Road disk brake hubs for wheel builds: Best, lightest, most reliable

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LouisN
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by LouisN

There's been lots of hubs reviews over the last years, but mostly for rim brakes hubs.
I'm contemplating about switching to disk brakes soon, and would still like to build some light wheels for racing purposes :P .
I see Extralite making ridiculously light disk brake hubs, but most of the other brands I see are porky compared to rim brakes hubs.
( I know, I know, disk brakes rims will be lighter than rim brake rims...)
So what are the best, lightest and most reliable road disk brakes hubs for wheel builds ?

Louis :)

spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi

not all disc brake rims are lighter... and remember generally you have more spokes on the front due to the stresses applied to the wheel during braking. I have no issues recommending extralite hubs based on my rim brake use of their hubs. The only bummer for me is they are 6bolt and I prefer centerlock.. 1st world problems I
know.

I'm very tempted to get extralite hubs and build a enve g27 or g23 wheelset for my gravel bike
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LeDuke
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by LeDuke

Do you want a bike that looks good on a scale or a bike you can ride for years without touching bearings?

IME, unless you live in a place with near perfect weather, the two are mutually exclusive. Regardless of disc or rim, I’d have a hard time going lighter than a 240, T11/CLD, DA, etc.



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spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi

LeDuke wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 4:44 am
Do you want a bike that looks good on a scale or a bike you can ride for years without touching bearings?

IME, unless you live in a place with near perfect weather, the two are mutually exclusive. Regardless of disc or rim, I’d have a hard time going lighter than a 240, T11/CLD, DA, etc.



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I used extralite hubs for years (road bikes).... norcal weather is not socal weather for sure. Extralite have managed to work well for me, I do perform service level 1 a few times a year.
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LeDuke
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by LeDuke

spdntrxi wrote:
LeDuke wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 4:44 am
Do you want a bike that looks good on a scale or a bike you can ride for years without touching bearings?

IME, unless you live in a place with near perfect weather, the two are mutually exclusive. Regardless of disc or rim, I’d have a hard time going lighter than a 240, T11/CLD, DA, etc.



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I used extralite hubs for years (road bikes).... norcal weather is not socal weather for sure. Extralite have managed to work well for me, I do perform service level 1 a few times a year.
So you ride them on near-perfect roads in near-perfect weather. NorCal is a very slight step up on the soft-as-butter scale.

Now, if you told me you ride in some weather beaten town with absolute shit for roads like Buffalo or Cleveland, that would be a ringing endorsement. Or Seattle/Portland, getting dumped on for 6 months straight.




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spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi

LeDuke wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 5:19 am
spdntrxi wrote:
LeDuke wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 4:44 am
Do you want a bike that looks good on a scale or a bike you can ride for years without touching bearings?

IME, unless you live in a place with near perfect weather, the two are mutually exclusive. Regardless of disc or rim, I’d have a hard time going lighter than a 240, T11/CLD, DA, etc.



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I used extralite hubs for years (road bikes).... norcal weather is not socal weather for sure. Extralite have managed to work well for me, I do perform service level 1 a few times a year.
So you ride them on near-perfect roads in near-perfect weather. NorCal is a very slight step up on the soft-as-butter scale.

Now, if you told me you ride in some weather beaten town with absolute shit for roads like Buffalo or Cleveland, that would be a ringing endorsement. Or Seattle/Portland, getting dumped on for 6 months straight.




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My norcal is eastbay...so not that great for most road conditions. Droughts over and we've had some good rain the last couple years... not on the portland/seattle level ofcourse. The fact I'm considering them for gravel means something...but I've yet to pull the trigger so who knows. The only hubs I've truely hated are Tune.
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LeDuke
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by LeDuke

spdntrxi wrote:
LeDuke wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 5:19 am
spdntrxi wrote:
LeDuke wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 4:44 am
Do you want a bike that looks good on a scale or a bike you can ride for years without touching bearings?

IME, unless you live in a place with near perfect weather, the two are mutually exclusive. Regardless of disc or rim, I’d have a hard time going lighter than a 240, T11/CLD, DA, etc.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I used extralite hubs for years (road bikes).... norcal weather is not socal weather for sure. Extralite have managed to work well for me, I do perform service level 1 a few times a year.
So you ride them on near-perfect roads in near-perfect weather. NorCal is a very slight step up on the soft-as-butter scale.

Now, if you told me you ride in some weather beaten town with absolute shit for roads like Buffalo or Cleveland, that would be a ringing endorsement. Or Seattle/Portland, getting dumped on for 6 months straight.




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My norcal is eastbay...so not that great for most road conditions. Droughts over and we've had some good rain the last couple years... not on the portland/seattle level ofcourse. The fact I'm considering them for gravel means something...but I've yet to pull the trigger so who knows. The only hubs I've truely hated are Tune.
Yeah. My wife grew up there. Walnut Creek and Pleasanton. I’ve been there plenty of times. Done a lot of riding there.

You guys have no freeze-thaw cracking. No salt, no cinders. Very smooth roads.




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TobinHatesYou
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by TobinHatesYou

Smooth roads my ass. It’s a lot of chip seal and slurry seal that has a usable life of maybe 5 years, but only gets resealed maybe every 10 years.

No salt...we live next to an ocean. There is more salt all year round. Even if you only ride in dry weather, the salt in the air will corrode parts like alloy nipples.

mesomaxl
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by mesomaxl

Carbon Ti, 240S, Chris King, Acros, i9, the new Syntace received some good first reviews

bm0p700f
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by bm0p700f

I have solved the hub choice problem for myself anyway. Got 200 pairs of what I consider to the be the best all rounder.

Carbon Ti hubs are pretty good but even these are 300g per pair. My borgdx hubs are 400g for a pair. Most others except DT Swiss 240's are heavier. DT hubs are only 10g lighter.

So I have come to to the conclusion it either mine or spend on carbon Ti. As let Duke said if you want a reliable hub the choices narrow alot.

Nearly all disc brake hubs use similar or the same flange spacing. The difference comes with flange pcd. Larger flanges mean lower spoke loads from braking and pedalling. Which should extend spoke life depending on how large those loads are and how often you break. I have gone for a large design for a Centrelock hub which is unusual. I could have trimmed 15g of by having a small flange hub. Bollocks to that, it 15g for the above reason.

Marin
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by Marin

I really wonder why Centerlock is so popular for road applications? I was very happy to get rid of CL on my MTBs.

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ms6073
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by ms6073

mesomaxl wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:54 am
Carbon Ti, 240S, Chris King, Acros, i9, the new Syntace received some good first reviews
Sort of topic drift, but have been curious if DT Swiss are planning to market the revamped 240 centerlock hubs used in the Spline wheelsets?

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Mr.Gib
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by Mr.Gib

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:45 am
No salt...we live next to an ocean. There is more salt all year round. Even if you only ride in dry weather, the salt in the air will corrode parts like alloy nipples.
IIRC I don't think salt can evaporate and get into the air. The only way salt would get onto your bike is if wind literally blows water containing salt out of the ocean and onto your bike. Not a chemist so don't quote me. I live beside the ocean and nothing here seems to corrode particularly quickly (except boats and stuff exposed to the water).

Jurisdictions that have to salt the roads to deal with ice is where the real trouble is. When things are wet you are literally riding in brine.

Back on topic, I have had good luck with Industry Nine Torch hubs. Mine are of the straight pull variety and have the heavier duty MTB seals. They see about 400 - 500 km per week on wet roads from November to March. 3 season and no issues.
wheelsONfire wrote: When we ride disc brakes the whole deal of braking is just like a leaving a fart. It happens and then it's over. Nothing planned and nothing to get nervous for.

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LeDuke
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by LeDuke

Mr.Gib wrote:
TobinHatesYou wrote:
Wed Jan 16, 2019 10:45 am
No salt...we live next to an ocean. There is more salt all year round. Even if you only ride in dry weather, the salt in the air will corrode parts like alloy nipples.
IIRC I don't think salt can evaporate and get into the air. The only way salt would get onto your bike is if wind literally blows water containing salt out of the ocean and onto your bike. Not a chemist so don't quote me. I live beside the ocean and nothing here seems to corrode particularly quickly (except boats and stuff exposed to the water).

Jurisdictions that have to salt the roads to deal with ice is where the real trouble is. When things are wet you are literally riding in brine.

Back on topic, I have had good luck with Industry Nine Torch hubs. Mine are of the straight pull variety and have the heavier duty MTB seals. They see about 400 - 500 km per week on wet roads from November to March. 3 season and no issues.
This is what I’m talking about. The roads here have actual salt stains on them.

I could salt several buckets of popcorn with the amount of road salt I wipe or wash off my bike. I wrote “Wash Me” on the rim the other day by wiping salt off with my finger. One ride.




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spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi

oh cry me a river ppl...

I'm just responding to the op with my experience with extralite. It's all positive. I do 99.9 of my own wrenching and have used their hubs for YEARS.. I've recently sold three sets of wheelsets with extralite hubs and all of them worked as well as the day I got them. They were all rim brake and I've moved on to disc brake systems. The op is asking about racing purposes so I think they fit the bill perfectly. The op lives in Canada so maybe road salt will be involved ??? but probably not during racing season. who know.

hope I helped op ? :)

Racing in NorCal will take you to the boonies .. especially road races on god-forsaken farming /rural areas (ie roads are very rough) Easier to get permits I think. Tobin knows. Walnut Creek ? - no racing.. Pleasanton is business park crits only.. so yeah ok roads. Go under 680 towards calaveras next time your are out here Duke... cobbles man...grateful it's short.
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