I know nearly nothing about hubs. And I need a new one.

I’ve been recommended Shimano XT 6 Bolt, and I’ve been recommended Hope XC.

All I want is a hub that lasts for a long time and doesnt need to be serviced all the time, but when it does, it is cheap and easy to do.

(And I did look at hubs like Chris Kings, but way way way too much money..)

XT seems to fit the bill for what you’re after. Not sure how they compare now on price to Hope’s kit but I’ve used Hope hubs for about 15 years now and never had a problem.

All I want is a hub that lasts for a long time and doesnt need to be serviced all the time, but when it does, it is cheap and easy to do.

Hope then XT requires ‘some’ maintenance to keep them at there best.
That ‘some’ is more than I’ve ever done to my Hopes.

Cup and cone bearings like shitmano have their advantages – they tend to be freer running than cartridge bearings and the bearings can be rebuilt / adjusted. Once the cup in the hub is worn however the hub is very difficult if not impossible to repair or to adjust properly.

Hope hubs use cartridge bearings – so if the bearing wears you simply replace the whole sealed bearing unit – hub is then as good as new. Bearings are available off the shelf. The freehubs are different as well – with shitmano once the freehub goes you have to replace the unit – not too hard but a faff. with the hope again the freehub is rebuildable with new pawls and springs – altho to replace the ratchet ring ( very rarely needed) the hub has to go back to hope.

Myself I don’t think there is any place for cup and cone hubs in the 21st century – but others will think differently.

Ultimatly there is no better in this situation – just different

Hope hubs use cartridge bearings – so if the bearing wears you simply replace the whole sealed bearing unit – hub is then as good as new. Bearings are available off the shelf.

How much will that cost me, and how often will it need it?

And which freehub would you say is better? Which lasts longer?

Just buy some hopes. Fit and forget reliability with really good warranty support. Plus your supporting british manufacturing.

All my bikes run hopes, they last well in all conditions with very little maintenance and if maintenance is required its pretty straight forward. Spares are widely availiable.

Incidentally my old school bigun’s on my DH bike (circa 2000) are still on the original bearings..,

Shimano require more frequent maintenance (I get away with yearly) which is cheaper (and diy-able with basic tools)

Hope require less maintenance but its more expensive (also diy-able with more epxensive tools)

Horses for courses, I’ve always been happy with shimano, I can see the benefits to Hope, and it’s not something I feel the need to have a strong opinion on.

Bearing #s are about £5 – 10 each IIRC. There are 4 in a hope hub but not all need replacing every time. As for life – seems to be very variable but I have only replaced one set in thousands of miles / years of riding. life should be ih tens of thousands of miles

Which is better – for me hope without a doubt. Others will disagree.

Which freehub is better – how long is a piece of string?

Once the cup in the hub is worn however the hub is very difficult if not impossible to repair or to adjust properly.

But is made of Boron, which on scale of hardness where talc is 1 and diamonds are 10,is about 9.9, so is unlikely to wear out quickly.

Each has their benefits/drawbacks. Pick one, don’t worry about it.

Which freehub is better – how long is a piece of string?

Well what advantages/disadvantages do the freehubs offer? Which are more reliable?

9.3 on Mohs hardness scale.

But is made of Boron, which on scale of hardness where talc is 1 and diamonds are 10,is about 9.9, so is unlikely to wear out quickly.

Except when not serviced regularly enough and/or when water/mud gets in and corrodes them which in reality is what usually seems to happen…

IME, for offroad, Hope no question – as above, with about 10 mins work and a set of bearings (two for a total of £8 from CRC), you’ve got a new hub again. I’ve been running Hope hubs offroad for almost 15 years.

Oh and the Hope freehubs are pretty much bombproof – my 15 year old hubs still has the same freehub bearings and pawls and has never slipped. Total servicing = a clean and new grease from time to time (once a year? Maybe once every couple)

As I said yesterday, go for a cartridge bearing hub if you can, BUT if your on a budget there are other cartridge bearing hub that will give you great service other than the Hope….

What with the price hike of Shimano kit you stand a chance of doing it for similar money.

I dont think they make Hope XC’s anymore so its PRO2’s if you go that route. Unless the wheelbuilders have new oldstock XC’s

Pro2’s give you option of futureproofing the front wheel if you ever build up one of those as it converts from QR to 20mm type I believe.

Hope, everytime Pro2 is a superb hub. Bombproof, cheap and easy when it finally needs servicing.

I’ve also used Hope’s for the last 10 years with no probs.

Be certain that you can stand the noise if you go Hope – personally I just couldn’t. Ditto King for that matter – give me silent (or nearly) any day.

aside for all the sealed cartridge bearing benefits hope hubs are also available in pretty colours if you are into that sort of thing; and a lot of people are.

Buy British.

you can make a pro2 pretty silent by packing the pawls with grease. But tbh if your going fast enough over rocks and roots your not going to notice it.

RealMan – Member

Well what advantages/disadvantages do the freehubs offer? Which are more reliable?

Both breakdown / wear out so infrequently that I don’ think that is really important.

Hope can be serviced, shitmano need a replacement unit.

I went Hope about 9 years ago becuase I was fed up with fiddling with cone spanners, loctite and replacement shimano freehubs, which never seemed to last offroad. This was LX level kit too.

I have had 6 or 7 different sets and style of hope hub, all have been excellent. My XCs in particular just seem to keep rolling, one set was used daily for 3 years and the bearings lasted 7 years in total. I don’t have to do any maintainence at all until the bearings give out. The hub can then be refreshed using just some £4 replacement bearings, a hammer, a 9″ nail and a piece of threaded bar, with some nuts and big washers. Cheap, easy, quick.

On road bike however, I’m using shimano hubs perfectly happily. Meanwhile the shimano commuter hubs are fairing less well, as the cones seem to keep coming loose and they fill with grit more often than I’d like, nasty noises from the freehub after just 2 years that a strip and regrease did not solve, so I’ll try and find some hope hubs to ‘retire’ to it.

I’ve heard good things about other cartridge bearings hubs, notably goldtecs and the new nukeproofs.

If you don’t want to do any maintainence and they’ll get used alot, I’d suggest cartridge.

So I’d need a Hope Pro II 135mm Std Q/R for a hardtail?

Probably. Provided its std modern mtb hardtail with 135mm spaced dropouts for a 9mm QR axle, not 12mm bolt through, which I doubt it will be …

its a spesh rockhopper

Hope or Shimano are both very good quality, and will need only infrequent servicing. Probably best to make your choice on price/ weight / colour.

So I’d need a Hope Pro II 135mm Std Q/R for a hardtail?

yep thats it… remember to have a look at what else is out there though might be another good cartridge bearing hub.. NC-17, Atomlab etc.

Who you buying the wheel off? If its CRC drop them a line to see what they have that might fit the bill with a reduced, er, bill !!!

You wont go wrong with the Hope mind.

Another vote for Hope hubs here (both Pro II and XC). All the things said above!

Off CRC

Hope Pro 2 Disc Rear Red 32h
Mavic XC717 Disc Rim 32h Black 26inch
DT Swiss Spokes Revolution Stainless DB Black 2mm-1.5mm Lightweight XC Only

Selected Package Price: £161.99

MerlinCycles : Our Price: £166.00

nickc – Member
Once the cup in the hub is worn however the hub is very difficult if not impossible to repair or to adjust properly.

But is made of Boron, which on scale of hardness where talc is 1 and diamonds are 10,is about 9.9, so is unlikely to wear out quickly.

It still corrodes though – that’s the issue.

No one has mentioned hope alloy freehub bodies necessitating high end cassettes – or do hope do hubs with steel freehub bodies?

Good point Al.

If you can afford Hope, and more expensive cassettes to run on them, they’re probably better overall. That said, I bought my XT/XM719/DT Comp wheels for less than the price of a Hope rear wheel.

I have deore, XT and Hope hubs.

Opinions:

Shimano are dead easy and dirt cheap to service, albeit a bit of a faff to get the tightening ‘just so’. I’m sure with practice that would come but given the hub needs servicing about once a year I don’t get enough practice to have it sussed. Hence this is one job I opt to let the LBS* do. (* actually I use a local ‘not much more than a man in a shed selling kiddie bikes and shoppers’ LBS because he has serviced cups and cones 1000’s of times and he charges me £8 including new bearings)

The XT is better sealed and shows no signs of wear at all (still gets a yearly change though to keep it like that). Sealing on the deore isn’t great and hence has some wear on the cups but as it’s the winter / spare wheel if it gets through 2 winters and then needs replacing that’s no massive outlay.

The Hope is on my ‘best’ wheelset and has been faultless for 4 years until now. It will be going in to the shop tomorrow and will get a once over and a rebuild onto a new rim and I await the bill with interest.

Overall – I’m not sure I’d spend £150 on a Hope’d rear wheel again now given the service my XT’s continue to give. Not that i can’t see the long term advantage but it’s also a question of cash flow in my bike buying.

No one has mentioned hope alloy freehub bodies necessitating high end cassettes – or do hope do hubs with steel freehub bodies?

Does it need to be one piece? I’ve got a cheap SRAM jobbie at the mo which I think has jsut the smallest 2 cogs seperate to the rest.

Or is the problem more the material of the cassette rather than the construction?

Having said buy hope a number of times – i do happen to have a brand new
XT hub on X717 with dt spokes for sale…

retro83 –

Not that i’ve used Hope, but I don’t think it matters if the smallest few sprockets are not on a carrier. This is the case with XT cassettes for example. I assume the reason is that with the small sprockets it is difficult to generate enough torque to cause damage, e.g. in comparison to the larger radius sprockets.

No one has mentioned hope alloy freehub bodies necessitating high end cassettes – or do hope do hubs with steel freehub bodies?

I’ve used all sorts of cassettes (incl cheap ones) and SS sprockets with my aforementioned Hope hubs (including the 15 year old) one – the cheaper cassettes/SS sprockets have left marks on the freehub but none have actually affected the way the hub works or caused any issues (creaking/clicking/etc).

Ah, just one caveat to that, my Hopes have Ti and steel freehubs – the above comments are probably valid for aluminium freehubs.

or do hope do hubs with steel freehub bodies?

They do.

OK final decision. Ordering now..

Hope Pro 2 Disc Rear Red 32h
Mavic XC717 Disc Rim 32h Black 26inch
DT Swiss Spokes Revolution Stainless DB Black 2mm-1.5mm Lightweight XC Only
DT Swiss Nipple Upgrade Brass Pro-lock Black Set Per Single Wheel(DH/FR/XC)

Selected Package Price: £166.98

For me, I wouldn’t go for revolution spokes off road unless they’re serious race wheels – revs are plenty strong enough for offroad riding but they are noticeably less durable in their ability to cope with direct damage from rocks/sticks/chain drops/etc.

I’d stick with DT comps.

Ooooh, pro-lock nipples.

Hmmm.. what’s the advantage of proloc? I rarely use any kind of threadlock for my wheels and they stay tight/true absolutely fine…