Anybody have any experience with or insight into the new Shimano Sora FH-3500 and HB-3500 hubs? I'm considering using them for a low-priced build where durability & longevity are the priority over weight. The rest of the new 3500 groupset looks to be much improved over 3400 so I'm hoping the same holds true with the hubs. Price is definitely right. They look decent as well. Anyone have weights or other specs? Thumbs up or thumbs down?

At one time I believe the Late Great Sheldon Brown called them one of the best loose ball bearing hubs available. That is good enough for me.

Adequate.

Pretty damn hard to go wrong with Shimano hubs... except maybe for the ones from their wheelsets, which usually have expensive proprietary cones that may be difficult to source.

Which wouldn't really be a problem if every hub was properly adjusted before being ridden... *sigh*

As with any Shimano hub NIB you'll want to re-grease and adjust before putting in service. Beyond that you're good to go.

Sounds like good news. Thanks guys! I was thinking Sheldon was praising Tiagra or 105 hubs but I suppose 3500 is probably now on par with 4400. The only non-marketing info I could find on them was the hub diagrams on the wheelsmfg.com hub-parts page. No reviews or user feedback out there that I could tell. Looks like they added dust covers for 2013 but it's hard to tell much else from the diagram other than that they're a standard loose-bearing design. Hopefully not a big step down from the highly rated hubs a step or two up the Shimano ladder.

Still curious about weight though, not that it's a big deal. Maybe in the 550-600g range?

Thanks for the re-grease tip, reddog3!

Hubs aren't a very remarkable component unless something sucks about them, or they're extremely high-zoot (and then it's 98% wank).

Weight, sealing, aesthetics, durability of finish, maybe only good for 50,000km instead of 100,000.

Just as a follow-up in case anyone is curious...

The Sora 3500 hubs look pretty solid and weighed in at 524 grams (379g rear, 145g front).