Tune king/kong or prince/princess choice?

Discuss light weight issues concerning mountain bikes & parts.

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Erhar
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 7:22 pm

by Erhar

Hello to you all weight weenies. As i've already shown in the gallery section i own a cannondale bad boy fully customed weighing 6.97 kg. The hubs i'm using are dt swiss 240s disk which weigh 150 grams (front) and 266 grams (rear). Apart from being relatively heavy their black-red color do not match my bicycle's black matt color with gold details, so i'm thinking of replacing them with tune gold hubs. I am one step away from ordering tune king/kong hubs.What do you think about my idea?Do you have any arguements about my choice?And what about tune prince/princess hubs?Do they worth the huge price difference the have with tune king/kong hubs? (Ther weight difference is negligible). Any opinions are more than acceptable. Thank you in advance for your answers.

Rider10
Posts: 73
Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:38 am

by Rider10

I've got about 2000km offroad so far on my Tune Kong rear hub. It's been good. Actual weight was 212g. I was considering the Prince as well but decided against it because, as you say:
- weight difference was minimal;
- price difference was great;
- bearings were not user-serviceable on Prince because of carbon fibre axle, so pulling wheel apart to send hub back to Germany for bearing replacement did not sound good.

If I were you, I'd keep the rear DT Swiss and peel the stickers off (that'll make it all black) as the 240s are really bombproof. Get an Extralite front hub (<90g).

by Weenie


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Erhar
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 7:22 pm

by Erhar

Thank you very much for your reply. Your suggestion is really clever i must admit. Bear in mind that my bad boy is for road use only. Do you think that despite that the kong rear hub could prove to be unreliable?

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Sandal
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by Sandal

Erhar wrote:Thank you very much for your reply. Your suggestion is really clever i must admit. Bear in mind that my bad boy is for road use only. Do you think that despite that the kong rear hub could prove to be unreliable?


no, it won't. Tunes are also VERY reliable. both kongs and prince. also prince bearings are easily replacable, even easier than kong. so see no issue with it, other than the price...

My old kong (in gold ;) ) which is 222.5g served me 5 years and probably 10K km already with no issues whatsoever in all kind of conditions. But now i also need to replace it :unbelievable: ... due to bike colour change too :mrgreen: :beerchug:

goodluck!
weight concerned = good, weight obsessed = bad!

Erhar
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 7:22 pm

by Erhar

What about extralite hubs? My mechanic is willing to sell me his extralite mtb hubs. He told me that he had a problelm with his rear hub (i don't remember what exactly) but he has repaired it. Do you think that i should think about this offer also (due to the better price as they are used) or go for tune hubs?
I'm so confused!! :noidea: :noidea:

cycleforlife
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:35 pm
Location: MASS

by cycleforlife

I was going to purchase extralite hubs but heard there were issues..

skyfire1202
Posts: 193
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Location: Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan
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by skyfire1202

What issues are there with Extralite hubs? I have four wheelsets (Ultraterra TNT, Ultradisc TNT, NT7, and another one with Ax rims with the new hyperhubs) with Extralite hubs, but I have only broken spokes on the first wheelset. I have seen more broken Tune hubs though.

Erhar
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 7:22 pm

by Erhar

skyfire1202 wrote:What issues are there with Extralite hubs? I have four wheelsets (Ultraterra TNT, Ultradisc TNT, NT7, and another one with Ax rims with the new hyperhubs) with Extralite hubs, but I have only broken spokes on the first wheelset. I have seen more broken Tune hubs though.

What you say about extralite mtb hubs give me much courage cause i always thought them to be a very tempting choice. Do you happen to know the difference between hyperhubs and ultrahubs spd apart from the fact that ultrahubs are a little bit heavier? And which do you think to be more reliable?

skyfire1202
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by skyfire1202

The Ultrahubs have normal pawl mechanism, while the Hyperhubs have machanism like DT star ratchet hubs, Chris King, and the lightest rear hubs, the Tune Dezibels. Looking at DT's and Chris King's track record, the Hyperhubs should be more reliable and hopefully durable. The Hyperhubs are still new, so they are still under observation. The good thing is that Extralite hubs are very easy to maintain especially the Ultrahubs (just need the right-sized hex wrenches, 5mm and 10mm if I remember correctly), since I haven't opened the new Hyperhubs yet, but the manual shows they can be serviced easily too. You can even change cassettes by just removing the cassette with the freewheel (if you have spares) just before a race. grease them before a race and clean them after if you want, but dirt won't get in with the o-ring seals. I remove the o-rings when the weather is dry during a race for even lesser drag so I check them after the race when I get home. The Tune Dezibel is difficult to maintain and the preload mechanism is by using thin washers, unlike the hyperhubs that have easily adjustable preload. The Dezibels also don't have spare parts yet nor any instruction manual for maintenance because it is supposedly not out in the market yet. Well, that's what the Tune guys said when I asked them, but I went ahead and opened mine for curiosity. Was gonna change the bearings with hybrid ones, but the bearings were very smooth rolling and were as light as hybrids except for one bearing near inside the hub that is in line with the magnets. I changed that, but the difference was only one gram :oops: Now the set weighs 910grams or 926grams with yellow tape and modified AC valves. :wink:

Anyway, you just need to protect your alu freewheels with flattened steel staple inserts if you're using cassettes without carriers. There should be a thread here somewhere about that.

Erhar
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 7:22 pm

by Erhar

skyfire1202 wrote:The Ultrahubs have normal pawl mechanism, while the Hyperhubs have machanism like DT star ratchet hubs, Chris King, and the lightest rear hubs, the Tune Dezibels. Looking at DT's and Chris King's track record, the Hyperhubs should be more reliable and hopefully durable. The Hyperhubs are still new, so they are still under observation. The good thing is that Extralite hubs are very easy to maintain especially the Ultrahubs (just need the right-sized hex wrenches, 5mm and 10mm if I remember correctly), since I haven't opened the new Hyperhubs yet, but the manual shows they can be serviced easily too. You can even change cassettes by just removing the cassette with the freewheel (if you have spares) just before a race. grease them before a race and clean them after if you want, but dirt won't get in with the o-ring seals. I remove the o-rings when the weather is dry during a race for even lesser drag so I check them after the race when I get home. The Tune Dezibel is difficult to maintain and the preload mechanism is by using thin washers, unlike the hyperhubs that have easily adjustable preload. The Dezibels also don't have spare parts yet nor any instruction manual for maintenance because it is supposedly not out in the market yet. Well, that's what the Tune guys said when I asked them, but I went ahead and opened mine for curiosity. Was gonna change the bearings with hybrid ones, but the bearings were very smooth rolling and were as light as hybrids except for one bearing near inside the hub that is in line with the magnets. I changed that, but the difference was only one gram :oops: Now the set weighs 910grams or 926grams with yellow tape and modified AC valves. :wink:

Anyway, you just need to protect your alu freewheels with flattened steel staple inserts if you're using cassettes without carriers. There should be a thread here somewhere about that.

As i mentioned before, my mechanic sells his extralite hubs which i assume are the ultrahubs spd (i haven't seen them yet but will check out soon). Due to the fact that he owns a store and sells extralite parts he told me that he upgraded them quite recently. Could this possibly mean that he has installed the hyperhubs mechanism?

skyfire1202
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Location: Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan
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by skyfire1202

He is selling his ultrahubs spd because they cannot be upgraded to the new mechanism, he replaced the hubs themselves. No problem with the old mechanism for me. The new ones have more engagement points, and the hubs are lighter, of course. More milling done especially behind where the rotors are bolted in.

Erhar
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 7:22 pm

by Erhar

No, he didn't replace them.Due to a problem that occured to the rear hub (i think it stack sometimes),he opened it and ordered from Extralite something like an "update kit" and serviced them as far as i know. Of course when i pay him a visit i'll ask abour everything and if i'm not satisfied with the answers i get i'll order the hyperhubs.

skyfire1202
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Location: Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan
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by skyfire1202

I think I read somewhere that somebody got an upgrade to replace the o-ring that holds the pawls with a spring version. Not sure if it's true.

Erhar
Posts: 47
Joined: Wed May 02, 2012 7:22 pm

by Erhar

skyfire1202 wrote:What issues are there with Extralite hubs? I have four wheelsets (Ultraterra TNT, Ultradisc TNT, NT7, and another one with Ax rims with the new hyperhubs) with Extralite hubs, but I have only broken spokes on the first wheelset. I have seen more broken Tune hubs though.

At what price did you get the hyperhubs?
Do you happen to know where can i get the best price from?

by Weenie


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skyfire1202
Posts: 193
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:43 am
Location: Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan
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by skyfire1202

What did you learn from your friend's hubs? I'll PM you.

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