H-Works vs. Elitewheels Hubs | Seeking Long-Term Feedback & Heavy Rider Testers

[miwe35]

Hi, thanks for sharing — good to see that. It's probably the first feedback on Elitewheels hubs; I was expecting to see more, since they have a larger presence in the market.

Can I ask a couple of things?

1. How often do you service the hub?

2. Do you like the sound of the hub?

Regarding the testing, I'll send you a private message — please have a look when you get a chance.

Hey,
until now I have just opened the hub in May after Traka. I put new grease into the hubs. But usually I do not service them often. I have nerver serviced my DT Swiss 350 hub for my MTB and it still runs like on day one.

Getting used to the sound takes a bit of time. When I ride with friends they always complain that they are too loud. I would say it is okay if you get used to, but the hub is more kind of a louder hub. I would say the sound is comparable to a DT Swiss 240 but as a "cheap version". The DT has a kind of "crisp" sound and on the other hand the Elite hub has more kind of an "screaming" sound. It is hard to describe but I would say the DT Swiss 240 hubs are loud but the sound is a unique "good" sound, almost like a sign of quality, whereas the Elite Hubs are just loud...

Yeah you can contact and ask me anytime!!

Kind regards
Miwe

[Mint Julep]

@Jason

If I ordered a set of wheels from your website today, what hubs would I get?

[Jason_BladeX]

Hi,

Actually, you won't need to service the hub as long as no dust or water gets into the internals — you probably just need to open it up regularly to check for dust.

I think you describe the sound of the hubs accurately, and in a very interesting way. I've compared several hubs side by side — DT Swiss 350, 240, Elitewheels, H-Works and others. DT Swiss and H-Works sound similar: their tone is lower and deeper. The Elitewheels hubs really do sound like "screaming." It might not be proper to say this, but I personally like the sound of H-Works' traditional ratchet system.

Hey,
until now I have just opened the hub in May after Traka. I put new grease into the hubs. But usually I do not service them often. I have nerver serviced my DT Swiss 350 hub for my MTB and it still runs like on day one.

Getting used to the sound takes a bit of time. When I ride with friends they always complain that they are too loud. I would say it is okay if you get used to, but the hub is more kind of a louder hub. I would say the sound is comparable to a DT Swiss 240 but as a "cheap version". The DT has a kind of "crisp" sound and on the other hand the Elite hub has more kind of an "screaming" sound. It is hard to describe but I would say the DT Swiss 240 hubs are loud but the sound is a unique "good" sound, almost like a sign of quality, whereas the Elite Hubs are just loud...

Yeah you can contact and ask me anytime!!

Kind regards
Miwe

[fhill]

Regarding the sound, I guess there's the general difference between the "classic" two ratchet set, like DT Swiss Ratchet, there's also already a little difference in sound to the EXP system, but if I understood correct, in the Elitewheels, the ratchet is already part of the freehub?

[Pedaldancer]

Another voice pro H Works hubs

Whereas I am not heavy but ride a lot, i built some wheels for a very strong rider. Though he is not very heavy, he manages to destroy freehubs sometimes.
The h works wheels are still
fine.

Ratchet sound is there, yes. It's not that loud as elite (that's pretty easy as elite is just super loud).
I got a color swatch for my wheels and the anodizing process is also very reliable. They are as teal as they have been when they were new. Despite sun, bad weather, salt...

[Rebel_Yell]

Just an update on my Zen wheelset.  Had bike serviced and they checked on the SR270 (which are H Works) hubs and they said they looked incredible. Zero dust and needed nothing but to be closed back up.

Wheels have been incredible so far! Closing in on 3000 miles on them.

[Jason_BladeX]

Agreed. The classic star ratchet system has two moving ratchets and two springs, while the new EXP system has one ratchet fixed into the hub body.

When the freehub is spinning:

In the classic ratchet system, the ratchet is flexible, and there is a gap between the ratchet and the hub body, so vibration is not transferred to the hub body.

In the EXP-style ratchet system, vibration is transferred directly to the hub body, causing resonance, which makes the sound louder.

That's why, even though the DT Swiss 350 and 240 EXP are both from DT Swiss, the 240 EXP sounds louder and sharper than the DT Swiss 350.

Because H-Works shares the same ratchet system as the DT Swiss 350, their sound is similar — low and deep.

The Elitewheels hub's ratchet system is similar to the 240 EXP's, so they sound similar, but Elitewheels sounds even louder and sharper than the 240 EXP.

I created an image so we can see the difference more clearly.

Regarding the sound, I guess there's the general difference between the "classic" two ratchet set, like DT Swiss Ratchet, there's also already a little difference in sound to the EXP system, but if I understood correct, in the Elitewheels, the ratchet is already part of the freehub?

[Jason_BladeX]

Thanks for sharing. SR270 sounds like a great model, I've heard a lot about it. I think H-Works has already shipped a lot of SR270s. 3,000 miles is a pretty solid amount of mileage, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how it performs after 6,000 miles We're planning to get our new carbon spoke models tested by riders covering 10,000 km (6,213 miles).

By the way, does your hub come with steel or ceramic bearings? We're still a little undecided about whether to use steel or ceramic, since steel bearings last longer, while ceramic bearings seem common on performance wheelsets.

Just an update on my Zen wheelset.  Had bike serviced and they checked on the SR270 (which are H Works) hubs and they said they looked incredible. Zero dust and needed nothing but to be closed back up.

Wheels have been incredible so far! Closing in on 3000 miles on them.

[Rebel_Yell]

Thanks for sharing. SR270 sounds like a great model, I've heard a lot about it. I think H-Works has already shipped a lot of SR270s. 3,000 miles is a pretty solid amount of mileage, but I'm really looking forward to seeing how it performs after 6,000 miles We're planning to get our new carbon spoke models tested by riders covering 10,000 km (6,213 miles).

By the way, does your hub come with steel or ceramic bearings? We're still a little undecided about whether to use steel or ceramic, since steel bearings last longer, while ceramic bearings seem common on performance wheelsets.

Steel bearing and carbon spokes.