Hope - Dura Ace 9000 - WhiteInd - DT240

[gbr236]

Im hoping to have some wheels built to use when tubs (303s) stay at home.
Trips to the Alps or UK days when the weather not so great
86kg

Ive listed the 4hubs in order of expense. Can't find the weight of the hopes but Ive had them before without problems.

How on earth do I decide on hubs?

Spokes will be DT Competitions, Sapim Laser or push the boat out for CXRays.

Rims 24/28 HED BelgiumPlus

Thanks

[Svetty]

Depends whether you like garish graphics !
I'd choose DA......

[nlouthan]

+1 for D/A

[bm0p700f]

I sent this e-mail reply to someone earlier today. I'll repeat it for you.

"The White Industries T11 hubs can come in shiny polished silver, they are 25g lighter (don’t get to excited about this), have a steel axle again not a biggie but it is nice and have commonly available industrial cartridge bearings over the cup and cone in shimano hub. I am not saying cartridge bearings are better but they don’t need any TLC either. When they wear out you replace them. Same goes with the bearings in the freehub body they are replaceable. With a Dura Ace hub they will need servicing every so often to delay bearing cup wear. The cones can be replaced so long as Shimano continue to make them (servicing prolongs there life considerably) but the cones for the 7900 and 7800 hubs for example are no longer available and freehub bodies should you one day wear one out for the DA 9000 hubs are £149 (freehubs for 7900 and 7800 hub are no longer available too).

I like Dura Ace hubs alot but they make sense for some one who rides 10,000 miles a year. Such a person will get 5 years life from them if they take care of them. White Ind hubs will do that mileage too may be more but given the wear and tear parts are not going to go out of production as they are not proprietry then they could make more sense for some."

I'll add both hubs have a Ti freehub body. I am not even mentioning the DT Swiss road hubs. DT Swiss make great disc brake hubs but there rim brake offerings have two significant downsides mentioned many times else where (rear flange seperation and a soft alloy freehub on an expensive hub).

[mimason]

considering how easy these hubs are to maintenance I think I would opt for WI and spring for the CX-Ray spokes with the $ savings if budget allows. All the hubs you listed are good options and the shimanos are great too

[djaeggi]

I have this exact set of wheels, 24/28 built on PMP hubs albeit with the regular Belgium rim, which I pull out in exactly the same circumstances you describe. Great wheels, you'll find yourself using them a lot! Personally, I prefer cartridge bearings over cup and cone, less maintenance faff, so would rule the DA out. Hope hubs are super value, I have these on another wheelset, and are great for mixed condition UK riding as they are well sealed, robust, and easily serviced with good availability of spares - think the set comes in at 390 grams. The PMPs are currently about £230 shipped from Italy (compared to £180 for the Hopes) or quite a few decent UK wheelbuilders use them, they's a definite notch up in terms of overall quality and are equally robust/well sealed, same weight, with the addition that they're super smooth. Can't see a reason to go for the WI over and above these two if you're in the UK - I'm sure they're very nice, and they shed a few grams, but with good local/euro options I don't think it makes sense to go for the extra expense of getting a relatively rare (in the UK at least) US hub. Don't know about DT hubs but have heard they're super reliable for such a light weight.

Hub choice for me is basically minimal cost with maximal robustness, with weight a minor consideration. I don't go in for the super light or cheap stuff, which might come with reliability issues (most annoying thing is having a wheel out of commission mid-season, when you don't have the time to sort it out); throwing more money at them doesn't buy you much more at all (once you get to a point where you'd expect not to touch the hubs for 10,000 miles, more reliability doesn't help you, and I'm not that bothered by 50 grams of weight on the hubs). For me Hope/PMP represent a sweet-spot and, owning both and just about to order another hubset for a new build, the £50 price difference between the two seems a fair trade-off (i.e. both would be good choices!). Currently undecided but likely to take advantage of the excellent GBP EUR exchange rate!