When it was revealed that Hope couldn’t get a license to make a Microspline freehub there was uproar, luckily this Chinese company came to the rescue.
Microspline is a new standard that Shimano came up with when it released its long-over-due 1 x 12 drivetrains. Shimano XTR, XT and SLX have all been upgraded to 1 x 12 which is great news, unless you happen to run Hope hubs.
The issue is Shimano awards manufacturers a license to be allowed to make Microspline freehubs. So far Shimano has worked with larger OEM companies but hasn‘t gotten around to giving Hope, Stan’s, plus others the official stamp to go ahead and make their own.
That caused quite a stir, and this article talking about the issue created a buzz with Singletrack readers who want their Hope parts to be Shimano compatible.
The bad news is that officially there still isn‘t an agreement in place, the good news is that Chinese brand FOVNO doesn’t care, and have gone ahead and made its own freehub for Microspline hubs that are compatible with Hope Pro 4 hubs.
Actually they make Microspline freehubs for Hope, Industry Nine and Mavic hubs.
FOVNO reps told us that the cost of the freehub is just $25, but that‘s if you‘re planning on ordering an MOQ (minimum order quantity – probably hundreds, we’d reckon – Ed) from China. Still, this conversion is still going to be much cheaper than buying a new hub and rebuilding your wheel, and it won‘t take too long before they‘re readily available online.
Would you be willing to give one of these Hope Microspline conversions a try? Perhaps you already have. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Comments (18)
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i will order one when i get a link 😉
Gotta love the Chinese. Patent? What’s that?
Interesting – particularly that Founo are offering freehubs for hubs where “legal” options already exist. You mention in your earlier article that Shimano have already granted licences to Industry 9 and Mavic
true, but I bet they are way cheaper than i9’s/mavics own freehubs for microspline
Would this work with a Pro2 Evo?
I recently spent a small fortune on Eagle X01 to get 12sp with a light-ish overall weight.
Already swapped the shifter to XTR and I run Pro 4 wheels on both my bikes, so i’d deffinately buy 2 straight away if they were available.
Maybe a group buy ;o)
Love to try this out as I have full M9100 except cassette. had to use Sram eagle cassette as only free hub for my Hope pro 4 was XD.
then I can try HYPERGLIDE+ Link to photo
https://www.google.com/maps/contrib/107360239996818197062/photos/@51.250084,0.559408,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m7!1e2!3m5!1sAF1QipPRlFHIALN0orbb9EQsIrluag9HH4ncun3FikRV!2e10!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPRlFHIALN0orbb9EQsIrluag9HH4ncun3FikRV%3Dw365-h486-k-no!7i1536!8i2048!4m3!8m2!3m1!1e1
what a total debacle this is. What on earth are Shimano playing at. Hopefully some wheel manufacturers had some success at Eurobike discussions, but my hopes (no pun intended) are sure to be dashed.
If this product is a success then no reason for Shimano to continue with their strategy as the horse has already bolted.
Any chance that this would fit non-boost proII evos?
“true, but I bet they are way cheaper than i9’s/mavics own freehubs for microspline” – need to make sure you’re comparing apples with apples there though – I’m sure Mavic and Industry 9 freehubs probably work out considerably cheaper than retail when you’re buying them in quantities measured in hundreds or thousands, and haven’t yet added any applicable taxes, duties, tariffs, supply chain margins and transport costs
Hopkinsgm Exactly – seems like a rash article. I don’t see any sense in quoting the vendor’s price. Unless you can buy them in single units at that price it’s not relevant?
At $25 from China it will probably be about £100 once a distributor and a shop has applied a margin to it.
Anyone found a link to order them yet ?
Looks like it will be here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Bicycle-Shop/FOVNO-Philippines-2246515528701881/
Isn’t there a potential risk of damaging your hub here if the quality of the freehub is poor and it breaks apart? I wouldn’t trust this!
Everyone’s missing the most important point: will it be as loud as a hope freehub?
Interesting but I’ll be sticking with Eagle I think. The Eagle cassettes are probably the best part of the groupset aren’t they?
The total disregard China has for patents is both money saving at times but also worrying on so many other levels.