Rear hub options

[RossC]

I've been running xt 29er wheels - they're cheap and they work but the free-hub has just died while I was in the middle of no-where and my experience with Shimano hubs tends to indicate the free-hub is their Achilles heal. Lets face it, they aren't the best choice for a backcountry wheelset with their low spoke count anyway.

So i'm building a new rear wheel but can't figure out what hub to base it around. Hopes are bullet proof and tick all my boxes except one - they are god awfully loud. There is no serenity to be found with a hope on board. What are other people doing for such wheels? Straight pull spokes would be wonderful because you can replace them without having to remove cassettes (who carries a cassette tool on long rides?) but they only seem to be used on proprietary wheels.

Chris King is an option but i've read as many bad reviews as good ones and they aren't exactly quiet either. I'm not sure about durability of DT 240's - they seem fairly race oriented but i'd love to hear if people are riding them through all manner of bad conditions and they just come back for more.

[Buttermilk]

I love my Hope hubs. Fast and smooth...and loud. I just have to keep the pedals moving and the ride is quiet. Actually, the freewheel noise can be quiet melodic as I flow down singletrack. They come in pretty colors too...

[Area54]

I put a King on the back of the Fargo, I don't think they are that loud, with the ring drive. What I liked was that the internals will suffer a bit of water ingress and still work.

But, SCV are only bringing in 32H models, I had to buy from Aspire as I wanted 36H. Mated to Mavic TN719.

I'm working on a light single tool to remove the cassette lockring in one hit, to reduce the tools needed. Proprietary wheelsets like your Shimano/Mavic Crossmax are great with toolless spoke replacement (from a lockring/rotor standpoint) but the weaknesses are there too.

[taildragger]

Could look at the nuke proof hubs. Supposedly quiet, and from the paper looks to be on par with the hope hubs. I've only seen one here though, and I didn't think to ask the guy about the hub...

[nick]

Running my 240 dt swiss for 3 years now. Ride the North Shore, Whistler, most of southern BC regularly, race, lots of hard miles on it. Never had a problem and supper easy to maintain (I re grease them twice a year).  Wish I could say the same for the 20mm front...I'm on my third ones(all under warranty). I had Hadley hubs as well, those are truly bomb proof, front and rear but a tad heavy. Once my front gives out (it's been ok for a year now but we'll see how it holds) I'm thinking front 20mm King.

[sfuller]

I have two year old DT Swiss 240 on my Dos Niner (with the pawl upgrade) and King's on my Salsa La Cruz. The DT's are a LOT louder than the King's. My understanding is that DT have gone to a different design with their new hubs and it is apparently a lot quieter than the model I have now.

[nick]

240's have the star ratchet not pawls... if they get loud, all you need is to re pack them with grease(same as the kings), takes 2 minutes and you don't need tools, supper easy. After that those hubs are stealth.

[sfuller]

Nick - Thanks, I'll give that a try. The hubs don't have a lot of miles on them, so I'm surprised they are as loud as they are. I did go with the higher tooth count ratchet, so I wonder if that's part of the noise issue.

[mnmtb]

I like Hopes. Easy to service and last and last.

I might have not understood the other post, but this is what I bring with me when bikepacking to remove the cassette in case I need to replace spokes..  Light and it works

http://www.adventurecycling.org/store/index.cfm/product/517/stein-mini-cassette-lock.cfm

[RossC]

Another quick question - I ride geared 50% and single speed 50% of the time. By the looks of things, both Hopes and Dt 240's use aluminium freehub body's so a single speed conversion kit is probably going to see some significant gouging of the freehub body.

Is anyone running these as single speed without issue?

[nick]

Nick - Thanks, I'll give that a try. The hubs don't have a lot of miles on them, so I'm surprised they are as loud as they are. I did go with the higher tooth count ratchet, so I wonder if that's part of the noise issue.

I don't know about the upgrade, I have the regular ratchet. You'll be surprised the difference it makes when you re grease them...

[nick]

Another quick question - I ride geared 50% and single speed 50% of the time. By the looks of things, both Hopes and Dt 240's use aluminium freehub body's so a single speed conversion kit is probably going to see some significant gouging of the freehub body.

Is anyone running these as single speed without issue?

No idea about single speed, I run gears.

[chrisx]

The hope noise grows on you.  It is good for the bears and coyotes to hear you coming.
The rear hope lasts a long time, bearing for front and rear are replaceable. I paid about $80 and had the bearings ordered last year. 
Steal cogs on the aluminum carrier = chew, marks, ugly, etc.  Still works fine just ugly.
The front Hope has a little play in it, even after the bearings are replaced.  I bought an xt front hub and plan to relace the wheel hopefully it will be stiffer.  Stan's Flow rim still going strong

I am happy with the hope rear hub.
Hoping to get another .

The front hub needs to be stiffer, to much side to side movement.
They last longer than other hubs and are trouble free.

[nick]

If durability is what you want, Hadley is what you need. It uses a ti body, I'm sure even single speed cant kill it, nothing comes close in my experience. I had lots of days (years) in Whistler bike park with mine, it's the best testing ground when it comes to durability for any bike parts. That mountain kills bikes...

[REV]

No mention of White Ind.?   I have a great success with these hubs both front/rear geared /ss.

[ridebikes]

Preface: I haven't bikepacked yet...

But I ride DT 240s hubs (135 QR rear, 20mm front) on my 26" SS and have put in several 50-80 mile rides over the past couple of months, no problems so far. I installed the 36t star ratchet and regreased the hub in January 2012, running smooth and quiet now with ~700 miles on the wheels.

At first I had a cheap stamped SS cog and noticed freehub body gouging, but I upgraded to a wider based Surly cog and the gouging problem is no more.

Also, in regard to trail changing of spokes, on the DT 240, you can pull the entire freehub body off without removing the cassette, freeing you up to replace the J-bend spokes. Can you do this with Kings/Hopes/etc?

[joeydurango]

I've been riding DT Swiss 240s for about four years.  Mostly SS with Surly cogs, but some geared use as well.  I've done countless big rides on them, including the CTR.  Never had any problem that wasn't normal wear (replaced the bearings in the SS hub once in four years!).  Easy to work on and in my experience absolutely bombproof.

Thinking about trying a set of Industry Nine wheels on my next build, just because they're USA-made and sweet, but I'll always have a set of DTs around.  Highly recommended from this quarter!

[ltlquail]

No mention of White Ind.?   I have a great success with these hubs both front/rear geared /ss.

Rosco I highly recommend the white industries stuff I have 3 of their Cassette hubs on various bikes which i have collected over the years and they are great. Mine all have the Stainless Steel cassette body. I also have the eno hubs on my ss but they are no good for gears. Only thing is they are also loud but not as much as a King or a Hadley or a Hope. King can be quiet if you use the proper ring drive lube. Use Triflo if you love some noise.

Cheers, André

[RossC]

I thought about this long and hard and in the end went with the DT240's. A wide base cog will solve the single speed conversion issues on an Al cassette body and compared to my hope on the moonlander, the DT is practically whisper quiet. Thanks for all the advice everyone. Here's hoping for decades of hassle free riding

[NT]

You can get a steel freehub body for the dtswiss hubs. Heavier, but no gouging.
With tooless freehub/cassette removal, you can easily get to the drive side spokes. Love my 340 hub.