Fixed gear / track hubs comparison.



XingAParagrab

New Member
Apr 6, 2006
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I am going to be building new wheels for my fixed gear conversion. After researching hubs such as Dura Ace, Phil Wood, Chris King, Suzue, Level, etc. I narrowed it down to either Dura Ace or Chris King. In choosing either I would be paying in upwards of $300 for hubs. This bike will simply be used for commuting downtown. I will not be doing any racing. My question then is, do I really need to spend $300+ on hubs? What is sufficient? Is there something cheaper with a long life span or hubs that can be maintained? What are the major noticeable differences between hubs? Thanks.
 
You might want to stay away from track specific hubs for commuting. Tracks are relatively dirt free environments, and thus the hubs are built with very light seals on the bearings. I don't know if you would notice much difference between the more expensive hubs and something from Surly or IRO.
 
artmichalek said:
You might want to stay away from track specific hubs for commuting. Tracks are relatively dirt free environments, and thus the hubs are built with very light seals on the bearings. I don't know if you would notice much difference between the more expensive hubs and something from Surly or IRO.
The wheels are built up with Surly hubs so it is possible to reuse them. However, there must be some difference between a Surly Hub which I believe runs about $50 each and Dura Ace which are $150+.
 
XingAParagrab said:
The wheels are built up with Surly hubs so it is possible to reuse them. However, there must be some difference between a Surly Hub which I believe runs about $50 each and Dura Ace which are $150+.
Bling Factor...

Track specific hubs are expensive because they don't sell many of them...the surly hubs are awesome... commuting and track racing are different in more ways than just dirt...jumping curbs with track hubs is a bad idea, pot holes with track hubs will end with the pot hole winning...etc.

Get the surly or soma hubs designed for running around town not the velodrome...