From a performance and weight point of view, are the Hope/Mavic wheels a significantly better option than an XT wheelset?

(I know the Pro2s make a nice loud clicky noise which I like – I don’t need a bell!)

I’d get Hope on the grounds of maintainable freehubs and bearings that won’t trash the hub if you don’t regrease them every now and again.

Depends on how many free hub bodies you want to buy from the big ‘S’. Nothing wrong with an XT front and a Hope rear though.
Hth
Marko

Thanks guys! Rapid response as ever on this forum.

I’d get Shimano XT on the grounds of freehubs with faster pickup and that don’t shout to everybody I’M NOT PEDALLING! and bearings that won’t need changing all the time, so long as you don’t leave them to loosen (and will benefit from extra grease from new)

Hope will allow you to run most axle standards with a change of internal bits though where XT won’t

Hope front hubs can be used with 20mm axles, 9mm QR, QR15 with different adaptors – Shimano can’t be changed, for me this is a good reason to go Hope over Shimano.

I’ve heard from a couple of people that spares can be hard to get hold of for XT wheelset hubs.

I run XT (M776) wheelset and I have to say they have been perfect! As ‘James’ says a little extra grease from new and you are good to go. I service my bearings/freehub every 6 months or so and they have performed superbly.

I have really given mine something to think about this year too – a trip to Morzine/Les Gets & to California (Mammoth/ Downieville etc.) too and despite this, they still run completely true with no bearing or freehub issues along the way.

Therefore I would clearly recommend the XT’s! (And I did used to have Mavic XM819’s + Pro 2’s)

You are not comparing like with like.

Hopes every time for me on grounds or being totally rebuildable with all spares easily available

my XT M775 wheelset rear wheel failed a couple of months ago, the freehub bolt came lose and somehow the cone tightened, crushed the bearings and forced the hub body towards the disc brake side, which caused my rotor to take big chunks out of the caliper,

needless to say I was not happy and I cannot get a spare hub from anywhere,

back to riding my spare set of Hopes,

My Hope Bulbs + 521s have had two sets of new bearings in 10 years and have yet to be trued. I am 16 stone + and have snapped the bike twice in that time. Hope hubs are the nuts and mavic rims seem pretty unbreakable to me.

As it happens my new Hope Pro2/717 wheelset has just been delivered, like 20mins ago!! I’ve just put them on the works digital postie scales and their REAL weight minus the rim tape is 805g for the front and 931g for the back.
I’ve got the same setup on my other bike and they’re awesome, really round and everything 🙂

edit: £247 off Merlin, barginorama

I’d go for ProII over XT unless you are a fettler and regularly service the XT hubs to prevent the races from deteriorating!

Shimano XT
+
Cheaper
Quiet
Cheaper to service (50p bearings and a dab of grease once/twice a year)
Last forever (if looked after)
Steel freehub is tough
–
Freehubs can go suddenly
Needs (infrequnt) servicing which is more fiddly unless you have the knack
Heavier

Hope Pro2
+
Lighter
Tough freewheel mechanism shouldn’t leave you stranded
Infinately rebuildable
Great backup from Hope
Very adaptable for different bikes/axles
–
Bearings don’t last very long
Bearings are expensive
Freehub bearings can be a git to change
The noise
Expensive
Fragile alloy freehub body scores easily

You pays yer money, you takes yer choice. 🙂

My Hope Bulbs + 521s have had two sets of new bearings in 10 years

Bulbs or XCs are a different kettle of ball games alltogether!
The bearings are fatter and beefier, and last a lot longer. I’ve got shot of most of my Pro2s in favour of XCs. I just prefer them. 🙂

I was always very happy with my XT hubs, and the price difference is pretty big. Pro 2 front hub has the big advantage of being able to swap spacers for different axles, and that’s well worth it. Rear? Maybe not so much.

But I went with Hope Hoops since they were ridiculously good value- I wanted a Pro 2 front and XT rear on Flows, priced it up and it was almost the same for a Merlin build as a set of Pro 2s on Flows. So, became a no-brainer.

I wouldn’t personally put 717s on expensive hubs, though. Nothing wrong with 717s, mine did me fine but with so much of an investment in the build and the hubs I wouldn’t want to scrimp on the rims.

Maybe wait for some ProII Evos?

Northwind, buying Mavic717’s certainly is NOT scrimping on rims! They are right up amongst the very best XC rims available, and tough with it! 🙂

If one can survive 4 years on the rear with me riding and be as light as that, then there’s not much better available! 🙂

Bearings don’t last very long
Bearings are expensive
Freehub bearings can be a git to change

Much as I hate to disagree
IME
Bearings last many years and thousands of miles
They are easy to change using the right technique. I did a set in ten minutes recently

I’d rather have a hub for which spares are available than one that means a bit of wear and it is scrap

Teej, I said they CAN be a git to change. The first time I did mine they were, second time not so bad. You can’t disagree that £20 a set is more than a 50p bag of bearings, and out of 5 Pro2s we’ve had, only one has had bearings last more than a year. Some of the fronts are terrible. And it’s not just me either, I’ve known fronts to go in 3-4 months on Pro2s. And if you’ve had to change a set, they’ve not been lasting you ‘many years’ either becasue they’ve only been in production what, 5-6 years? XCs seem to last 4 years or more…..

If I still had the pic of the XC vs Pro2 bearings I’d post it, becasue it explains why very well indeed. 🙂

Personally, I don’t think the perfect hub has been made yet. If there was a £60-ish loose C&C bearing hub with a rebuildable freehub, replaceable races and swappable axles, I’d buy it right now! 🙂

———————

By coincidence, I’ve got a set of Kaese’s Katec bearings to go in Mrs PPs Pro2s this weekend. They’ve just lunched their 2nd/3rd set (I forget) of bearings in 3 years on a bike that hardly gets ridden half the year. Damn thing uses more bearings than brake pads, and it’s still on it’s origninal drivetrain!

Well I got 3 and 5 years out of my pro II bearings on 2 sets of wheels – cheap bearings whether in the XT or the Pro II are hopeless – see what I did there 😉

BTW I wonder if anyone replaces the Pro II seals when they do a bearing change and I also wonder whether they use a jet wash!!!

PP – I have had the wheels a few years ande one bearing has failed in that time – thousands of miles a year.

I didn’t agure that they are cheap but theya re not that expensive either

I know you normally seem to have a good grasp of this stuff but I wonder if the difficulty you have with swapping the bearings and the short life are linked?

Do you remove the seals and repack the bearings? ( a bad idea to me)

I find all hope hubs simple to change the bearings

The XT wheelset is UST where as XC717 rims are not without messing about. If that kind of thing bothers you.