Hello all,
Now that I have my hubs I just wanted to post a follow up...I must say that I'm very impressed with them so far. The flanges are perfectly true and even and all the machining touches I'd expect are there (nicely chamferred spoke holes, etc.).
The seller, Eva, even sent me an engineering diagram for the rear hub...she's just about the best eBay seller I've ever dealt with, and that's with the goods coming all the way from China.
Front:
There are two o-ringed end caps...these provide the interface to the fork drop-outs (mine are QR hubs front and back)...the axle itself is completely inside, the ends of which interface with recesses in the back of the end caps. With the end caps in place you essentially have the o-ring on the cap sealing out the elements, and the bearing is sealed, of course, too. Even with the bearing seal and o-rings the hub spins easily and is buttery smooth (and Pittsburghers know butter).
Rear:
This one I'm still figuring out, as I haven't had it all apart yet, but it appears that the axle has one fixed end (drive side) and is fed in from the drive side, through all the bearings, and then through the end cap on the non-drive side (which is locked in place by a 2mm Allen head grub screw). The freehub body sorta resembles the Easton type, where the body has one main piece, with at least one bearing inside to ride on the axle, and with 3 pawls at the base that fit inside the hub body. The pawls make a nice click...louder than my XTR M950 hubs, but not quite as loud as my Spinergy Xyclones. Extra freehub body was $25.
Mine are silver and appear to be clear anodized, as it doesn't appear to be bare alloy. I tried to twist the flanges in opposite directions to test whatever they used to mate the carbon middle tube and it didn't budge. The skewers are nice, though I'll probably replace them with a set of ControlTech skewers I have when it comes time to mount the finished wheels on the bike.
I'll be mating these hubs to a set of rim brake Mavic XM 719's (in silver), with Wheelsmith DB14 spokes and brass nipples, and will let you know my impression when I'm able to ride 'em.
Just FYI...
- Doug