Best Road Hubs

[harmonix1234]

I have destroyed two Ultegra 6700 free hubs since March. Both within a few weeks of installing.
The pawls are breaking and rattling around in the free hub so I'm just getting around one one or two pawls.
Same thing happened to my deore and XT hubs on the mountain bike.

What's a good reliable hub that I can absolutely stomp on?
CK r45? DT Swiss 240's? Hope? White industries? Dura Ace?
So many options and reviews.

Will be for 32 spoke wheels in a teaditional 3X lacing pattern and I'm not fussed about weight. I just want be able to push down as hard as I want and not have the free hub collapse on me.

Any help much appreciated.

[CXCommuter]

Chris King, Hope, WI would be my bet.

Heard of issues with the 240's (freehubs). Nothng wrong with Dura-Ace either but why continue with Shimano when you keep breaking them.

The three brands above all have excellent records AFAIK for quality and longevity. I couldn't afford the CK hubs for my own wheels and I cannot split the Hope or WI based on my research. I went with Hope primarily due to cost (found them on sale) but wouldn't care either way.

There are other hubs out there like Royce but price and availability?

BTW what the hell are you doing to these shimano freehubs- it took me well over ten years and three rear rims to finally kill a 9 speed LX freehub and I am hard on wheels!!

[Baalzamon]

I'd scratch Hope off the list. I purchased a rear hub 142mm and it turned out to be 142.8mm not a happy chappy am I. Actually had a customer the other day who is an ex bike shop owner from a very renown shop here and they dropped Hope and went WI due to lousy support. I've had better support from c r c than hope regarding my issue.

[Drizt]

Hope are loud.... Not necessarily a bad thing but something to be aware of

[harmonix1234]

Thanks guys. I might check out the CK ones.
I am breaking them when I take off at the lights.
I often track stand at the red light, and when it goes green I stomp down hard through the next two gears to I can keep speed with traffic and claim the lane.
I used my MTB for commuting too and this is how I break them.
It's always just as the light goes green, I stomp down hard and hear this sound like someone throwing a broken chainsaw on the concrete followed by my cranks spinning about a third of a revolution before engaging.
Right then, that's when I know I've blown up my hub.

Maybe I just have to stop doing that...?

[RonK]

Chris King, Hope, WI would be my bet.

How could you leave out Phil Wood?

Chris King is well-known for headsets but Phil is the "king" of hub makers.

[redsonic]

I'll second the caution re Hope Hubs. My new rear Mono RS hub felt quite notchy; my bike mechanic suggested they were a little heavy handed installing the bearings during manufacture. I have White Industries hubs on another bike and they are sweet. Spin forever. Can't advise re longevity yet as only a couple of thousand ks on each, and I certainly don't accelerate hard enough to snap pawls

[Crawf]

WI & Alchemy.

[love_that_flow]

Save your hard earned and go Novatec.

[harmonix1234]

Thanks guys, will check them out.
Have heard of Phil Wood.
I once let a bike tourer from the Isle of Man camp in my garage for a bit and he had Phil Wood hubs. Was his third time around the globe on the same hubs so they must be alright. Never heard of them before that.
Are they quick engaging hubs when you start to pedal?

[Wingnut]

I've been using Hope hubs of various types for over 15 years, never had a problem or getting a part (cassette body) when I wanted...

I've seen CK, P Wood etc all fail at some point or another...nothing is full proof.

[biker jk]

If you're destroying Ultegra freehubs it's likely the same thing will happen with WI, Phil Wood, CK, etc. hubs. Perhaps stop the track stands and stomping?

[open roader]

The pawls are breaking and rattling around in the free hub so I'm just getting around one one or two pawls.

If this is so then it's a case of too much power applied to too little a contact area.

You either need to back off the power (don't wanna.... I understand) or look at a freehub system that offers a stronger contact area to deal with uber torque. Hence, my suggestion would be DT Swiss - the freehubs have a twin ratchet ring system with perhaps a dozen or more times the contact area of a conventional tri-pawl freehub body.......

[Baalzamon]

Well in regards to the Hope hubs, be prepared to do a full rebuild if you get the hub. What I've found is a poor installation on my Hope Pro Evo 2. Yep I've stripped it down today and found the cause, Axle bearing being restrictive due to not being installed 100% accurately.

[Duck!]

I would suggest you need to look at changing your technique....

[harmonix1234]

Thanks Duck haha I reckon you're right. Or just get a fixed wheel commuter with 48 spoked rear wheel gonna stop the track standing/sprint on green and just take it easier.

[queequeg]

Well in regards to the Hope hubs, be prepared to do a full rebuild if you get the hub. What I've found is a poor installation on my Hope Pro Evo 2. Yep I've stripped it down today and found the cause, Axle bearing being restrictive due to not being installed 100% accurately.

I'm nervous already....I just laced up my new wheel tonight.





I do have a full set of replacement bearings though, as well as all the tools to swap them out.

[Wingnut]

Well in regards to the Hope hubs, be prepared to do a full rebuild if you get the hub. What I've found is a poor installation on my Hope Pro Evo 2. Yep I've stripped it down today and found the cause, Axle bearing being restrictive due to not being installed 100% accurately.

I strongly disagree with that generalisation...

[CXCommuter]

Well in regards to the Hope hubs, be prepared to do a full rebuild if you get the hub. What I've found is a poor installation on my Hope Pro Evo 2. Yep I've stripped it down today and found the cause, Axle bearing being restrictive due to not being installed 100% accurately.

I strongly disagree with that generalisation...

I only have 500-600km on my Hope Mono RS but they have been awesome- they are a little tight on the seals but getting better, they form a good solid wheelset and sound awesome. Interesting regarding the lack of local support claims- one reason I went with the Hopes was the LBS who built the wheel has a good relationship with the distributor whereas had issues with WI.

[Baalzamon]

Well in regards to the Hope hubs, be prepared to do a full rebuild if you get the hub. What I've found is a poor installation on my Hope Pro Evo 2. Yep I've stripped it down today and found the cause, Axle bearing being restrictive due to not being installed 100% accurately.

I strongly disagree with that generalisation...

Bashing in bearings as hope does is the reason I'm saying that. I'm now making a cheap DIY bearing press to install the bearings. Threaded rod n spacers with 2 nuts will beat a hammer tapping in a bearing which may go in slightly off

[Diabolus]

What's a good reliable hub that I can absolutely stomp on? Will be for 32 spoke wheels in a traditional 3X lacing pattern and I'm not fussed about weight. I just want be able to push down as hard as I want and not have the free hub collapse on me.

Campagnolo Record.

Cheaper than White Industries. Cheaper than Chris King. Cheaper than DT240. Better than all of them.

However, for quick engagement, get a DT240 with the 36T ratchet option.

[gabrielle260]

Rather than criticise other forum users, let me just say " thank you" to jacks1071 for the information.
Andrew

[harmonix1234]

Wow! They look awesome!!!

[battler2]

what about industry nine hubs?

[jacks1071]

For disclosure, you probably know that I sell Pro-Lite gear so wont share specific details about the gear unless specifically asked, but what I would recommend is a 6-pawl freehub made from steel.

Nearly every road wheel uses a pretty similar 3-pawl freehub design, if you are breaking freehubs in that design from Shimano, then the same design as someone mentions above made by a different manufacturer is unlikely to provide any significant improvement.

We've tested an alloy 6-pawl freehub with one of the strongest tandem teams in Australia and it was very good but ultimately failed as the pawls were slammed back into the freehub ovaling out the holes where they sit. However, they lasted much longer than a 3-pawl freehub.

This is an issue you can resolve by using a similar design but manufacturing the freehub from steel, like this:



What you're doing here is spreading the load over a greater area and you're reducing the free play from disengaged to engaged. That freeplay we believe is where people damage the freehubs and I guess you could liken it to dropping the clutch in your car.

Unless you are riding a tandem, or you're a very strong sprinter doing standing starts then this would be considered overkill. That being said sometimes it is nice to use parts over-engineered for your requirements. You also get a lot more clicky noises that some people enjoy