People stress too much about hubs, in my opinion. Hub design is fairly settled these days: alloy oversize thru-axle, cartridge bearings. I get on well with Novatec which are light enough and have a good selection of freehubs. Not entirely sure what more expensive hubs bring apart from fancy anodising. Hubs are not really a performance-affecting component. As long as they hold the spokes in place and the bearings turn freely, what more can they be asked to do.
For someone doing a first wheel build, J-bend spokes and brass nipples would be advised. I built a wheel with a pair of Nextie rims last year and the rims were an absolute pleasure to build, they showed no tendency to warp and took tension very well.
Best Gravel hubs
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I'm using White Industry CLD hubs (24/28) for my gravel bike with the rear wheel laced 3x. The hub is very easy to service and requires no special grease to lubricate it. The bearings are of the off-the-shelf variety, and the freehub is Ti, so it will take a very long time to wear out (DT Swiss hubs will use either aluminum, which gouge easily or steel, which is heavy). I've been using these hubs since 2018 and have logged thousands of miles on them, and other than occassionally throwing new bearings (and upgrading it to the 48t ring), I've had no issues with them, at all.
BTW, WI puts the service instructions right on their website, and you can buy the parts from them, or buy upgraded parts from other vendors.
BTW, WI puts the service instructions right on their website, and you can buy the parts from them, or buy upgraded parts from other vendors.
Madone 9 - https://bit.ly/2Nqedbn
Emonda SLR - https://bit.ly/2UK5FP8
Crockett - https://bit.ly/2Xem4sk
Emonda SLR - https://bit.ly/2UK5FP8
Crockett - https://bit.ly/2Xem4sk
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This is not true. 28 hole carbon rims stay almost perfectly true if you break a spoke which is really handy if you are racing. My experience with 24 the high tension of the spokes and larger span between them had the tire hitting the frame .
I would definitely recommend erase hubs. J bend, 28h front and rear, wide flange, titanium freehubs, super easy maintenance.
I've built 2 wheelsets with these hubs, 1 for my gravelbike (farsports gravel rims) and one with LB wr40 wheelset for winter riding / kiddy trailer etc. I really love the feel/super smooth riding.
I've built 2 wheelsets with these hubs, 1 for my gravelbike (farsports gravel rims) and one with LB wr40 wheelset for winter riding / kiddy trailer etc. I really love the feel/super smooth riding.
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I've got Hope Pro 4's on a wheelset and they are outstanding.
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+1 on the Hope front. RS4 Centerlock 28h on one pair, 32h on another, both laced to DT Swiss XR331 650B rims.London9921 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 10:02 pmI've got Hope Pro 4's on a wheelset and they are outstanding.
You don't need the best hubs, just good hubs. DT 350s have been problem free, mainteance free for years. They're the best for swapping freehub and cassettes quickly. You can find better hubs with this and that, but do they do anything better - not really.
2:1 hubs or asymetric rims > flange details here.
2:1 hubs or asymetric rims > flange details here.