geordanh
08-19-2015, 03:07 AM
Hi all,
Have searched extensively and haven't found very many long term reviews of BHS hubs so thought I'd offer my impressions. I know I'm always much more interested in someone's impressions a couple years on than am of their honeymoon review after the first ride ("built up great and they spin so smoothly! Saved $300 compared to CK!"), so hopefully this is helpful to some people.
Anyhow, been riding a pair of the 2012 Superlight hubs for 3 years laced into 28 hole Hed Belgium C2s. I have put approximately 3500KM on the wheelset in that time. I'm 165, and not a racer, but like to stand on the pedals while climbing.
Overall, these have been an insanely great deal and an awesome hubset (but not without some minor annoyances). I would buy from BHS again in a heartbeat.
Bearings are still dead smooth. They haven't seen tons of wet weather riding, but I live in BC where we get plenty of moisture. I'm pretty pleased.
Hub geometry wasn't great in this version of the hubs, but I believe has since been improved. To get a well dished wheel had to run much tension higher than I'd like on the drive side. Again, likely not an issue with the current version of these hubs he is selling.
Free hub body design on this version of the hub I'd give a 6/10. Points for carrier durability: Mine had a Campy freehub w/ 28t cassette and almost no tooth marks. Same for cutouts for pawls - almost no noticeable deformation as can be an issue on some Taiwanese hubs. Only problem is that the pawl retention design on these was pretty bad. Just a small spring that wrapped around the pawls in a small groove. Mine recently failed on a long descent, meaning engagement was all messed up and the pedals spun on their own (bad). Brandon sent me two replacement springs for free no questions asked. I believe from talking to Brandon that the most current version of this hub has fixed this issue and each pawl has its own spring, plus a steel clip that retains all of the pawls - a much better design. Needless to say, free warranty parts and free shipping 3 years on is pretty damn impressive for a hub I paid 80 bucks for.
Internals overall have struck as me as pretty good. Mine came dry as a bone and made all sorts of super annoying creaking noise. Some lube in key places made a big difference - in particular between the face of the freehub body and the inboard bearing. I've found getting the preload adjustment just right to be very difficult on these hubs. I've started putting loc-tite on the end cap threads as these kept coming loose over time on mine.
Service from Brandon has always been exceptional. I think feedback on other forums bears this out. He's just a good guy and seems to be building a business and a brand which are good things for us as consumers.
Hope this is helpful to some people
Have searched extensively and haven't found very many long term reviews of BHS hubs so thought I'd offer my impressions. I know I'm always much more interested in someone's impressions a couple years on than am of their honeymoon review after the first ride ("built up great and they spin so smoothly! Saved $300 compared to CK!"), so hopefully this is helpful to some people.
Anyhow, been riding a pair of the 2012 Superlight hubs for 3 years laced into 28 hole Hed Belgium C2s. I have put approximately 3500KM on the wheelset in that time. I'm 165, and not a racer, but like to stand on the pedals while climbing.
Overall, these have been an insanely great deal and an awesome hubset (but not without some minor annoyances). I would buy from BHS again in a heartbeat.
Bearings are still dead smooth. They haven't seen tons of wet weather riding, but I live in BC where we get plenty of moisture. I'm pretty pleased.
Hub geometry wasn't great in this version of the hubs, but I believe has since been improved. To get a well dished wheel had to run much tension higher than I'd like on the drive side. Again, likely not an issue with the current version of these hubs he is selling.
Free hub body design on this version of the hub I'd give a 6/10. Points for carrier durability: Mine had a Campy freehub w/ 28t cassette and almost no tooth marks. Same for cutouts for pawls - almost no noticeable deformation as can be an issue on some Taiwanese hubs. Only problem is that the pawl retention design on these was pretty bad. Just a small spring that wrapped around the pawls in a small groove. Mine recently failed on a long descent, meaning engagement was all messed up and the pedals spun on their own (bad). Brandon sent me two replacement springs for free no questions asked. I believe from talking to Brandon that the most current version of this hub has fixed this issue and each pawl has its own spring, plus a steel clip that retains all of the pawls - a much better design. Needless to say, free warranty parts and free shipping 3 years on is pretty damn impressive for a hub I paid 80 bucks for.
Internals overall have struck as me as pretty good. Mine came dry as a bone and made all sorts of super annoying creaking noise. Some lube in key places made a big difference - in particular between the face of the freehub body and the inboard bearing. I've found getting the preload adjustment just right to be very difficult on these hubs. I've started putting loc-tite on the end cap threads as these kept coming loose over time on mine.
Service from Brandon has always been exceptional. I think feedback on other forums bears this out. He's just a good guy and seems to be building a business and a brand which are good things for us as consumers.
Hope this is helpful to some people