mascher

hee hee, I forgot to put on the obnoxiously playful silliness button on my post, thinking that it would be pretty obvious that I have limited experience.

My rankings are still for real though. Just note that they omit most of the hubs that are ever discussed here.

sr20det

big ups to kogswell / Matt!

peteshelby

aul, phil wood, white industries, soma, formula, suzue, campagnolo, surly, I.R.O, Kohswell, Miche

phi wood, paul, campagnolo, level, suzue, miche, formula/iro, kogswell, surly

i added level, and i didnt even know soma made hubs. surlys are bad, i have had to replace my bearings 3 times in the past year.

Busa

RENAK (German) high flange hubs,
Campagnolo, (Nuovo Tipo high flange) and Record high flange.
And last Russian XB3 on tubular training Moscow 80 Bicycles (in Cuba).
After that too many brands to remember but nowadays Campy wins my heart all the time.

phobus

You joined just to bump a 12 year-old thread. Well done, sir.

79pmooney

I've only used 3 or 4 brands of fixed hubs since I started in 1976. One or two nameless hubs I picked up cheap decades ago, three Campy large flange track NRs and a number of Miches. Many miles on both the Campys and the Miche hubs.

Rating? Miche, then Campy. Neither are perfect. Both feature beautiful shells and good bearings. I'd give the plus to Campy for both there. Many of my Miche's did not have good lockwashers/slotted axle and proper tightening was something I had to check regularly, especially since I remove the wheels so often. (The nuts spin and the wheel goes wobbly and/or the locknut backs off and if I don't catch it, I break it when I tighten the wheel, often out on the road. This is fixable, just a pain.)

The Campy hubs broke flanges. The first two. I retired the third before it broke. Campy lived up to its reputation and replaced both with no questions but replacing the hub body on a built-up wheel sucks. Campy bearings are better. For all weather wheels, cartridge is so much easier and worry free. When they get too bad, $30 gives me a new hub. Both Miche and Campy have/had very good threading for the cogs and I haven't had issues other than the threads are tight and harder to spin cogs onto on some Miche models. (I've used at least 3 models of Miche, one single-sided and at least two models of double-sided fix-fix, both high and low flange.)

Phil Wood would be a no-brainer number one of those three if I had been willing to fork over the money. I won't bother with the others. Life's too short. Miche has proven itself to work and I know Phil would also.

My experience is based on 100,000 miles of fix gear riding on the road, year-round in Boston, then Ann Arbor, the Bay area, Seattle and now Portland. Didn't start riding the Miches until probably 17 years ago after I moved to Portland.

Ben

TMonk

I can't tell the difference between any of the fixed hubs I've used (surly, formula, gran compe, DA). I guess the DA ones roll nicer but they're on my track bike and they're laced to tubular rims with fancy tires so it's hard to say.

50voltphantom

It may have been all in my head, but my (now stolen) Phil x Archetype wheel set seemed to make which ever bike they were on feel more 'planted', or even stiffer. That aside, the bearings in those hubs felt as perfectly smooth as the day I got them after what was at least 4,000 miles. Awesome hubs for sure. Kinda heavy, but they will not disappoint.

The small 10x26x8mm 6000 bearings found in Formula hubs don't last a year before they develop slop. I replaced the bearings in my rear Formula hub twice in six months last year. I haven't tried the Phil-spec 6000 bearings yet, maybe they'd last longer.

SCRcat6

What factors make a hub suitable/not suitable for the street or track?

I'm not doubting your knowledge at all, I genuinely want to learn.

phobus

Given the post you're replying to is from 2006, you're probably not going to get an answer. Or maybe you will in 2030. Stay tuned!

SCRcat6

Didn't cost me anything to ask

JohnDThompson 

Well, for record attempts on the track, we'd leave the dustcaps off and lubricate with oil rather than grease. You probably wouldn't want that for ordinary road riding.

REDMASTA

Anyone have experience with Profile racing track hubs? Want to build up my next wheelset them but can't find much feedback. Currently running the All-City New Sheriff SL hubs with archetypes and they have been awesome.

Scrodzilla

Profile track hubs are pretty much equal to Phil Wood in overall quality. Very solid, well-made hubs.

Wspsux

I like my formulas just fine. Getting some ck R45 on my roadie though

Busa

phobus, this one is for you, Today I shall judge nothing that occurs.

SCRcat6

Ahh, marginal gains, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks!