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Hadley? Love mine on flow rims, prefer them to the dt 240's on my other bike.
JoeG, what's the point in a front hub with 3deg engagement? 😆
Several of something very good rather than one of the most expensive?
Not quite sure why people are posting all these super bling lightweight hubs like Tune and DT 190 if reliability is the primary requirement. For ultimate longevity with no concern as to cost I would go with Phil Wood. I have some which are heading on for 10 years old and I've not had to touch them once. In that time I've been through countless sets of Hope bearings, a couple of DT freehubs, and a fully exploded Tune freehub (which they replaced no quibbles I have to say). XTR would also be a very good option but I believe they are centrelock only, which would put me off a little, purely for reasons of disc interchangeability with everything else I've got, nothing wrong with centrelock in itself.
Mine has a ti freehub being the SS version so no issues there, I also believe they changed the ali freehub on the other Tunehubs to a different design.
You will get stories of failures on all hubs as people are more likely to grip than comment about no issues
Kevevs - Membergot a DT240 here with proper wibbly bearings or freehub that need replacing. to do it myself I'll need a tool and I don't feel confident about doing it either. to talk to the lbs about it, they just talk about the mechanic hating them and it being more expensive than buying a new hub or prefering world war 3. perhaps, if you know of stuff about hubs and have the tools a DT240 is great
Not being funny, but your shop sucks [i]balls. [/i]
More helpfully- only the very centre bearing needs a special tool to access, everything else is just standard whack out, whack in including all the freehub bearings- it's a 5 minute job to change those. All standard bearings too.
The one that does need the tool lasts a very long time as it's so well protected, but when it does need done the tool's not all that expensive. (£25 or thereabouts if I remember rightly). But if this is the first time you've done the bearings, then chances are it's fine, they seem to need replaced about 1 time out of 3.
The freehubs are pretty damn expensive mind but then you shouldn't really need to replace one of those.
I'm a Dt fan but have the ring drive tool to change the inner bearin with
Does last ages though
The 190 is just a silly price
For the money stans hubs seem very good and lots of axle options
Money no object I'd still buy King, had a few over the years and had very few problems with them, almost fit and forget.
What I always had trouble with Shimano XT and XTR is the freehub mechanism not working when it was freezing out. No amount of GT85/grease/oil etc seemed to make any difference and although pissing on it works you eventually run out of piss on long rides. I know Hope are not considered bling and have their issues but I find mine reliable and so easy to work on that I'll forgive the few issues I've had.
I consider DT/King a step up from Hope but I will stick with Hope so I can have two hubs/wheels for the price of one... having a spare set of near identical wheel (used on another bike) is a bigger boon than having one pair of ultra bling wheels IMHO.
I'd love to try the Kappius hub if money truly was no object.
Another recommendation for Rohloff.
I had the first one in 2003, so far it's had an annual oil change, 2 sets of new cables, 1 set of seals, 1 16t sprocket.
Bomb proof but not cheap 😀
King fan here. I've killed pretty much everything else but these just keep going.
GB
Never really had much problem with hubs, apart from shimanos, one bent axle & two dead freehubs. Replacements are cheap though.
So, I'd probably buy Hopes and keep the change. Or splurge out on a Ti freehub.
TBH I'm not convinced about the logic of spanking £400 on a King hub. I've had (rebranded) hubs from Chosen, Novatec & Chin Haur - all have been perfectly reliable IME.
I wonder how much hub longevity comes down to the frame? Dropout alignment and swing arm/chain stay design for instance. Never mind usage and rider.
King for me, but as has been said, try and get a good condition second hand one.
Really like the 240s as it's such an ingeniously simple design, so I'd just stick with that (or go with the 180 version if I had money to burn)
Not sure what people are talking about with "replacing DT freehub" here....the "freehub" is not part of the hub at all, it's just two opposing discs (about the size of pound coins) that are pushed together with springs. If pressed, I reckon I could replace them both in under a minute with no tools at all.
Centre bearing replacement does need an expensive proprietary tool though...
I think they meant the freehub body- which is pretty dang expensive, but not a consumable/wear item so it should never matter.
What I always had trouble with Shimano XT and XTR is the freehub mechanism not working when it was freezing out. No amount of GT85/grease/oil etc seemed to make any difference and although pissing on it works you eventually run out of piss on long rides
only hub I've known that to be necessary on was....King.
Chris King.
They require a little more setup than most, but use less parts in a lifetime than EVERYTHING else.
I've got 5 sets of Kings, 2 sets of DTs, 1set of I9s, 1 set of XTRs, 2 sets of White Industries, 1set of Deore. 2x Alfines (8 and 11)
The Kings have needed nothing in a combined life of 25 years and almost 20k miles. The DTs have needed 3 sets of bearings between them at a cost of ~ £90 in the past 3 years, The I9s seem to lose spoke tension all the time. The front XTR hub died in a year, despite being serviced at 6 months...pitted cup surface. The WI's are only a year old but the MTB SS wheels are on thir second set of bearings. The Deore front was ruined in 2500 miles. The Alfine 8 is perfect, and the 11s problems are myriad.
Just my opinion/experience.
I think Profile for me, reminds me of my bmx days
Maintenance makes a huge difference to the life of a moving part.
If the quality is halfway decent, and you keep the muck out and the lubricants in, then any hub should last a very long time.
For example, the hubs on my 1932 Sunbeam are original and when I looked there is very light pitting but the surfaces can be reconditioned, so another 81 years is possible. 🙂
Ditto on King needing maintenance but not replacement parts.
Maintenance needed = free and prevents failure of parts
Parts needed = expensive and tend to mean failure of parts has occurred = ride ruined
I know which I'd rather have.
GB
I've had a set of Industry 9 hubs that I was less than impressed with. Did a muddy race in Essex when they were brand new and it all but wrecked them. Hope's are good but pretty heavy. Kings are lovely but the noise gets on my nerves after a while.
I like my Tunes (I have the Ti free hub which is much better than the alloy version) and I've never had problems. Although I think I'm the exception as most have..
Not quite sure why people are posting all these super bling lightweight hubs like Tune and DT 190 if reliability is the primary requirement.
Because that wasn't a primary requirement? 😕
I was very underwhelmed by my Kings frankly, heavy, draggy, and needing lots of maintanence. I know a lot of people find them great though.
DT 180 or Extralite SPDs for me, although the price on the freehub body for a 180 is ridiculous! [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=35017 ]Just £300 retail[/url].
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I have some extralight road wheels Useing the older hub and the silly plastic bush is worn but going to have to see how long it takes to get a new one from Italy
But they have done many miles and been fine , mine do drag a little when freewheeling though
[url= http://www.paulcomp.com/diskrhub.html ]Paul RHUB[/url] looks nice, with I9 innards.
Interesting article about Paul himself in Privateer #16, too (which inevitably arrived 48h before ST83, so I've barely had a chance to read either :-/)
P20 - MemberJoeG, what's the point in a front hub with 3deg engagement?
Faster engagement! Some fatbike owners run rear hubs front and rear, the front is an emergency spare in case the freewheel freezes up. They just switch wheels and roll on. The one below has a single cog on the front instead of a full cassette: 8) 8) 8)
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That is brilliant. Never seen that before.
Wonder why forks aren't made the same spacing as the frames so all mtbr's could do this?
[url= http://www.bikerumor.com/2013/01/04/found-alchemist-310g-carbon-clincher-29er-rims-lightweight-magnetic-hubs-more/ ]Magnetic hubs from Italy on Bike Rumour[/url]
DT240 here, wouldn't trust the 180 personally.
DT240s