How Important are Hubs???
 

So I bought a used Jamis Sputnik and it has great components (sugino 75 w/ BB, Brooks saddle, Shimano 105 brake (yes, some brakes are nicer than others!). Anyways, it came w/ some blue deep Vs laced to Formula hubs. I thought they looked hideous so I traded them to my girlfriend for some cheap Alex Rims w/ Formula hubs (silver) that came on her SE Lager.

Everything on this bike is great except the wheels. I (eventually) am going to replace the alex/formula wheelset w/ something nicer. I was thinking Mavic Open Pro. Now, my question is: how important are nice hubs vs. cheap hubs? Is it worth it to get Dura Ace hubs as opposed to Formula hubs on a pair of open pros? I realize you have to clean bearings of DA hubs, but not worried about that. Are nice hubs a noticeable upgrade on a FG bike?

Personally, I think that if you are not on a track, you will probably not notice much if any of a difference.

I'd personally take the formula hubs with their sealed bearings over the DA hubs for daily riding on the streets. If you don't like the formula bearings, swap them out for some phill bearings or something.

logic tells me that if you can't coast, smooth hubs shouldn't make that much of a difference...but maybe I am wrong about this. If I wanted to upgrade my existing formula hubs, though, you're syaing I could just put some Phil bearings in there? that could be a cheap/good temporary upgrade...'

Also, will I even feel a difference b/w alex rims and open pros or would this entire purchase just be wasted $???

the wheel set you have is fine, other than the fact that you have girl wheels.

:lol: +1 on the wheels you have being fine.

cant coast no... but the wheels are still turning...
+2 on them being fine

of course hubs are important. why wouldnt they be?

ever ride a bike with f'ed up or super tight bearings in the hubs? you feel plenty of resistance.

a formula hub -- or an equivalent -- is all anyone on the street needs. anything more than that is just aesthetics and bling-factor and weight-weenyism, unless you ride on the track.

high vs low flange can affect ride quality / stiffness.

cheaper hubs have less durable flanges and poor threading.

if you want maintenance, go with loose ball. if you dont want maintenance, go with cartridge.

Beh.

Formulas are the minimum you'll want to be riding on the road. If you plan on riding brakeless on the road, i'd recommend buying the best hubs you can afford and maintaining that stuff. Cartridge bearing rear hubs just means that you won't wear the hub out from the bearings rotating - but maintanence can be of an equivalent nightmare when you DO have to change them out (the stock formula bearings, for example are complete garbage).

I use Formula hubs on my fixed touring bike and my fixed mtb / winter bike and they have held up to some serious use and abuse.

There is a reason they are often on back order as I don't think Formula can make them fast enough or in enough quantity to satisfy demand.

I have smoother running hubs (non cartridge) but there is nothing wrong with Formulas at all.

Nothing wrong with formula they are fine. Smooth/better hubs are felt in the 1st minute of riding, but after that you'll forget about it. I'm riding with a non smooth rear hub and really can't feel the difference.

I know this has already been said more or less, but just bringing up a new point.

I have a wheelset with formula hubs, and one with Dura-Ace hubs. In practice I don't feel any difference. I have noticed a much larger change from a simple change of the tires.

I'd say Formula are perfectly fine, invest extra money in a wheel build from a good local builder who will help you true/maintain them. Get butted spokes and a good rim. And, decent tires, at least for the front if you're a skidder.

Not sure what Alex rims you're looking at specifically, if they're eyeleted with a nice seam there won't be much difference. But, in my experience between cheap and nicer rims of the same style (box or v) the difference comes in weight and holding true. Nicer rims also will likely have a better junction at the seam, helping aid in overall wheel longevity. If you're going with 32 or 36 spokes, and don't care about weight, it might not be worth the extra investment, but it would probably be worth asking the advice of your LBS who builds a ton of wheels and the maintains even more.

and if you really want, you can switch out the bearings. phil's fit. but, as was stated above, better hubs don't "feel" any different than a properly functioning cheap ones. they'll potentially last longer though. keeping your tire pressure up and chain lubed makes a much bigger difference.

Hubs arent's really that important. They only support the bike frame and wheel. They also let the wheel spin (if that's important to you).

That being said, I wouldn't go with a no name.... and I wouldn't splurge.
Formulas are right in the ball park for price vs performance.

+
yeah, makes a noticeable difference
prior to service, a front hub i rode daily throughout the winter was surprisingly cumbersome

For the road I am going to say just use Formulas. That's what I use on the road and they do the job just fine. The most important thing here is to be able to take a beating. At least where I'm from ...

Fail... (unless you are just being sarcastic).

Hubs are the most important bearing interface on a bicycle and the rear axle and bearings are subjected to high load stresses that are only exceeded by that of the bottom bracket. Wheel hubs spin at a rate many times that of the bottom bracket and are also more easily contaminated with dirt and water.

Poor quality hubs are built to low specifications and are sometimes difficult, if not impossible to set up properly whereas a better hub will be built to better specs, higher tolerances, and have better quality bearings.

When I am teaching I explain that when you are adjusting a high quality hub it is going to be much more sensitive to mis-adjustment but once properly set up will roll with less resistance and because of that, be more efficient. Over thousands of miles this efficiency and longer operational life will be appreciated.

Higher quality hubs last longer due to the better parts used and the higher machining tolerances.

In practice, very few people are going to notice the difference between a good hub (ie. Formula) and an exceptional hub (ie, White Industries) if they are properly set up.

I have a 1955 Raleigh Lenton fixed gear road bike that has it's original Raleigh track hubs and these hubs are as smooth as silk and this difference can be felt when one is riding long and fast... it is a smoothness that has to be experienced. The bike is also oil lubricated which makes a considerable difference in how smooth it is.

Raleigh's QC in the 50's was second to none and they had a zero tolerance for poorly machines parts and I have noted this difference in their hubs and in their SA internal hubs whereas a late model SA hub will run smoothly but a 50's hub is an entirely different experience.

I understand these things really well as I have worked as a machinist and a bike mechanic and do ride 1000's upon thousands of miles every year and have no use for poorly built parts.

People often comment that my bikes never seem to break down and a lot of that stems from being up on my maintainence but it also because I like quality bits.

I have some Alex rims and formula hubs on my FG commuter. My commute adds up to 5-6000 miles a year and I've been on this setup for two years. The hubs have not been an issue and it rains here 9 months a year. They still spin well.

As far as the rims, the best thing you can do is get a quality build. You *can* learn to build them yourself. A quality build will hold the rim true better than anything else. When I got my wheels, I re-tensioned all the spokes myself. The wheel holds true today. A good rim on poor or uneven tension will suck.

Pretty sure that was not-so-thinly-veiled sarcasm.

^Ya, It's pretty much a thick slathering.

yea i'd say you don't really need hubs at all

Agreed dude :thumb:

http://bikehugger.com/images/blog/UWNI20.jpg

Thanks for all of the replies. I don't think I am going to spend money upgrading the Sputnik's wheelset. If the wheels ever do need replacing, maybe I'll invest in some nice hubs and rims at that time, though. Good to know this information.

One thing worth considering is how much weight you schlepp around and how many miles you log.
If you put in a lot of miles and or carry a lot of weight some rims will go out of true much faster
and some hubs will have issues sooner. I had a set of formula hubs I rode all winter, rain commuting,
grocery runs, roller rides inside to get exercise. One one the nuts cracked and one fell off the axle. I went out and used that as justification to get a pretty bomber wheelset that is now more than I need. But it will go farther for the money than the other wheelset did.