Originally Posted by flythebike
You're boring. Go eat some pie.
Lots of people are so locked into a gear choice that they choose it as their nick. I like to change ratios often, to suit my day-to-day strength level. Being a racer that can vary quite a bit depending on if I raced the day before, if I want to put a governor on my pace do to an impending race or whatever. If this sounds like something you'd like to be able to do, pull the trigger on the Levels. Quite a nice looking hub; smooth, resistant to torque and such. Pretty. Innovative.
Many here are not old enough to remember the pre-STI days. All the pros persisted for several years with using down-tube shift levers. Finally they started losing races to people with STI, BECAUSE OF it. That forced the switch.
The ability to easily change ratios; and the resistance to stripping makes it worth choosing over the other hubs out there. The quality is certainly on par. As far as Scott's ability to make Level a viable buisness in the years to come, all we can do is support him and intend for these hubs to catch on. I really think the anology between friction-downtube and click-shift-handlebar shifting is valid. It is a paradigm shift that just transforms things completely. I mean, why live in the past just because other people do so...of course I'd say that if you're happy with what you have, keep rolling with it, but if you're looking to buy...go for it.
fixed is still somewhat of a niche market, and i would guess that within a year it'll go back be being even smaller... it takes a lot of people to justify a serious change, and changing the norm for shifters would be a lot easier than for a niche bike like a fixie...
Originally Posted by absntr
Will- get the Phil's. The Pauls haven't been around all that long and if you search there's been threads about the big nut cracking. I was looking at Paul's but like you said, why risk it? Phil's baby.
in my experience, pauls are rock solid... some went out with the shoddy axle, but that seems to be it... of the three threads you posted, there were just two experiences with a bad axle...
plus he's sold some designs to shimano, and if they can trust him i think that says a good deal in his favor...