Originally Posted by William Karsten
This "attack the buyer on the personal level" is BS. "live in the past" because people choose not to buy something that is AT THIS TIME NOT PROVEN OVER THE TEST OF TIME... C'mon. You're smarter than that, right?
I'm just shaking your tree, I didn't intend an attack, I apologize for that tone. I think the post about types of buyers is very insightful. I acknowledge that now it is a leap of faith. However, I bought mine becuase a fellow at The Bike Lane in Burke, Virginia has a set and convinced me that I would be pleased with it as he is with his. I looked at the thing, spun it around, studied it; man it just looks and feels indestructible, and I have destroyed stuff.
Originally Posted by William Karsten
Tell me, what makes the Level hub BETTER than a Phil or Paul with a properly installed lock ring?
At this point, it's only different. And not proven yet.
Level hubs are a better choice for me because I like to change ratios frequently. I won't hesitate to do it because it takes a couple minutes and is super-easy, and can be done on the fly. And for me that was enough to sway me. I felt like the quality was equal to or better than Phil, I have a buddy (*New Guy*) who has ripped and stripped out his Pauls, so I made that choice.
The high flanges are really really high and offer great lateral stiffness. The ride is very smooth and the hub takes off some of the road vibration rather well. Not ping-y. Nice finish to it. Skidding response is firmer than with a standard hub (I had Suntour Superbe Pros for years and they were quite nice), more immediate.
BTW if you don't have a torx wrench or don't want to carry one, you can replace those bolts (that come with the Level) with a water-bottle cage bolt.