Hubs for new rims

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MennoG
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Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:13 am

by MennoG

Hi all,

I just ordered new 46mm rims from Lightbicycle and doing some research on decent hubs. I got advised to go for DT Swiss 350s, for durability reasons mainly. But some digging here made me doubt, mainly because cheaper and durable options are available.

Some criteria:
- Durable: since I live in the Netherlands, some wet conditions are inevitable, but will mainly use them in dry weather.
- Price: 350's are the max I want to spend for the hubs, so anything around that or lower is an option. Prefer a little cheaper then the 350s.
- Weight: Little less important than the above mentioned ones.
- Quality: With these nice rims it doesn't make sense to buy the cheapest/lowest quality:)
- 20H/24H, rim brake, rider weight: 70kg

Now doubting between
- 350s
- Miche primato syntesi
- Hope RS4
- ...?

Any thoughts or recommendations?

Thanks!

by Weenie


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bilwit
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Location: Seattle, WA

by bilwit

cheaper than 350s but more durable and better quality? hard to imagine, with hubs you really pay for quality. Throw some badass CK or Industry Nines on there 8)

Multebear
Posts: 1395
Joined: Sat May 02, 2015 10:11 pm

by Multebear

350 are almost the same as 240. They are the perfect balance between quality, durability and pricetag. I wouldn't go cheaper than 350 for a nice set of wheels. And they are easy to service, easy to source spares and the design is pretty tested and tried over the years. You can't go wrong. And it would be wrong to try to stretch the budget even further.

Miche Primato Syntesi; if they fixed the freehub body issue, then sure. But the difference in pricetag is not that big. 160 € for a pair of 350 hubs is really no big deal.

MennoG
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:13 am

by MennoG

Allright thanks for the responses! Haven't excluded the 350s yet, but trying to broaden my scope. But seems the 350s are a really save bet.

@Multebear, where do you find them for 160 euro?

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

miche are nearly the best you can buy and the cheapest. What freehub issue? I sell so many of these hubs with almost no freehub problems (one a year?) so it easy to over-egg something.

I have been talking to Miche about putting a steel freehub into production to address the one failure that happened last year and the notching issue which is mostly caused by lockrings not being done up tight enough (really) and Shimano cassettes. An SRAM red cassette and Miche separate steel sprockets on Miche freehubs don't cause much if any notching. Why do Shimano cassettes notch so badly? They shouldn't but they do. That one reason why I avoid selling them. DT swiss freehubs, seem to be made of soft cheese and can be out of stock for weeks which is useless if you need one.

Spares availability is king, which means Miche or Hope. I carry every spare down to the ratchet rings for the Miche hubs, Hope does the same for there hubs.

DT Hubs have a NDS rear bracing angle problem and the DS rear bearing is hidden behind a difficult to remove ratchet ring. CK hubs are just too expensive.

Of course, the best hub for longevity and also with excellent spares availability is made in the U.K but in Hampshire by Royce UK. These hubs are simply perfection. Essentially a Miche hub but with a Ti freehub body, NTN bearings, stainless steel axles and a beautiful finish.

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MayhemSWE
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by MayhemSWE

MennoG wrote:
Thu Aug 16, 2018 9:45 pm
@Multebear, where do you find them for 160 euro?
Umm, right here at Starbike who hosts this very forum…

Multebear
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Joined: Sat May 02, 2015 10:11 pm

by Multebear

I own two wheelsets with Miche Primato Syntesi. I have big problems installing and removing Shimano cassettes on the rear hub due to notching or bitemarks. Same goes for my DT rear hub. Maybe I’m just that kind of rider, who leaves bitemarks on my hubs. This is the reason why I prefer hubs with steel or titanium freehub bodies, like the Shimano hubs. But shimano hubs don’t come in 20h front spoke config.

The 350 hubs are available at bike24 as well. Rear is 120 euros, front is 40 euros.

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

change to a different cassette as all shimano cassettes notch badly on all alloy freehubs. Try the miche cassettes they notch less and torque your lockring to about 40 to 50Nm. the tighter the better.

So if notching happens to DT hubs (and it does the freehub is made of soft cheese) too why are you suggesting them?

MennoG
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:13 am

by MennoG

Thanks, so changing casette to SRAM or Miche would solve most of the notching issue? Then the Miche hubs become more attractive and are widely available.

With regards to the 350s: The 24H rear hubs seem to be out of stock in lot of stores, both at Starbike as at our friends at B24.. Bad luck or is there more going on?

Any experience with the Hope RS4 hubs?

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

I certainly have had no issues with Miche freehubs and Miche cassettes for shimano and I do shove out the Watts in surges. I do my lock rings up very tight, past 40 nm though.

Sram red cassettes on a Miche freehub cause no notching at all, but this is a mono block cassette and a weight weenie favourite. For a light cassette you can't beat them. On a novatec freehub with shimano cassettes the notching is awful.

Hope hubs are good so long as your local importer stock all the spares. Hope in England do and keep spares for hubs they made 20 years ago. That is where hope excel.

Multebear
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by Multebear

bm0p700f wrote:
Fri Aug 17, 2018 12:12 pm
change to a different cassette as all shimano cassettes notch badly on all alloy freehubs. Try the miche cassettes they notch less and torque your lockring to about 40 to 50Nm. the tighter the better.

So if notching happens to DT hubs (and it does the freehub is made of soft cheese) too why are you suggesting them?
OP didn't offer any other options than DT, Miche or Hope. If the choice has to be made between those three, my pick would be DT. The notching isn't as bad on my DT as on my Miche. But it's still there. That said, it's my understanding that not eveyone experiences notching on hubs.

Change of cassette is an options. But IMO it's not the cassette, that's the problem. It's the hub. It's a Shimano drivetrain, why would you move away from Shimano cassettes, when the problem is non-Shimano hubs...

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

I don't like the limited drilling offering on Shimano reasonably priced hubs and I don't like the expense of a dura ace hub. Besides, I use Campagnolo and they have the correct notch free alloy freehub.

Besides, I will be placing an order with Miche for steel freehubs for the Primato hub for people like you. Miche will make anything I want them to if I pay them it turns out. Given the limited cassette options from Shimano I do wonder why they are so popular.

Given the availability of DT Swiss freehubs is poor from Madision with them going out of stock for weeks at time, it is wonder people still recommend them.

by Weenie


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vejnemojnen
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by vejnemojnen

bm0p700f wrote:
Fri Aug 17, 2018 12:12 pm
change to a different cassette as all shimano cassettes notch badly on all alloy freehubs. Try the miche cassettes they notch less and torque your lockring to about 40 to 50Nm. the tighter the better.

So if notching happens to DT hubs (and it does the freehub is made of soft cheese) too why are you suggesting them?
Well, few years ago I was running an 8speed exa-drive campagnolo cassette on Khamsin Asy wheels, with the 10speed lockring of course. And after 9k km-s, there was a barely noticeable indentation under the cogs. Campag alloy freehubs are tough.

Oh, and I must add: funniest part, that 8-9-10-11 and now 12speed clusters fit the same freehub body, without adding spacers, or anything of that sort. And had no issue with chewed up splines, even though when you install a 8speed cassette onto a modern freehub, there is barely any contact area

Image

the splines held up just fine.. :)

btw, in terms of cassettes. I'd buy a new 10spd sh-sram, preferably with 12-27 ratio. Would PG-1050 or 1070 be a better choice than Ultegra? If so, which sram cassette is more durable and shifts nicer-runs quieter? Is there any reliability issue with contemporary Miche cassettes? They once were regarded as subpar quality items with rapid wear-tear and predisposition of teeth braking off. This is no longer an issue, I guess?

regards

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