Powertap hubs vs exotics

[wintershade]

I am curios how powertap hubs compare (rolling quality, speed of engagement, etc.) to more exotic stuff like ENVE Carbon, Campy CULT, Zipp Cognition.

I'm trying to decide if I want to just start putting PT hubs on my next wheelset (likely Zipp NSW or ENVE) vs use the Cognition/ENVE hubs and throw on a crank PM so I can just use whatever wheels I want, whenever I want.

I test rode the NSW Congnition hubs recently and was really impressed with how they picked up speed coasting on slight downhills. It was very noticable compared to my Campy USB hubs.

[TobinHatesYou]

The only thing I don’t like about Cognition hubs is how they sound...

PowerTap hubs use Novatec freehub internals...not great, but also not atrocious.

I’d just use a crank/spindle/pedal based PM...

[Nefarious86]

The cognition sound fades out after a while. I barely notice it now

[wintershade]

The only thing I don’t like about Cognition hubs is how they sound...

PowerTap hubs use Novatec freehub internals...not great, but also not atrocious.

I’d just use a crank/spindle/pedal based PM...

Oh really, I kind of like how Cognition hubs sounds. It’s rather menacing. Kind of cool on a TT race rig. Though as a whole I like quieter hubs and hate tinny sounding hubs.

Crank/spindle/pedal does seem like it would allow the most flexibility......

[Nefarious86]

I actually want them to make a cognition Hub Sub9, the thing would be deafening.

[TobinHatesYou]

Cognition freehubs are actually among the quietest from a pure volume perspective and you barely notice them while riding. They just sound ‘rough’ when you spin them in the stand. That's enough to annoy me a little bit.

[kavitator]

Powertap has Novatec and DT swiss freehub