Touring - Touring Hubs??

I'm going to be getting a new wheelset for my touring bike. I want to go with 36 spoke wheels, like the Sun CR18 rims, but have no idea what to do about hubs. I'm after dependability and durability (all at a reasonable price, of course) and would welcome your suggestions for front and rear (135mm dropouts) hubs. Thanks.

XT pair s/b about $80.00 if you shop around. Phil Wood is the best but pair is about $435.00! I think XT is the best combo of performance and value. my 2 cents...

I agree with BillyBear's suggestion.

If you don't want to spend too much, LX is actually the one that offers the most for your money. XT is "a little bit" better, so it is a nice upgrade.

BTW, Phils Woods are good, sturdy and expensive, but easy to maintain. You will, however need to maintain them more often than the LX or XT which are well sealed.

I just built a new set with 36h XT's, Sun Rhyno Lite XL's, and 14G Dt's. The whole setup cost me $172 parts & shipping and two evenings to build and true. The new XT's bearings and freehub is very smooth . These replaced my 11 year-old XT's with Sun Chinooks which are still good but getting scary old for long trips. I would have used LX but I prefer the natural look of Aluminum on the XT instead of the black the LX comes with.
Phil Wood and Chris King both make really good stuff but when you are on tours that take you far from home ,finding Shimano parts are going to be 10 times easier than finding parts for your Phil or Chris hubs.

The 2004 LX hubs are silver and the best value out there, I test hubs with my commute, in new england the roads are a mess, the winter brings road salt and sand every day, even the days it doesn't snow, the sun causes run off and the salt gets all over the bike. The LX hubs perform dependably day after day, year after year on a loaded commuter, the seals never allow water into the bearings and they roll smoothly. The only difference between the LX and the XT's in the cassetts body, which is much stronger on the XT. I would go with the LX/XT hub on touring bike beacuse you can bring bearing balls in a zip-lok bag for repairs, Cartridge bearing hubs, although very dependable, are more costly and cannot be repaired on the side of the road with minimal tooling. You can always spend more, but you don't always get more when you do spend more. Shimano stuff just plain works.

Hope hubs are superb and if you are going a long tour you can always take spare cartridge bearings with you.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the LX hubs lighter than the XT? Those grams add up depressingly fast......

XT hubs with Ryno light rims, 36 spokes built four cross.

The Shimano tandem hub is just a XT hub with a longer axel and more holes drilled in the flange. My touring tandem is set up with the XT Tandem hub and Ryno light rim, but built with 48 spokes in a four cross. Not a problem with the wheel in six years of loaded touring.

Before using the XT hub I had used Hope hubs, but found them to be lacking.(IMHO) To there credit they did replace the freehub body for me five times, and the hub shell once (All with in the first year)

The big plus to XT is you can get parts at just about any bike shop anyplace you go. Very few shops stock hub parts for Hope or Phil Wood if you need them when on tour.

My touring bike is being outfitted with XT tandem 48 spoke hubs, Sun Ryno rims and Marathon 26x1.9 tires... for my weight and what I'll be carrying/towing... I've been told that they are basically Bombproof.

XT hubs it is. I've had good luck with 36 spoke wheels, so I'm going to stick with them. Thanks to all for your help!

The 36 spoke wheel should be fine for any single. When the tandem is loaded (two riders, gear and bike) it is over 500lbs.... The wheel has held up well, I have only had to true it once in 6000 miles. I do tare down the bike every year and repack everything and check for worn parts.

I did 36-hole XT hubs laced to CR18 rims, 3-cross. The Rhino Lites are pretty wide (28 mm? vs 22.5 mm for CR18) and may force you to use a tire wider than you may need, depending on how you plan to tour. On the other hand, they won't wallow as much if you do use a very wide tire.

The Shimano tandem hub is just a XT hub with a longer axel and more holes drilled in the flange. My touring tandem is set up with the XT Tandem hub and Ryno light rim, but built with 48 spokes in a four cross. Not a problem with the wheel in six years of loaded touring.

I've been considering this basic set-up on my recumbent; 135mm rear spacing, I believe. How does one get that 48 spoke XT tandem hub to fit the 135mm dropout ??

Sun Rhino Lite vs. something comparable from Mavic ... any thoughts ??

Thanks

msm

Use a shorter axel or cut it and remove the spacers. 48 spokes is really overkill on any single. I use the 48 hole hubs on tandems, both my off road and touring tandem use the same wheel.

If a rider on a single is 200 lbs (I wish) and they carry 50 bs of gear and 30 lbs for the bike thats only 280 lbs 36 spokes should be fine.

On a tandem if each rider is 200 lbs (avarge of the two) and each rider needs 40 lbs of gear, and 45 lbs for the bike that adds up to 525 lbs.

The XT tandem hub also has threads to mount a drum brake on the non drive side, The drum brake is used to control speeds down long hills.

Have a look at the DT Swiss site and checkout Hugi hubs...I have made up several sets over the years on Mavic rims and they are super!