Hugi 'German' made hubs?

[kkees]

I recently bought a used carbon Kestrel 8spd. I'm finding some really old school parts on this bike, which is great! One interesting thing I found, is the hubs say, "DT Hugi German made". Hugi's are Swiss hubs. Does anyone know the scoop on these hubs?

They seem really smooth still, and I was planning on rebuilding the old wheels, and using the hubs. Only thing is the freewheel is the loudest one I've heard in a really long time.

Any info on these hubs would be great. Especially how old they may be.

Thanks!

 

[rek]

Hugi was bought out by DT Swiss.

I have a Cannondale branded MTB hub set that was made by Hugi, they are great hubs (and yeah the freewheels are loud!) Too bad they are a 4-bolt disc rotor type, which means once I chuck my Coda disc brakes, they're no use to me anymore

 

[Patrick SH]

Originally posted by kkees
One interesting thing I found, is the hubs say, "DT Hugi German made". Hugi's are Swiss hubsAny info on these hubs would be great. Especially how old they may be.

Thanks!

At one time in the early 90's UNION bought Hugi (or the name and pattent?) and made the Hugi hubs in Germany.
This was before DT took it over.
I have a pair of these Hugi german made hubs. I had a few problems in the begining with the freewheel mechanism but Union did repair it and send it back to me (in Hong Kong) free of charge.
They are even noisier now after 10 years, but still run fine.

Patrick.

 

[kkees]

Mine are quite noisy too, but the guys at the bike shop say this is good, and they are in good shape. What type of freehub problems did you have? So far, these hubs are ok. I have no idea how to service them if I needed to though.

Here's the decision I'm trying to make. I have rims, spokes, nips, that all need to be replaced before racing season. Is it worth building up these hubs and spending the $ for the new parts for the rebuild. OR, just replace then entire wheels set for the same price pretty much. I guess its will run me with parts and labor, almost $150 a wheel or so. You can get a great pre-built set for that.

Are these hubs worth that?

kk

 

[ger]

These hubs are probably made by Union Freudenberg in Germany. DT Suisse bought them out. These hub caused a lot of trouble in the freeweel. The steel ring don't last for long. Abou 10.000 km maximum. Boh freewheel ring for these hubs are no more available. The hub are veru noisy and don't turn smooth. The rear hub loses a lot of energy by the freewheel system. These hubs can't compare to Mavic, Chris King or Shimano hubs.

 

[Patrick SH]

When I get the Union hubs, the freewheel did not (always) engage.
But since they have been repaired I don't have any problem.
I don't ride that much with the bike with these hubs so I don't think I reach 10000 Km. (I mostly ride with a commuter bike with now a shimano Nexus 7 hub, and otherwise with a road bike with a Dura Ace hub).
I don't feel any extra friction in the freewheel mechanism, even if I just spin the wheel and let it goes.

Do you have any experience with the American classic hubs?

Patrick.

 

[kkees]

The only experience w/ hubs is all Hugi. I have 2 Specialized bikes that come with the Hugi (Specialized) hubs, and they have been great. My road has the Velocity hubs, and they work great too. That is why I was so curious about these old school Hugi's. The new ones are great, and so far, so are the old ones.

kk