Hope hubs and 8-speed question

[GuyGadois]

I am looking at buying some tubular wheels off a gentleman. They are laced to Hope hubs. I have never heard of them. Does anyone know the quality of this manufacturer? Second, they are 8 speed campy compatible hubs. Can 8 speed hubs accept 10 speed cassettes?

GG

[cp43]

I can't say anything about Campy cassette compatibility, but I do have 3 Hope hubs (1 rear on the MTB, and a set on the commuter, all disc). I don't have a lot of miles on them, but they have been trouble free so far. I like the look of them, both in terms of aesthetics and quality. I've heard them described at ~90% as good as King, but ~50% the price, seems about right to me.

Chris

[GuyGadois]

Regarding the 8 Speed Cassette question. I think I found the answer on Sheldon "Yoda" Brown's site. It is not the answer I wanted to hear...

Campagnolo Cassette Systems
Campagnolo 8-speed cassettes used a slightly different spline pattern from the current pattern used for 9-and 10-speed systems.
8-speed Campagnolo cassettes will not fit on newer "9-speed" and "10-speed" hubs.
9- and 10-speed Campagnolo cassettes will not fit on 8-speed hubs.

It is theoretically possible to upgrade Campagnolo 8-speed hubs with newer cassette bodies, but in practice the parts don't generally seem to be available.

[SadieKate]

Yep, you found the answers. As far as the Hope name, we have a Lippy tandem with Hope hubs that have been bullet proof since 1994 and I just had a set of cyclocross wheels built using Hope Pro 3 Mono hubs. Beautiful silver hub. The owner of our LBS is from England and I think I gained a whole lot of credibility when I showed up with them. :)

[dannyg1]

Hope and Royce are the two little hub manufacturers of England that enjoy and share a reputation there, akin to the reputation that Chris King and Phil Wood enjoy on this side of the ocean. These are great hubs and a perusal of Great Britain's cycling press will bear that out.