ve had the DT240s for a year and they are silent, light and spin really well. I did need to change the bearings in the rear and that was not without a certain amount of swearing. Not sure if the 350 are the same, but the 240s need a special tool and a fair amount of mechanical savagery to remove them. So my mate tells me, I never got as far as actually doing it myself!

New wheels are on hope-4s. I quite like the click but I REALLY like the way they’re easy to fix and have great warranty.

I bought a pair of DT 350’s approx 18 months ago and I’ve done nothing with them other than ride. I had reason to true the wheels recently, and they still feel like new. After being a hope user for 15 years or so, I’m pretty impressed. It’s not that Hope are bad, it’s just that DT are better. AFAICT, the big difference for the bearings seems to be the double lipped non contact shield on the axle adapters. Being a curious sort, I prised aseal off the bearing and the grease was still clean. You can’t say that of hopes after 18months.

The DT350s aren’t perfect though. AFAIR, 350s need to knock a bearing out to change the axle, and the stock star drive ratchet can be a little slow in trialsy scenarios – the newer hopes are certainly quicker in this regard.

All the blurb I’ve ever read suggests that the guts of a 350 are identical to 240s and that it’s only the hub shell that’s machined to within an inch of its life in switzerland. Not sure where Northwinds info about lesser bearings comes from.

I like both the Hopes and DTs, happy with either. 240s, 350s, pro4s – I would say you’re getting what you pay for. All good hubs for their relative prices. On a 29er I would go 32H to gain the stiffness back, on 27.5 28 is more than enough, those rims are stiff!

OP – for the price of those rims from Germany I would expect that you could get them for the same money in the UK once you include postage. Its not _that_ cheap.

@Scienceofficer you’re half right – The freehub runs the same bearings (and freehub infact) but the shell of the main hub body is different on the 240 to the 350, as are the axle and axle bearings (Stainless vs. ‘regular’). Also the 240 runs the 36T ratchet. So if you:

Replace the 350 bearings with stainless ones when they wear out.
Upgrade to the 36T ratchet

Then its a bit of machining on the axle and body to save weight that you’re different AFAIK. I think all other parts are common.

Ah, ta. Goes a little more of the way to explain the outrageous price difference!

hmmm… sort of! I reckon a competent lathe operator would take 30 seconds to make the axle mod, and the bearings are about £20 more a pair RRP I think, cheaper if not official DT ones. That leaves you only the hub body! Not sure what the weight difference of that is. Maybe one day I will weigh the axles to figure that one out.