Touring disc hubs

[hjd10]

Hi,

I'm looking for a good hub that is disc specific and suitable for touring? Now having read through some of the posts there is lots of discussion on the pros and cons of either cup and cone v cartridge. I'd prefer to use a cartridge bearing hub as they run very smooth however I'm aware of the increased cost.
I'm currently running Mavic Crossrides on my MTB and despite the lightweight construction they run very smoothly even after they have been ridden very hard. Obviously the size and small number of spokes on the Mavic's rules them out for touring. What other options are available besides Goldtec and Hope?

For rims I'm after 700c disc specific and something that will accept a tire of 32mm and upwards.

Regards,

Howie

[Brucey]

well you don't say what kind of touring you will be doing; this could greatly affect the choice of parts as could the budget.

But if you are wanting to carry a decent load then 36h/135mm OLN is a good idea and arguably why stop there? There are tandem spec 40h/145mm OLN hubs out there which work for loaded use too, but require the frame to be built/modded to suit.

Spa cycles sell Zenith tandem hubs in 40h/145mm and similar hubs can be had in 36h/135mm elsewhere too I think. These hubs are good value.

Royce make lovely hubs but they are not really aimed at touring. I'm not sure they do more than 32h drilling.

DT swiss make nice hubs but they are quite pricey. Same goes for Chris King and Phil Wood. Paul Components are doing disc hubs now too. Again not cheap.

White Industries Mi6 hubs are worth a look. On the minus side these have a slightly fussy bearing adjustment system which uses small grub screws ( the Paul system is much easier than this, but then again, many other hubs a have no facility for adjustment of any kind) but on the plus side they have chunky hub shells which are forged in 6061 aluminium; these flanges should be more resistant to SCC than many others. Although they have a strong 15mm dia CrMo axle it is not built to be heavy; these hubs score well on the weight/strength/durability balance.

Disc specific rims are (for touring) a slightly daft idea IMHO; those nice thick braking surfaces you get on a standard rim are just what you need to make the rim strong, like you want.

BTW whilst there are some nice hubs out there with cartridge bearings in them, I'm not sure I'd choose them over a set of conventional shimano cassette hubs with cup and cone bearings. Many years of riding have shown me that such hubs are smooth, reliable, and can be easily serviced using simple tools.

cheers

[hjd10]

Brucey, some good gen thanks. I'm looking to do day rides/rough stuff with the occasional weekend tour (rear panniers and maybe a handlebar bag max), that said I'm 215lbs and not the lightest rider!
I've had a few Shimano Deore hubs and whilst they are very tough I never really thought that they were very smooth. I guess there are many trade off's when selecting equipment! What I'd say is that most of my riding over the past 12 years has been off road on MTB's and this is completely different to miles pounded on the road.
Cartridge bearings have always seemed the nicest solution to me although I do understand your thinking from the long term maintenance aspect.

Hmmm, still deciding....

Rim wise I was originally thinking about a 29er MTB rim, something like a WTB however tire size is going to come into play as I'm only after a 32mm tire. Maybe I've had too much time in the MTB world and I'm after the look and feel of something that I'm used to?

[CyclingSi]

I am running some Deore 6 bolt hubs 32H on Mavic TN729 rims on my light tourer with 32mm tires and I am a fair bit heavier than yourself, my set runs really smooth and are ridden every day in every weather If I was doing more touring then I would have gone for 36H. In the past I have had cartridge hubs and I would say most are supplied with aluminium axles which for load carrying I have found to be less than suitable.

[531colin]

The only thing "wrong" with Deore hubs is they are supplied with the cones set too tight. Back off the cones so there is a bit of "play" which disappears when the Q/R is done up, and after a few hundred miles they will be as smooth as silk.
It used to be easy to drill them for greasing, but I think Shimano complicated it a bit...http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=34933&start=15
Have a weekend away with the cost saving over boutique hubs!

[andrewjoseph]

I've got hope pro II hubs on our bikes. used as day ride, sportife and fully loaded touring bikes. I've done over 11,000 km on mine in 4 years and not needed to touch anything.


the rear hope pro II on my mtb was 11 years old and still working but I've decided not to risk the rim any longer and bought a new wheel with pro III hub.

[reohn2]

..........I've had a few Shimano Deore hubs and whilst they are very tough I never really thought that they were very smooth...........

Why should that matter?
I have a pair of six bolt Deore hubs I use for rough stuff riding,out of the frame if I run the wheel whilst hold the axle they aren't as buttery smooth as another pair of wheels with six bolt XT 756 hubs or the DT Swiss hubs on the tandem,but in the frame when riding I can't feel any difference at all.
I also have a front Formula hub on another bike that feels dog rough compared to the others,but again I can't feel that when riding.
I LURVE XT 756 six bolt hubs but not because they feel smoother but because they're cheap,last and are easily maintained.

[mrjemm]

Don't Hope hubs click away like a (insert simile here, I am not awake enough to think of one)? I couldn't tour with clicky hubs, would do my noggin in... What I mean is, any more, having used a set of very clicky ZTRs for some time and got maddened by the noise.

[reohn2]

I've got hope pro II hubs on our bikes. used as day ride, sportife and fully loaded touring bikes. I've done over 11,000 km on mine in 4 years and not needed to touch anything.


the rear hope pro II on my mtb was 11 years old and still working but I've decided not to risk the rim any longer and bought a new wheel with pro III hub.

That's durable!

Edit:- just checked the price EEK!

[reohn2]

Don't Hope hubs click away like a (insert simile here, I am not awake enough to think of one)? I couldn't tour with clicky hubs, would do my noggin in... What I mean is, any more, having used a set of very clicky ZTRs for some time and got maddened by the noise.

Dt Swiss are loud too,but not as loud as Hope

[Brucey]

re hub smoothness vs drag losses. It is jolly nice to have really smooth hubs, for sure. But even a fully laden touring bike at high speed (say ~25mph), with fairly poor bearings is (by my estimate) consuming less than 2W (total) in the hub bearings. By contrast each tyre is consuming 30-40W. So no wonder there isn't a detectable difference; realistically the best you might be able to do is to shave 1W from your total power requirement. And that is if you can get bearings with half the rolling friction (not very likely at all). If you could do it, at that speed it is going to be about 1/250th the total power, tops.

At half the speed, potential hub bearing friction gains might just creep towards (say) 1/150th of the total power requirement.

In both cases the air resistance is significant, so (say) a 1% change in friction doesn't give you a 1% increase is speed, it'll be less than that.

Hubs are not the only bearings with losses in, of course; in the past some riders would run bearings without seals and in light oil for special time-trials. If all the bearings are treated thus, you might reduce the overall power required by 3-5W, up to 1% of the total. In a racing context you will take anything you can get, but even so it is small potatoes.

So much as I like smooth hubs I know that in reality they don't make a big difference. The only thing that does make a big difference is if they cannot be adjusted to be free-running (as per Colin's suggestion) when tight in the frame without there being some free play still. Then they might rattle about a bit, which isn't terribly desirable, even if it doesn't necessarily slow you down much.

cheers

[andrewjoseph]

hope hubs do click , madly, as I hardly ever coast until I'm doing 60km/h downhill, the wind noise cancels out the insane hum.



I do find the clicking useful, when riding alone I try maintain revs to keep it silent, when riding with my wife, (who has same setup as me), if I can hear the hub it's time to put the brakes on so I don't crash into her.

[Brucey]

the White Industries Mi6 hubs are also fairly noisy; not quite in the same league as Hope ones , but not exactly quiet. A little grease inside can make all these hubs a lot quieter for a while, but too much or too thick and you may get slippage.

BTW if you get the Mi6 hubs with the steel freehub body (it comes standard as steel or Ti, with the other as an option I think), it comes with an (electroless?) NI plate finish. Normally this kind of finish is pretty durable, but not on the Mi6 hubs I have seen; just as well the freehub body is covered over by the cogs, 'cause it tends to go a bit rusty.

cheers

[hjd10]

I've been looking around and I've noticed good reports for a number of different companies....

Sun Ringle Disc Jockey
Halo Spin Doctor
DMR Revolver Rear Disc

I'm thinking about the Sun Ringle.

Regards

[andrewjoseph]

my wife had a dmr revolver rear hub, after about 2 years of problems with pawls and a few bearing replacements, I put a hope hub on there.