Great PSA, thanks cynic-al 🙂

Yeah, those weights quoted above seem to be including QR for the Shimano, but not the Hope, skewing the figures a lot. The 475 quoted previously is still a beefcake though:

That said though, the centerlock are equally stupid, as a cheap centerlock rotor weighs double a cheap 6 bolt.

Singletrackmind . Lbs 1 is bang on the money

Shimano binned the idea for a reason and madison didnt want to know / considered a year acceptable use for a wheel to be scrap

but they’re not high maintenance.

the cheaper-than-deore 475 hubs on my commuter have done over 4000km, often in filthy weather.

i took them apart a couple of weeks ago (1 year service), the ‘old’ grease was still clear. 1 hour and a cup of tea later, the hubs were full of new grease, and running beautifully.

i see no reason why they can’t go 2 years (another 8000km) till their next service.

can you see the selling point in ‘cheap and reliable’ hubs?

And I’ve still got some Hopes from 1997 that get ridden and raced in all kinds of filth, still on their original bearings and are still smooth and have never been touched other than clearing the freehub pawls and springs twice a decade, and when they finally do need new bearings it’ll be a 15min hammer job instead of a messy greasy, spanner wiggling adjustment-fest

can you see the selling point in decent cartridge hubs?

FWIW I also have a few sets of C+C Shimano hubs myself, I’m not a hub evangelist either way, and deal with plenty of all types in the workshop, I just don’t see the point of all the ‘one true way’ arguing…

Pros and cons on both sides

Re weight, if you compare XT with a Hope with steel freehub, the difference isn’t so big.

As far as reliability goes… Cup-and-cone can be outrageously reliable, my commuter’s exage rear is from about 1990, it’s had a few sets of replacement balls but the races are still fine, freehub is original… I’ve put more replacement parts in my 3-year-old Pro 2s (axles, pawls, and a bunch of bearings)

Buuut, I don’t think modern Shimano lives up to that, at least, not from what I’ve seen.

Buuut, I don’t think modern Shimano lives up to that, at least, not from what I’ve seen.

Sadly I dont think the modern Hopes do either, I’ve been through more bearings and freehubs in 5 years of Pro IIs than I have in 15 on XCs/Ti-glides

On a similar note, what high end wheelset these days uses steel freehub bodies? They’re great when you can save 5 mins getting a cassette off once a year, but aside from that..?

Sounds more like a cash saving than a great upgrade.

I’ve got some properly chewed up freehubs bodies, gouged a good few mm into the aluminium, it’s never been a huge issue.

Sadly I dont think the modern Hopes do either

Buy one of the other brands of cartridge hubs then, there’s enough about.

On a similar note, what high end wheelset these days uses steel freehub bodies? They’re great when you can save 5 mins getting a cassette off once a year, but aside from that..?

by ‘high end’ do you mean light weight? Steel bodies are a lot tougher, would never dream of using an Alu freehub on a trials bike, and I’d think twice about SS or DH having cracked a few Alu freehub bodies but never a steel one (yet).

Buy one of the other brands of cartridge hubs then, there’s enough about.

I have thanks, I was just airing my experiences and explaining why

Sorry, I meant the Hopes.

EDIT: those weights are accurate for hope in QR spec, but without the QR itself.

amedias – Member

And I’ve still got some Hopes from 1997 that get ridden and raced in all kinds of filth, still on their original bearings and are still smooth and have never been touched other than clearing the freehub pawls and springs twice a decade, and when they finally do need new bearings it’ll be a 15min hammer job instead of a messy greasy, spanner wiggling adjustment-fest

can you see the selling point in decent cartridge hubs?

FWIW I also have a few sets of C+C Shimano hubs myself, I’m not a hub evangelist either way, and deal with plenty of all types in the workshop, I just don’t see the point of all the ‘one true way’ arguing…

Pros and cons on both sides

absolutely, all of that, yes.

i have 2 hope hubs, sorry, 3 hope hubs in the cellar.

(1 of them needs new bearings, i haven’t used it in years because i haven’t got a clue where to start)

and if you follow the same thinking you should be able to cannibalise a 10mm QR or 142×12 shimano hub to convert a shimano hubbed wheel. (might want to double check in case it needs to be specific like Zee or XT).

(1 of them needs new bearings, i haven’t used it in years because i haven’t got a clue where to start)

if it’s just the main hub shell bearings then

remove freehub
hammer + some wood, bang, bang,
hammer + socket, bang, bang
replace freehub
working hub

or if you do it properly…

remove freehub
hammer + hub support tool, bang, bang,
hammer + bearing seating tool, bang, bang
replace freehub
working hub

If the freehub bearings are shot as well then they’re a little more annoying to get to but not really difficult, I think there are some videos on Youtube and hope website…worth a look and learning yourself because it will save you money in the long run and it really isn’t any more difficult than bash them out and then bash new ones in.

Nice tips, cheers 🙂

😀

*feels warm inside*

So I got into the dead hub. Tapped the cup a couple of times and a large chunk of it fell out. Turns out the hub was more dead than I thought. What tips for getting the outer part of the cup out when there are no inner surfaces left to clobber?

Yesterday I whacked a good one out

too much info…. 😯

EDIT: bullandbladder beat me to it!!