Thats fair, dolface. We all love researching our junk dont we? Thats why this thread is still alive. I just see it in three, ok four parts: Hub Body; Bearings; axle; Cog setup.

The hub body is (IIRC) cut from a solid piece of whatever (stainless steel?). I am sure there is a quality gradient there, but I dont see anyone worried about it anyways. If you were, you could look up the characteristics of the metal, and look at the finished product. I am going out there to suggest that the hub body is strong enough to endure of the stress you might put on it with a huge safety factor left over. The mean time to failure for this stuff is longer than the warranty on your knees, IMO. It sounds like this is where the Chub hubs are really risky because theyre using a new construction design and new materials. Neither of these issues apply for the Level.

The bearings are sealed, standard, replaceable. Bearings havnt been mentioned in this thread once, which seems to me would be the first measure of short-term performance. Who makes them? Are they 25 or 00 grade? They get grimed and ruined? You dont like them? Press them out and get some others. You could probably rob the Powell Swiss bearings off your old skateboard if you felt like it. (W.A.G. and/or rhetoric ;)

Ok maybe the axle is a non-standard affair. You strip the threads on your axle and you're in trouble.

Cogs. A combination of my Hub material argument and my original rant.

What else? You think maybe the level guy assembles them poorly?

Snarky is a word I use for Ad Hominem attacks. It can be your word of the day, William. You know what to do when you hear it.

See, We get some good information here! Can you show us pics of your broken axle?

Level cogs.

I was wondering if someone that has a Level cog and a hub that has standard ISO disk mounting could see if the level cog has the same bolt pattern as a disc hub. I realize the Level cog only has three holes and the disc has 6, I can drill out the other 3. The hardest part is just getting everything centered to begin with.

Thanks in advance.

I have plenty of Level Cogs...but no disk hubs.

By the way, Level is developing a Disk Rotor that will bolt onto their Hubs..

http://www.levelcomponents.com/dev.html

Hi Folks....

I won't be riding Levels until they make a coasterbrake version 8-) But I'll throw in my 2 cents anyway. Scott H. and I just spent the last month working together and I asked him to bring a hub along so I could check it out. I was more than alittle impressed. He brought both a black and a silver hub and a cog. If I rode fixed, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. I feel they are an equal to Phil Wood's, and I love the Phils. But the concerns of where Level will be in 5 years are legitimate, so folks will just have to decide for themselves when or if it's the right time to buy one.

For what it's worth, I think insight into the person/people behind a product can be a useful indicator of how that product will be handled over time or in the event of a problem. For example, Tony IS the success behind the IRO not just because he's the one selling them but because of the way he treats people and handles problems. Without speaking too much 'out of school', I can say that Scott seems a legitimately decent guy. We had some really long days and he busted butt. There wasn't much sleep to be had on this trip and he handled it better than most folks thrust into that position. I'd say it's a safe bet that he's not a quitter by nature.

Anyway, for anyone in the Seattle area interested in checking out the hub 'in person' (in hubson?), I asked Scott to loan me a set to bring around to the local shops. I'd be happy to meet with anyone wishing to see them....and no, I'm not going to sell them nor am I on commission, I just think they're that good. I also know he's planning to attend the SSWC this year and I'm sure he'll have a few samples.

I am going to buy 2 front hubs though.

Jim

[QUOTE=Devolution]No bull*****, I broke the rear axle of my Level hub this past weekend.
Misaligned dropouts maybe? Axles very rarely break for no reason. Misaligned dropouts are often the reason.