MTB Hub Tech | Everything You Should Know To Get The Best Out Of Your Mountain Bike Hubs

Mountain bike hubs can be pretty confusing! Consider: what axle spacing? Do you want a pawl or ratchet ring system? ultra-fast or slightly less engagement? What spoke type do you need and why does it even matter? There's a lot of tech going on in mountain bike hubs, and they're right in the firing line of mud and grit from the trails we ride so it's important to remember to service them. This video helps answer your questions on what to look for, and how to get the most from your mountain bike hubs.

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Brought to you by the Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN), GMBN Tech delves deeper into the bikes, kit and technology that powers your rides!

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Fancy some factory tours and first looks to keep you informed of how the latest tech has arrived, as well as what they do on the trail? You’ve got it. Want some in-depth maintenance videos give you the knowledge to set up, look after and upgrade what you’ve got? Yep, we’ve got them, too. Lots of ‘em. In fact, our presenting team consists of bike industry professionals with decades of experience of wrenching, writing, and working at the cutting edge of mountain biking so we can keep you informed, entertained and engaged with all the tech that drives mountain bikes forwards!

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[gmbntech]

What do you look for in a set of hubs? Let us know 👇

[xeroblade]

When I was a child, I dream of being a doctor. Now I dream of having Doddy as my neighbor. Man.

[manueldeubler]

Very important fact that it overlooked quite often. The amount of engagement points in a freehub does not correspond to the angle of the pedal movement. It just refers to the movement of the cassette. If you are in a very low gear at the back you have to move your pedals a lot more to get the freehub body to engage.

[noelfezza]

Dunno HOW you do it Doddy! How the fook do you make EVERYTHING enjoyable and interesting. Absolute natural mate. Keep up the amazing work. GMBN IS Diddy, Blake and Neil 🤘

[NsIX]

Glad I bought some quality hubs. Can't go wrong with Hope Pro 4's

[billderas]

Have probably watched this video on hubs three or four times. And still get something from it every time. Many thanks.

[pim]

I am picking up my new Chris King/DT Swiss wheels tomorrow, nice to have this video today for some extra info :)

[codyclark]

i watch a lot of videos and In my opinion you are top of the line when it comes to in depth concise information, gmbn blessed to have you.That said the whole team is on point I learn a lot from you blokes!!!! Cheers

[bigDmtb]

Very informative, thank you.
Currently rebuilding my very old ('07) Shimano Parallax Hubs. Can't believe they are still going strong with no replacement parts! These hubs are super quiet, I love the feeling when I am out on the trail alone, very peaceful.

[juffkasvennsson]

Just a side note, the cassetes that have multiple parts and are made out of steel, will cut also through a microspline freehub body. It is the difference of material steel (hard) like on a cheaper deore cassette and aluminium (soft) on the freehub.

[crispymtb]

Here's me, with a 6 bolt rotor on the rear, and a centrelock on the front. Stock is centrelock.. I have gotten myself a custom wheel, and the hub (project 321 boost) only comes with a 6 bolt mount. Rim is a Flow MK3.



For those wondering:
Loud, 216 POE, standard bearings, gold.
2020 Trance 2.

[ltrtg]

I remember the rear hub on at least one of my early mountain bikes having a 130mm rear hub. Then it went 135mm when 7 speed cassettes came out.

[Themilkmanskid.]

I love my bike more and more with every upgrade so far, maintenance tweak, and educational vid. I do at the present have a slight crunchy sound coming from the rear hub still even after a maintenance at a bike shop. They fixed the pedals from slipping ahead, which happened every now and again, but the crunchy is still there a bit mildly rumbling through the bike while pedaling. Maybe they added some grease somehow without actually taking anything apart. Who knows?
I have the Shimano FH-MT410-B Microspline Rear Freehub.

[just]

The lateral or fore-aft stiffness of a spoke has _nothing_ to do with the stiffness of the wheel, because the spokes aren't fixed at the ends. Only tension, bracing angle, cross pattern, and elongation (related to butting vs straight gauge) affect the wheel stiffness

[BijanIzadi]

Wow, I’ve been trying to learn this for 6 months and this explained it all!!

[LJ-ytio]

Thanks Doddy, that's the most comprehensive video I've seen on hubs. Lots of great info.

[reedrobb]

Excellent video, wish I had seen this before I built my last set of wheels. I appreciate the “why” you include in selecting hubs. When you’re learning, knowing what each component does and why it is used would have been helpful. I used shimano XT hubs last time but thinking about the DTSwiss 350. The XTs worked great on my recent 45 mile weekend

[funkentratzer]

Excellent overview - you’ve clarified several topics I had been wondering about for some time. Thanks!

[Padyatra]

Great video with every detail from someone who knows what he's talking about.

[Rufiioh]

Great comprehensive guide!
Maybe a little addition to the axle part: DT Swiss hubs can be changed from thru-axle to quickrelease via adaptor. So my 135mm-QR-boys can just buy (compatible) 142mm DT hubs and adaptors. Had to search the whole Internet twice for this info...