Sovos or suzue basic hub?
 

Which hub is better?

Don't know anything about the Sovos, but I've owned two sets of Suzue basic hubs and currently have a set on my Bianchi Pista. Can't beat the price of $50 for the set but the bearings are not smooth at all when new, but will somewhat smooth out over time........or you can just repack them. Bearing smoothness varies from set to set...... but for a street fixer, these are good enough to build around. And they don't look too shabby. A Shimano Dura Ace lockring ($10) is compatible with the basic hub.....others will not thread.

the suzue isn't necessarily a bad hub, it'll do it's job just fine. i dont have first hand experience with the sovos. but if you're looking at the suzue i'd recommend the surly track hubs, which only cost a tiny bit more.

I have a Sovos flipper, and I have developed a curious problem with it (it is being replaced by a Surly in the next coupla weeks):
the cone is a two piece, consisting of the 'nut' that screws on the axle and the cone, which is stamped aluminum. The rpoblem is the stamped cone has loosened from the nut and every now and then decides to cause my wheel to shimmy. A simple fix, but annoying. So it will become a standby wheel. Just my 2 cents on that...cheers

A friend of mine also reports problems with the Sovos hub. Seems like it might be a good hub for a really econo track bike, but not up to the rigors of street use. Incidentally, bikecult.com/works sells a cool looking wheel set based on the Sovos hub and some aero rims for $120 bucks. Pretty killer deal, but as I said, probably not up to street use.

You can always just spring for the Phil Woods.. Haven't heard any complaints about them lately.

Seriously, another inexpensive option is the Quando track hub. I have one that I rode around on for a few months, that's not really long enough to tell much though. (It's sitting in the garage waiting for another frame to go on to now.)

-Jason

frame....I need another one of those...
I was thinking KHS. Any thoughts?

I dunno anything about Sovo hubs but I know I just had my Suzue hubs freeze up on me a few days ago. It wasn't a big deal, just had to adjust the hubs a bit, but it was still annoying. I love my Suzue hubs though, they are totally amazing. I highly recommend them!

I'm guessing mine locked up because of the four huge potholes I went over a few days ago.

I rode the Sovos for about 2 years. Near the end, the cones started coming loose as stated above. I retired the hub when the cog threads stripped out as I tried to stop for an intersection by locking the wheel. One reason I'm glad I run a front brake as a backup. Replaced it w/ a Surly.

I got about three years out of a sovos hub. Then the first time I tried skidding, the threads stripped on the lockring area. The bearings were never very smooth but I still got alot of miles out of it. A good hub to get started with.

I now have a suzue promax (been on it for two months). This has the sealed bearings. It is a MAJOR improvement over the sovo. It is so sweet!

I have not tried the surlys or the phil woods.

Sovos, as others have said, have reliability issues. Quando is maybe a little crappier than Sovos--I stripped one not too long ago. Moved up to a Suzue, much happier. The Surly was more than a bit more $$ (maybe I just got a bad price).

Phil Wood is top-of-the line. In that case, also consider Campy, Miche, and the slightly less expensive TA Alize.