Friday, January 18, 2008
Wheels of the Day
Will be back on Tuesday. The past week has been busy on other matters that will help when it's build time!
Hubs
I was asked today what our favorite hubs are. It depends on the application was my thought, but as we were talking about EDGE Composites rims, I said I'd post a few pictures. The choice of rims made it easy, as only a few hubs are available in the drillings needed; 16, 18, 20h front and 20, 24h rear hubs are not so common, and those I like are less so.
Typically I build with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. They are nicely made, finished well, and having several thousand in stock means we normally can build even custom wheels without waiting for spokes. The 36 different lengths in two finishes (black and polished) make for fun when it's inventory time. Add Revolution, Super Comp, Competition, Alpine 3, plus Sapim Race, Laser, CX-Ray and CX spokes, and it's over 402 combinations that we have available.
White Industries make some nice hubs, the H2 series is the heaviest set we use, but they are well made, nicely polished, US Made hubs. The titanium rotor is good with Shimano systems, as it won't get chewed like aluminum rotors will, and the polished finish looks great with a Record group. If you want a polished black finish, they do that too.
DT SWISS 240s hubs are good. They do everything well, are easy to service, and have only one failing, these days people will put them on a scale and comment that they are too heavy. DT had a response with the 190 hubs, which use ceramic bearings and some nifty machining to reduce the weight of the rear hub but at great expense. There are lighter hubs than the 190's, and there are people who like to weigh things, so look further down the page for my reply. Overall though, I don't think you can beat the 240s.
For really light hubs, I like the UltraHubs from Extralite. The SX is only 49gm and is rebuildable. The UltraRear SR is 158gm. Both use materials in exotic ways to trim weight as much as possible, yet the regular UltraFront and UltraRear are tough enough for off road use. They can be a little quirky when building, but I like them.
Extralite get a little more special with their UltraFront SP and UltraRear SP that use straight pull spokes. I like to build them with Sapim CX-Ray spokes, but have done the odd special with Pillar Titanium spokes. The 49gm + 153gm weights are getting into rare air indeed, with only a few exotics getting below that, like the hub below, all 36gm of it....
Typically I build with DT Swiss Aerolite spokes. They are nicely made, finished well, and having several thousand in stock means we normally can build even custom wheels without waiting for spokes. The 36 different lengths in two finishes (black and polished) make for fun when it's inventory time. Add Revolution, Super Comp, Competition, Alpine 3, plus Sapim Race, Laser, CX-Ray and CX spokes, and it's over 402 combinations that we have available.
White Industries make some nice hubs, the H2 series is the heaviest set we use, but they are well made, nicely polished, US Made hubs. The titanium rotor is good with Shimano systems, as it won't get chewed like aluminum rotors will, and the polished finish looks great with a Record group. If you want a polished black finish, they do that too.
DT SWISS 240s hubs are good. They do everything well, are easy to service, and have only one failing, these days people will put them on a scale and comment that they are too heavy. DT had a response with the 190 hubs, which use ceramic bearings and some nifty machining to reduce the weight of the rear hub but at great expense. There are lighter hubs than the 190's, and there are people who like to weigh things, so look further down the page for my reply. Overall though, I don't think you can beat the 240s.
For really light hubs, I like the UltraHubs from Extralite. The SX is only 49gm and is rebuildable. The UltraRear SR is 158gm. Both use materials in exotic ways to trim weight as much as possible, yet the regular UltraFront and UltraRear are tough enough for off road use. They can be a little quirky when building, but I like them.
Extralite get a little more special with their UltraFront SP and UltraRear SP that use straight pull spokes. I like to build them with Sapim CX-Ray spokes, but have done the odd special with Pillar Titanium spokes. The 49gm + 153gm weights are getting into rare air indeed, with only a few exotics getting below that, like the hub below, all 36gm of it....
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