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Submitted by
Oriol Garrote
a Cross Country Rider
from Barcelona, Spain
Date Reviewed: November 27, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Precision, durability | | Weaknesses: | None as far as I know | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano's XT and LX | | Bottom Line: | I've had one rear hub for several years now and I have no complain at all. I've never had any problems with them. I have the steel cassette version, not the alu one. I was a heavy rider some years ago and had no problems, now I'm a more light weight and smooth rider and this hub is extremely effective. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ken Atkinson
a Weekend Warrior
from Thailand
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2007 | | Favoriate Trail: | Kow Eto | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Jumpots shop | | Strengths: | Looks good, bearings can be replaced from a bearing shop. easy to mantain, very good pickup on ratchit. can change spokes on freewheel side with out tools! | | Weaknesses: | I had a rear hub split, with standard spokes and full suspension, but have had no problem for the last 3 years ( I am 100kg) | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano Tank | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Heckler Hope Mini disks brakes rear gear XTR | | Bottom Line: | They could be stronger, and cheaper, I like the way you can service them without many tools. don't over grease the star ratchit. the sealed bearings can be regreased by removing the plastic covers with a small pin | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Patrick Jonte
a Weekend Warrior
from Indianapolis, IN
Date Reviewed: May 19, 2007 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Weaknesses: | Piece of CRAP!! Hub split right down the middle like everybody else. Cheap die cast aluminum hub with spoke holes right next to hub OD, no wall thickness. No way to service the cassette. | | Bottom Line: | Stay away from HUGI products all together FOREVER!! These hubs were actually branded and laced up by Magura. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kenny G
a Cross Country Rider
from Signal Mountain
Date Reviewed: July 12, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | ebay | | Strengths: | Light. | | Weaknesses: | Durability. Lack of ability to handle the forces associated with its intended use. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, Mavic | | Bike Setup: | You probably only care about the hubs. | | Bottom Line: | My rear Hugi hub body cracked in half lenght wise after less than 1 year of normal xc use. I might normally say that this is was an isolated, freak occurance - but look at all the similar reviews. Hugi (or DT) need to re-design this product as it is obviously not capable of withstanding the forces of normal cycling. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
s
a Cross Country Rider
from oxford ma
Date Reviewed: April 6, 2006 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | magura | | Strengths: | its light. | | Weaknesses: | ripped two hub shells apart. Dt warrantied it twice | | Similar Products Used: | nothing similar used since other hubs did not break | | Bike Setup: | 2004 enduro set up with xc stuff, I dont jump studd just pedal and try to get my heart to stop | | Bottom Line: | The magura wheelset I bought came with ST 240 hubs. The rear shell split. dt warrantied it, I laced it up and road 3 times with broken wrist. the hub split again. Not sure if I am gonna lace this hub up again or try something else. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Bill Phillips
a Weekend Warrior
from Tucson, AZ, USA
Date Reviewed: December 16, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | National Trail South Mountain Phoenix AZ | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Sold on Bike | | Strengths: | Reputation | | Weaknesses: | Broke after a little over 1 year of casual use. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XT and XTR | | Bike Setup: | Specialized Epic S-works | | Bottom Line: | I used to race hard tails before now and always used either Shimano XT or XTR and never had a failure. The Hugi 240S came on my Epic and it actually broke after a year of casual rides. Not only that, I probably only rode it 20 times.
I was also dissapointed that the make you pay for the shop to unlace the hub and send it to them. Next time, I would apply that money to switching back to XTR. I don't have any confidence in this hub now and I don't want to get stuck out in the middle of the desert again. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter Fleury
a Weekend Warrior
from Victoria BC Canada
Date Reviewed: August 9, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | everywhere | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Price Paid: |
$360.00 | | Purchased At: | Brentwood Cycle And Sport | | Strengths: | Everything sounds looks works great | | Weaknesses: | havent found it yet(except price) | | Similar Products Used: | chris king shimano and real | | Bike Setup: | Orange Zero trials set up avid juicy 7 rhino light rear wheel hs33 | | Bottom Line: | lil pricey but its pretty awsome everyone should buy it | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Del Sharp
a Cross Country Rider
from Vail, Breckenridge, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: March 27, 2005 | | Favoriate Trail: | Two Elk (or any trail near Vail) | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | Pedal Power | | Strengths: | Reliable, smooth, bulletproof, servicable and the clicking rear hub makes riders in front of you anxious. | | Weaknesses: | The old ratchet system failed. (I bought my hubs new in '95 when the Trek Y came out.) | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano | | Bike Setup: | 20" Trek Y-22, Kooka cranks, Specialized ti bb, Kooka levers sub 24lb; 20" Cannondale Raven, Sweet wings 25.5lbs. | | Bottom Line: | The Hugi's were built up by Pedal Power when I bought the newly introduced Trek Y bike in '95. In the second season, the ratchet system failed. It was replaced with the updated system which was quieter.
After a few years I flat spotted a rim (bunnyhop over a curb came up short) and I had Pope at Mountain Pedaler lace my Hugi's up with ti dyed spokes and Mavic 217's. Over the years I've broken nearly a dozen spokes, but the wheels have remained rideable even with v-brakes. After ten years of abuse, I'm passing them onto my wife so that I can build up my new Tracer I found on ebay with disc brakes.
As a cross country rider, I always liked the trademark sound of Hugi's and the way riders tend to move to the side of the trail when they hear me coasting behind them. I built up my Hugi/ti wheels for way less than what a pair of Crossmax's cost back then and they were lighter and cooler, too.
Hugi's aren't expensive and they're light, too. I have complete confidence in them, but I usually have my bike serviced every spring, too. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Geoff Husband
a Cross Country Rider
from Brittany, France
Date Reviewed: May 21, 2004 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Strengths: | Looks? Qudos? | | Weaknesses: | Failed hub | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano (all types) Campag | | Bike Setup: | Touring bike (sorry) | | Bottom Line: | 2000 miles of gentle loaded touring on road and the rear flange failed taking three spokes with it. If it's important to you all the comments on sprockets welding on etc are also correct. DT didn't want to know about either fault telling me it wasn't designed for touring. I run a cycle holiday company with loaded touring bikes running hundreds of thousands of miles (www.bretonbikes.com) and I've had a few Shimano freehub bodies fail
but otherwise nothing in 10 years. Shimano Alivio is infinitely better than the DT's... I have contacts with a tandem manufacturer and he's stopped using them because of the failure rate.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Mark
a Cross Country Rider
from Austin, TX
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | Porcupine Rim, Moab | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | Colorado Cyclist | | Strengths: | Light, Well Made | | Weaknesses: | Very difficult to service. "Tooless" concept is a joke, and specialized toolkit is expensive and incomplete. | | Similar Products Used: | Chris King, Shimano Dura-Ace/XTR hubs | | Bike Setup: | Santa Cruz Superlight with Colorado Cyclist hand-built disk wheels (on the Hugi hubs). | | Bottom Line: | These are lightweight and have proven to be durable. That's the good part. Now, the bad part. All hubs, no matter how durable, need to be serviced occasionally, and servicing (dissasembling, cleaning, re-greasing) these hubs is a huge pain.
Hugi claims that the rear hub supports "toolless" partial disassembly (enough to service the ratchet drive, but not the bearings) - don't believe it. In order to service the rear freewheel/ratchet drive, you have to remove the axle end-cap (or "adapter", in Hugi-speak) and the rotor (the part that carries the cassette). Both of these are press-fit onto the axle, and thus can be removed without tools, *in theory*. Here's the reality: The end-cap/adapter will almost always require, at a minimum, an axle vise to get off. Axle vises are cheap, so this is no big deal, but it already throws the "toolless" idea out the window.
The rotor is much worse. I can almost guarantee that, if you have been using your hubs for a while, you will not be able to remove this "by hand," and the alternative is to use a removal adapter, which is part of the toolkit (which costs $85) and which must be used in conjunction with a gear puller, which is not included in the toolkit and will run you another $35 (more, if you want a decent-quality one - mine cost $100).
So, doing even basic service on these hubs will most likely require a $100+ investment in tools. Contrast this with Chris King hubs, which can be serviced to a similar degree with the help of two 5mm allen wrenches.
Bottom line: If you want hubs you can maintain, get Chris King. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ride Biker
a Cross Country Rider
from Santa Cruz, California
Date Reviewed: July 17, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | My non-disc '02 240's are lightweight and smooth. So far, everything is fine. | | Weaknesses: | I wouldn't call this a freeriding hubset. | | Similar Products Used: | various Shimano hubs | | Bike Setup: | '02 Superlight, Avid Ultimate brake/lever, XT drive train, Fox float suspension, Thomson seatpost/stem, Hugi 240/Mavic 517. | | Bottom Line: | I have had no problems riding these hubs in the dirt for 20 miles, 2-3 times a week for a year. I have performed the no-tools maintenence 3 times (just before winter, mid winter, after winter) using the grease that DT-Swiss promptly sent me for free. Each time, the hub just popped apart with little effort. After the no-tools maintenence the freehub is silent for a good 6 weeks, then you will start to hear the typical freewheel clicking, which is fairly quiet for another 6 weeks. Then it sounds like a Shimano, just clicking. The louder the freewheel sound, the closer you are to performing maintenence. It takes an hour, some solvent, q-tips, and Hugi grease. I wouldn't try to bash this hubset, these are cross country hubs. Although they are worth it, they are a little too expensive. Minus 1 value chili! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
axel
a Cross Country Rider
from yakima
Date Reviewed: June 25, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | skyline | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Price Paid: |
$200.00 | | Purchased At: | sagebrushcycles | | Strengths: | every thing | | Weaknesses: | took a long time to break in the front hub i guess the front hub was so tight just because of the grease because the hub was smooth as butter | | Similar Products Used: | all shimano and rode some phill woods on a friend bike | | Bike Setup: | kona roast | | Bottom Line: | after a billion peddal kicks the hub still works unlike the shimano freehubs that i blow up in a week or so. for every step up in shimano you get one more week to tear the free hubs to pieces.so spend the money and get the hubs that work | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Michael
a
from Oakland, ca
Date Reviewed: May 27, 2003 | | Favoriate Trail: | Coe | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Purchased At: | LBS | | Strengths: | Light..looks cool | | Weaknesses: | I went to change the casette this weekend and the damn thing is welded onto the hub....I've never had this problem with any other hub before | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, Campy, Phil hubs.... | | Bottom Line: | I shoulda gone with the Chris Kings...
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tom B.
a Weekend Warrior
from Baltimore, MD
Date Reviewed: February 16, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | bikeusa.com | | Strengths: | Light weight | | Weaknesses: | Alloy freehub body gets badly notched from cogs
self-destructing freehub
not user serviceable without $$$ of special tools | | Similar Products Used: | regular Shimano stuff | | Bike Setup: | Litespeed Palmares, 9-sp D-A | | Bottom Line: | Worst cycing product I have ever used.
I built up this set of Hugi 240's with Sun ME14A rims, DT 14/15 rear drive side, 15/16 elsewhere, 32h, alloy nipps. Wanted to indulge myself with trick wheels for the new high-end frame. They were truly light, and I think, better overall than any of the overpriced "boutique" wheels out there.
BUT, those Hugi 240's were a terrible choice! When I first got the parts in the mail, the seal on the front hub was so tight I could barely turn it by hand (the rear was fine). Sent it back and Hugi said give it a chance and it should loosen up. OK, it did get a lot better, but never great. I think the press-fit on all the parts is prone to lots of drag.
Then after about 3 months of light use, the rear hub started clicking and popping. Spoke to Hugi on the phone and then sent them the whole wheel. They replaced all the internals (some sort of redesign from when I got mine?) and things were OK again for another year or so of light use.
Then came the last straw: a Thanksgiving day ride that turned snowy for the last hour or so. It took a couple of days to clean up the bike, and when I did, the freehub had seized. I got it to turn (barely), but it was toast. And of course, without the $200 of special Hugi tools you can't do a blessed thing to these hubs.
I'm through with these hubs. I just ordered a set of D-A hubs from Nashbar for $140 and I've stripped down the wheels to reuse the rims. I'm going to send these back to Hugi (4th return trip for them!) and describe the debacle. I'll report back with any noteworthy results.
What a lousy product. I feel like a real tool for wasting my money on these. If I had it to do over again, I would either have spent the extra bucks to get Chris King or just gone to tried and true D-A right away. Live and learn.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Billy
a
from Huntersville, NC, USA
Date Reviewed: January 7, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$300.00 | | Purchased At: | the wheel | | Strengths: | light, work well w/ hope M4 disc | | Weaknesses: | freehub splines just striped out on the last three rings | | Similar Products Used: | shimano, dt swiss, shimano | | Bike Setup: | 99' GT XCR 1000, Hope M4 Disc, Black Super air 120-100mm, chris king head set, xtr, RACEFACE Next LP cranks, RACEFACE TI BB, Mavic X-317 w/ hugi 240 disc | | Bottom Line: | they were working great, no problems occured untill i took the cassette off for service. I had to pry the cassette off of the freehub! The last three rings on my XTR9-Speed cassette had stripted the splines on the freehub. Waiting on warranty. i should have gone wih the chris kings. I thought these were good hub, there just a waste of money. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Joel VT
a Cross Country Rider
from Brunswick, Maine
Date Reviewed: August 23, 2002 | | Favoriate Trail: | back country expressway | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Price Paid: |
$150.00 | | Purchased At: | bath cycle | | Strengths: | pretty, light, good engagement. | | Weaknesses: | noisy, weak! | | Similar Products Used: | stock shimano paralax hubs | | Bike Setup: | 1997 cannondale f700, with a 36 hole mavic 517, and the hugi hubs in the back | | Bottom Line: | it broke. the whole thing loosened up so i could move the wheel back and forth. after 2 months waiting for new parts, it loosened up in a week. i don't know if its just my hub, but i pissed, cause this was a $150(used, sort of) hub! grrrrrr. from what i've heard, these are good hubs, so its probly just mine, but i still mad. if you're looking at these hubs, make sure they're in good condition, because they cost a whole lot to repair. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Arthur
a Racer
from Larkspur, Colorado, USA
Date Reviewed: July 26, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | Given to me | | Strengths: | Swiss/European precision
Durability
Smoothness and stability | | Weaknesses: | None | | Similar Products Used: | Phil Wood
Wood, he said wood........ | | Bike Setup: | Classic traditional lugged steel units, 32x3X wheels | | Bottom Line: |
So, what am I doing wrong? Oh, I know, I didn't have the Hugi hub built all radial and inferior like, on some bogus rim by someone who has dropped more acid than Heinz has tomatoes and looks it but builds dream wheels that are supposedly speedy, based on psycho-delic postulations running through what is left of his burned-out brain while he still listens to Jerry knock out some mindless rifts......... Jerry's dead, dude.
No, when given a set of the Hugis, I built them on a super strong set of traditional rims (Mavic SSC's)in a proven and ballistic 32x3X/14-15 manner and have never had to look back or down. Well, almost. Because I have never experienced a better hub per se. Sometimes with the Hugi's you need to look down to actually remind yourself that a set of wheels are underneath you. And, in light of a set of Phil Wood (Wood, he said wood) and some Pellisier's, Campy too, that says a great deal.
Incredibly smooth and solid. The wheels, no surprise hardly have ever needed additional truing and to date and even then, just a slight tweak, and no broken spokes after what...., about 20,000 miles. Go figure. Shifting is as good as it gets, actually better. Must be doing something wrong.
Hey Dude, got any acid, man.....?
Oh, wankers who complain about the higher than average ratchet noise must not be aware of the grease hole inside the axle (more incredible Swiss precision) which is fed via a needlepoint grease fitting into the axle, with one end plugged by, of all things, a Q-tip. Have successfully used the thinner and highly effective Phil Wood (Wood, he said wood) grease - a little dab'll do ya (babe) - for years on these and it quiets them down to a purrrrrrrr.
| | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Tijmen
a Racer
from Zaandam-Holland
Date Reviewed: June 3, 2002 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | bearings | | Weaknesses: | freewheel, noisy and price | | Bottom Line: | Freewheel broke when I was 200 miles away from home. bought the hub especially for low-maintenance and reliability | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
rodney
a Cross Country Rider
from ridgway, colorado, usa
Date Reviewed: April 25, 2002 | | Favoriate Trail: | telonics, laguna beach | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Purchased At: | gifted | | Strengths: | strong, durable, light,loud, beautiful | | Weaknesses: | none | | Similar Products Used: | xtr, xt, mavic, campagnolo record, dura ace | | Bike Setup: | gt zaskar le xtr, mavic 517 rims, dt double butted spokes | | Bottom Line: | i started hammering mountain bikes in 1989, after hammering road bikes for about 20 years. i've totalled at least half a dozen hubs, road and mountain, of various brands and models, but i'll ride this hubset forever. a friend built it up himself with mavic 517 rims and gave the wheels to me when he moved to texas (where he gave up bikes in favor of golf and procreation). i've ridden them for nearly 5 years on three different bikes. i've had the rear serviced twice, by tim breen in grand junction, colorado (the absolute BEST hugi man alive). i've done nothing to the front hub, although i had to replace the rim and spokes when another friend, after borrowing the bike, left the wheel lying in a parking lot, where it got RUN OVER!!!! by a drunk in a dodge ram truck. both before and after the ram truck incident, i've ridden scores of 13,000 foot single-track cols through scree, rain, snow, ice, mud, rivers, streams, etc... I've ridden thousands of miles across desert sand and butt pounding rock. i've ridden decomposed shale, decomposed sandstone, decomposed granite, silt, clay, gypsum, bentonite, kneisses, schists, marble, limestone, etc... i crushed all of it under these wheels, with the hugi's whining incessantly. i love the sound of this freehub screaming on a fast descent. at 48, my legs,butt,back, neck, shoulders, arms and wrists are all fried, but the hugi's, like life itself, just keep on spinning. sorry some of you guys wound up with lemons. that's life, i guess. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ben
a Cross Country Rider
from Silver City, NM
Date Reviewed: January 28, 2002 | | Favoriate Trail: | Signal Peak Course | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$250.00 | | Purchased At: | Twin Sisters Cyclery | | Strengths: | Weight, Warranty, etc. | | Weaknesses: | none so far | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, white industries, ringle | | Bike Setup: | Da Vinci FS, Icon, Dean Ti, SRAM, Cane Creek, Avid, IRC, Delta, Action Tec Ti, IRD, Race Face, etc. | | Bottom Line: | Lightweight, low sound, great feel. Really lightened my bike, I bought the 240's to replace my stock shimano's and lost a ton of weight. These roll really smooth, no problems yet. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Jeffrey
a
from Nokomis, Fl
Date Reviewed: December 16, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Dave's Wheels | | Strengths: | None that matter | | Weaknesses: | Complete front hub failure | | Similar Products Used: | Chris King, Phil's, White Ind. ... | | Bike Setup: | Seven Cyclocross | | Bottom Line: | I have the 240's built up by Dave's wheels and I use them as my road wheels. The front hubs right side flange actually tore open about 35 degrees around. This happen while the bike was in the storage stand! Evidently there was a defect that with time let go. 6 spokes came completely out. Weird freak failure. I will not be using this brand of hub again. If I had been riding and this happened I could have been killed. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kurt
a
from Berkeley, CA
Date Reviewed: May 29, 2001 | | Favoriate Trail: | Coast Range Singletrack | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Price Paid: |
$225.00 | | Purchased At: | Came w/ bike | | Strengths: | Smooth bearings | | Weaknesses: | Star Ratchet blows out | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano, Phil | | Bike Setup: | Tandem, cross country | | Bottom Line: | The current design Hugi rear hub (DT) has had numerous problems. DT redesigned the star ratchet mechanism to reduce its noise level during freewheeling. This ruined the design - it cannot take high torque loads. I went through three on my mountain tandem before switching to a Shimano tandem hub. I met several others on single bikes (read much lower torque loads) who experienced the same failures. I finally upgraded to Phil Wood (four double-pawls) which has not failed me yet.
Union Frondenberg used to make the old Hugi hubs that were very loud. These, although very loud, work great. I have one on my XC bike and one on my road tandem. They work great. But since they are no longer made, it's moot.
Avoid the DT Hugi rear hubs unless you enjoy rebuilding wheels!
PS But I love DT spokes! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Ken DeMarce
a Racer
from Atlanta
Date Reviewed: November 23, 2000 | | Favoriate Trail: | Windridge Farm | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Price Paid: |
$350.00 | | Purchased At: | MTBR | | Strengths: | Ultra light, quiet | | Weaknesses: | None really but they do require frequent cleaning and lubing. Pricey but the good stuff usually is. | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XTR, Rolf | | Bike Setup: | Marin Team, all light weight race stuff | | Bottom Line: | These hubs have lasted an entire racing season and I train on them too.
Cleaned them after my last race and found the rear drive side bearing dragging a bit. I intended to replace the one bearing and casette body seal myself but when I called DT Swiss to buy the parts they said ship the whole wheel to them and they would service if for FREE since they have a 3 year warranty.
The bottom line is: (1) Keep the rear hub clean and regularly lube the star ratchets and these babies will not disappoint. (2) DT Swiss has possibly the best warranty service I have ever seen for a bike product. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Pat
a Cross Country Rider
from Sapporo
Date Reviewed: November 10, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Smooth Bearings | | Weaknesses: | Read hub is terrible--ratchets blow out, and cap is impossible to remove by hand. | | Bike Setup: | 1998 Trek 8900 | | Bottom Line: | I've used these hubs for three seasons now and the ratchets in the rear hub have failed for two of the seasons. This is a MAJOR drawback. What is Hugi doing about it? As you'll see from my report a year ago (below), when the hub blows, you're walking. I was out for a great pre-snow ride today when I got stranded miles from town.
What another guy wrote earlier sounds right: "The shops I took them to for service (three shops) said 25-30% of the Bontrager and Rolf wheelsets were failing due to the Hugi hubs-- that's an incredibly high rate.. . . Since hubs aren't Shimano, parts are harder to come by and must be ordered."
I've been pestering my shop to order me a few spare sets of ratchets, but he has trouble getting them in Japan. Also, none of us can pull off the cap by hand to get at the ratchets. Is there a trick to it? And what is this about using only Hugi grease? Since my hub was serviced just this week, I wonder if the mechanic used incompatible grease. Could that have caused my blowout? | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Kirk
a Racer
from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Date Reviewed: September 27, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | More than 3 years | | Strengths: | Best Performing Hubs on the Market. Customer service of the U.S. distributor and of Dt Swiss. | | Weaknesses: | Have to use their own grease. | | Similar Products Used: | XTR, XT, LX, Ringle, Pulstar, King | | Bike Setup: | Cannondale Caad 4, Fatty Ultra, Full XTR(Hugi Hubs),Ti Bars/Bar Ends | | Bottom Line: | Regardless of what other people are saying, for an XTR equivalent hub, these areby far the best hubs on the market. I have put thousands of miles on mine and they just recently had to be overhauled. With any conventional hub which is exposed to adverse conditions you are lucky if you can get three years out of them and you have to constantly maintian them. Attaining parts for service is harder to do than Shimano but if you talk to Dave at Hugi U.S.A. he will give you the best customer service I have ever seen. I come from Canada, and if you think its hard to get parts in the States, try and get parts up here. Hugi fixed me up right away and my hub works like brand new again. I am aimin to get another five years out of the hubs! If people are having failures, perhaps they do not know that you MUST USE HUGI ROTOR GREASE IN THE STAR RATCHETS which can be obtained from Hugi U.S.A.. This is the only way they will work properly. If your hub is quite it is because there is excess grease in it (note: a possible way to quite them down, but don't use too much as the pawls will stick open). For those of you who have had bad luck with Hugi's, rather than bad mouthing them, get in touch with Hugi U.S.A.. If your shop says their customer service sucks, they are lying to you and right away I would find a new bike shop. In fact, if I bought a bike with Rolf wheels I would expect the shop I bought it from to carry replacement Hugi parts since it is inevitable that hudbs break with time. In fact mybe its not HUgi's customer service that's the problem, perhaps its the bike shop you are a customer of who has some customer service problems. Ask them if they stock Shimano Freehub bodies? and if they do, why don't they stock Freehub bodies and bearings for the other hubs they sell? Hugi's Rule!!!!!!! Don't let anyone tell you differently! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
scott
a Weekend Warrior
from santa cruz, ca
Date Reviewed: September 21, 2000 | | Favoriate Trail: | this one | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Purchased At: | spokesman | | Strengths: | Ive got the 240s, and they're light light light, real pleasing very quiet sound, easy to maintain, and I like their looks( after lightly sanding off the logos) | | Weaknesses: | none in my experience | | Similar Products Used: | first set of custom wheels | | Bike Setup: | all goood | | Bottom Line: | I couldn't be happier. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Christian
a Cross Country Rider
from San Jose, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 29, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | Less than 1 month | | Strengths: | great looking, light, smooth, QUIET | | Weaknesses: | none, so far | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano XTR | | Bike Setup: | Mountain Cycle CXS, SID XL, Easton stem/seatpost, Sella Flite Gel Ti, Mythos XC, Arch Rival 50s, XTR, Syncros stem, 517-db blk-Hugi | | Bottom Line: | Maybe Hugi made two different hubs. I really don't know why ppl are saying the rear hub is loud...quite the contary, I am extremely pleased with how completely SILENT and smooth mine are. This quality is sooo cool. I also find them to be pretty darn light. Aaron, if you read this, I wanna thank you for trading me for these...this wheelset is AWESOME! Thank you so much. 4 chillis because they are quite expensive, but 5 chillies for quality and quiet! | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
JM
a Cross Country Rider
from Wayland, MA
Date Reviewed: August 28, 2000 | | Favoriate Trail: | Vietnam, Callahan | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | None, this hubset didn't stand up to LX | | Weaknesses: | See Below | | Similar Products Used: | Shimano LX, XT, Chris King | | Bike Setup: | Fisher Sugar 1 w/ Bontrager Race Lites | | Bottom Line: | Bontrager spec'd King hubs on the Race Lite wheels but then a purchasing manager at Trek decided that all Trek-built wheels (Bontrager, Rolf, etc.) should all have the same hubs -- Hugi won out. Hugi rear hubs stink. Mine failed after two months of riding (when your freewheel fails, you're walking and in my case I was walking miles) and then failed again within 24-hours of being serviced. Warranty took care of it, but Hugi hubs turned this from a great wheelset to a lousy one--bring back the Kings! The shops I took them to for service (three shops) said 25-30% of the Bontrager and Rolf wheelsets were failing due to the Hugi hubs-- that's an incredibly high rate. Trek instructs the shops to grease and loctite the bearings, but that fix doesn't work (lasted 24-hours on my set). Since hubs aren't Shimano, parts are harder to come by and must be ordered. Now have the King hubs and couldn't rate them more highly. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
jeremy soltow
a Downhiller
from sea-town
Date Reviewed: August 8, 2000 | | Favoriate Trail: | black forest | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | bearings are top notch, stiff, light, good looks | | Weaknesses: | none, maybe the price if you get them new | | Similar Products Used: | shimano lx (shiite) | | Bike Setup: | K2 animal dh, maxxis highrollers getting a foes f1 | | Bottom Line: | I got these for a great price used and they are by far the best hubs I have ever used. nothing bad at all. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Uncle Mulga
a Cross Country Rider
from South Australia
Date Reviewed: August 2, 2000 | | Duration Product Used: | 3 months | | Strengths: | Front hub seems OK | | Weaknesses: | Rear hub never worked from day 1 | | Similar Products Used: | Mavic Crosslink | | Bike Setup: | Fisher hardtail, SID, full XTR | | Bottom Line: | I don't get it! I got these hubs in my Bontrager RaceLite wheelset. The rear hub never worked from the day I got it. First the freehub died, then the (non-adjustable) bearings developed heaps of play. Installing new bearings did nothing. I'm supposed to be getting a new hub, but I'm not particularly hopeful about that being any better. If you look a |
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$ 300.00
