Hi all,

Dose anyone have anything positive or negative to say about Novatec road hubs ?
The are intended as a lightweight build which will do approx 2-3 k per year in all weathers.

Thanks

I built up some novatec mtb hubs a while ago. They have been fine. Did quite a bit of off road winter riding on them and they were fine.Sealing seems ok. I did a bit of research before I bought them. Looks like novatec make hubs for lots and lots of companies ( superstar included , but dont let that put you off!!). If they are cartridge bearings sure they will be fine.

My cyclocross bike came with Novatech hubs, they’ve been used for a year of road, CX racing and offroad stuff and have been absolutely fine. I did conside them for a wheel build, but I was worried about spares availability for the rear hub. They were cheap enough that I could have bought a spare pair of hubs as spare donors. I went for Hopes in the end, I thought I’d get better value over the life of them.

Novatec are a massive OEM for many many companies as well as their own branded ones (which are identical to many of the OEM-supply ones). They make a LOT of hubs. You should be OK.

However, I have a dislike of alu. freehub bodies on anything used for decent mileage or long term use. For road I’m actually a fan of Shimano hubs if you’re happy with 32 spokes.

Great, thanks guys.
I have a pair of campagnolo Eurus wheels but the inability to source a spoke to replace a broken one means they are effectively useless. Thinking of picking up some Novatecs with carbon rims for a 2nd wheelset for the summer.

They won’t do mega miles and the occasional bearing would be fine.

I think I’ll bite the bullett and get them ordered

I would use Novatec quite happily. Much happier than I would be paying for a branded hub which is probably a Novatec anyway.

If you want a name brand hub, make sure you’re looking at hubs from the people who actually make them, eg Hope, Phil Wood, Shimano, etc because otherwise you’re probably buying a Novatec/Joytech hub and paying a premium for the brand logo.

I’m fairly sure that Ambrosio hubs are made by them. I’ve been running them with Open Pros and DT rev spokes for a couple of years without any bother. Fairly light and fairly cheap. Just give alloy nipples a miss for wet weather as they corrode quite easily.

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b0s117p2005

only issue ive had was finding spares

how ever NS hubs from crc are rebadged novatechs and they stock spares for most of their hubs – you just need to idea which bits it is you need , the hair spring round the pawls snapped on mine making it driveless.

Use the 171/172, the bearings are a good size and they’re aren’t too difficul to change.

Was reading a good article by someone on t’interweb about their hubs, though to be fair it probably covers most hubs – the ‘lighter’ ones use smaller bearings which don’t last as long.

I’ve got some Ambrosio branded Novatechs – fairly decent cheapish hubs. Don’t think they are the best sealed in the world but mine drag me through the NE winter weather without a glitch. Replaced the rear bearings this winter for some decent SKF ones, but the wheels do seem a bit ‘dry’ still so I suspect the freehub bearings are on their way out too, but par for the course.

Though I’ve snapped two spokes in the rear wheel in the past season (Rowland built so not my DIY effort) and I’m wondering if it’s the hub flanges. Would probably go for DT 350 hubs next time but don’t think thats a real reflection on the Novatechs, just me having a random illogical worry about the spoke snappage.

All good info. For years I’ve been a fan of DT 240s and American Classic hubs.
Without sounding snobby, this will be my first wheels set built around “budget” hubs.

If a bearing change every few K is my biggest issue – I’m happy to jump in a buy a pair.

I had some open pros on novatec hubs on the road bike I’ve just sold. Almost 2 years year round use and didn’t miss a beat. Would have another set no worries.

I wasn’t impressed with mine, under 1k dry miles before the bearings needed doing. Maybe they were faulty as I do seem to be in the minority, never had an issue with my Fulcrum wheel sets though.

I wasn’t impressed with mine, under 1k dry miles before the bearings needed doing.

You might have been unlucky – I’ve a few thousand km on mine on the original bearings, including plenty of wet rides. The only issue I’ve had is corrosion of the alloy nipples.