Wheelbuilders.. Alchemy hubs vs others

[Joachim]

A question for all the pro and amateur wheelbuilders. Keeping all things equal will a wheelset with Alchemy ELF and ORC hubs build into a stronger wheel than other hubs due to their optimized bracing angle and flange dimensions? Especially for a Campy drivetrain.

[Kontact]

A question for all the pro and amateur wheelbuilders. Keeping all things equal will a wheelset with Alchemy ELF and ORC hubs build into a stronger wheel than other hubs due to their optimized bracing angle and flange dimensions? Especially for a Campy drivetrain.

The geometry of those hubs is certainly helpful, but I think most wheelbuilders will tell you that even the most basic hub flange arrangement can be built into a very long lasting wheel. So it really becomes a question of whether the advantage of this hub design is great enough to make it a better choice than a similarly priced hub from DT or Chris King, or a much cheaper hub of similar provenance to the Alchemy.

Special flange arrangements and OCR rims are cool, but certainly not necessary.

[Louis]

To echo Kontact, I'm not sure that small changes in geometry (compared to other configurations, that are already known to work for most folks) are reason enough to justify using them. Better than "good enough" may or may not be worth it.

Some comments completely unrelated to wheel strength, but still important to hub quality, maintainability and long life:

A while back, after a bad experience with a Topolino rear hub after a longish ride in the rain, I was reminded of how important the quality of the cassette hub shell seal is. I believe folks like Shimano (and Campy) figured how to do this a long, long time ago, because their hubs don't seem to have this problem.

Before that, I was on a bearing kick, wanting to use only hubs that allowed me to change all the bearing wear surfaces when refurbishing a hub. Something that is nearly impossible to do without major surgery on traditional non-cartridge bearing systems, where the inner race is pressed into the hub shell. I've alway liked knowing that when I'm done with the rebuild every important part related to the bearings will be new, not just most of them.

[oldpotatoe]

A question for all the pro and amateur wheelbuilders. Keeping all things equal will a wheelset with Alchemy ELF and ORC hubs build into a stronger wheel than other hubs due to their optimized bracing angle and flange dimensions? Especially for a Campy drivetrain.

Define 'stronger'?

Will other hubs make for a long lasting and durable wheel? Yes.

Will these hubs make for a significantly longer lasting or more durable wheel..both built well? No.

[Joachim]

Let's say using a very light alloy tubular rim with lots of spokes. Everything else is equal, only thing different is using a set of Alchemy hubs vs lets say...DT240s. Given that it has been said that due to the Alchemy hub design, it will build into a stiffer and stronger wheel. Will the Alchemy set last longer before the wheel needs truing, able to handle more bad roads than the set with DT240s (or any other hub with less optimized flange dimensions, bracing angle etc)? Or is it all just Alchemy hub marketing talk?

[cmg]

you can buy a front hub that has more distance between the flanges from the bikehubstore.com similar to the alchemy and if you build with 28 or more spokes the rear will be as strong.

[Joachim]

you can buy a front hub that has more distance between the flanges from the bikehubstore.com similar to the alchemy and if you build with 28 or more spokes the rear will be as strong.

I saw that, but I need a 32h front and their hubs only come in up to 28h.

[saab2000]

Let's say using a very light alloy tubular rim with lots of spokes. Everything else is equal, only thing different is using a set of Alchemy hubs vs lets say...DT240s. Given that it has been said that due to the Alchemy hub design, it will build into a stiffer and stronger wheel. Will the Alchemy set last longer before the wheel needs truing, able to handle more bad roads than the set with DT240s (or any other hub with less optimized flange dimensions, bracing angle etc)? Or is it all just Alchemy hub marketing talk?

The wheel will be stronger. It's physics. But whether or not it's going to be stronger enough to notice is hard to say. Wheels I build rarely need truing after a few rides and a possible tweak. I have always just used my own Campagnolo hubs, which are supposed to be decent but not as good as Alchemy. They're fine.

As to the rough roads? Rough roads don't cause wheels to go out of true. But less than perfect builds will cause it. The only way a rough road will cause damage is if you're actually bottoming out onto the rim, in which case rim damage and pinch flats are a bigger concern. Over really rough sections (I live in Michigan so I know a lot about really bad roads) you just have to 'unload' the bike, floating over the stuff and letting the bike dance beneath you, even if it's only a few centimeters. If you don't do this it's much more fatiguing and hard on equipment.

But will Alchemy build better wheels? Probably. It may even be measurable. But will you feel it? Probably not.

They're expensive hubs and cool hubs but whether or not they are worth the money is a question only you can answer.

[ultraman6970]

Joachim... I have used several hubs and tried several configurations with rims too and one of the things IMO that are important in a hub are:

The axle, some velocity and other brands have axles that if you put too much wattage to the wheel, the darn axle will bent or cut big time.

The bearings, I like cartridge bearings but from what I hears lose balls (nobody does them no more bu campy) roll faster.

How easy you can get the hubs serviced... now a days pretty much everybody has the same design...

Price... some stuff is super expensive and will last the same or less than less expensive brands, if you get same quality for less money that's no brainier.

Weight? Well, i weight a lot so i don't care about this at all... as long as the hub match the 1st four things i look in a hub im ok.

About a strong built IMO depends on the builder and the rim, spokes pretty much i dont take them in consideration that much because i always use the same ones (sapim or dt) and those two brands are plenty strong for any use. Obviously if the wheel is built right.

Never used alchemy hubs because are too expensive IMO... and why to use those ones when for a fraction can get the Miche (RC2 or primato) ones and those come in 24, 28, 32 and 36 holes in shimano and campagnolo. I'm not racing no more but are good enough in a matter of fact too good for the price. Even you can put ceramic bearings to those hubs w/o any problem because use regular 6000 series bearings, pretty much found everywhere.