So tell me.. how do I ID this Hope hub (Bulb or XC)

Visual differences? Don't have it to hand i'm afraid.

hope bulb

Looks like an CX to me.
Bulb's had a Ti freehub body.

Sure? Why?

Looks like an xc to me, bulbs had a ti freehub, IIRC

Is there an echo in here? 😉

Well just looked at both types if hubs & I believe it's a XC, as visually the bulb seems to have a wide flat section nr the freehub. Can't make out the writing in the picture on my phone, but on one XC hub actually has "XC" marked omit, though admittedly my g/f XC hub doesn't

It said 'BL' on the bulb I had…

Should say on the shell. What does the small etching say below the Hope logo?

Don't have the hub here.. this is related to my other post 😕

Looks like an XC to me. Bulbs have a much biger body which take bigger bearings to allow the conversion to 12/20mm axle's

looks identical to my bulb. They don't all have ti freehub bodys.

XC for me too – some bulbs have black steel freehubs, but every bulb I've seen has a marked "seam" between the tapered part and the level section of the hub body

+1 to SP'a comment, now I brought my bulb hub out into the daylight, the lower flat section has a definite seam, like it's a seperate section that been pressed together.

Definitely an XC – the flanges are about level on the bulb but the drive side is smaller on the XC as in the picture – just compared the 2 side by side – Xc all the way, oh yeah, and +1 for the ridge/seam around the middle of the bulb