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. 

[Jason_BladeX]

Seems like a lot of people prefer steel bearings over ceramic in here. 

Steel bearing and carbon spokes.

[Pedaldancer]

Seems like a lot of people prefer steel bearings over ceramic in here.

Ceramic bearings haven't been invented for the usage in a bicycle. Less well sealed because invented for high rpm (like turbine )... it's just not the right spot in a bike. Also the very hard ceramic is more likely to damage the steel parts of the bearing during mechanic shocks.
It's just much more expensive and not even better in the used environment.

If i was a turbine... but even 100 rpm is not fast. 

[Jason_BladeX]

That makes a lot of sense.

This is actually one of the reasons I’m looking more closely at the bearing choice for our next wheel builds.

If the goal is long term reliability rather than marginal gains, it sounds like a high quality steel bearing with good sealing may be the more sensible choice for a bicycle hub.

I’m curious what others think though, especially people who have put 10000+ km on their hubs. For those riders, what has actually failed first over the long term: the bearings, freehub, spoke hole or something else?

I’d rather optimize the wheelset around the part that actually limits its service life than spend money on something that only looks better on a spec sheet.

Ceramic bearings haven't been invented for the usage in a bicycle. Less well sealed because invented for high rpm (like turbine )... it's just not the right spot in a bike. Also the very hard ceramic is more likely to damage the steel parts of the bearing during mechanic shocks.
It's just much more expensive and not even better in the used environment.

If i was a turbine... but even 100 rpm is not fast. 

[aerog33k]

I am someone who cares about marginal gains but still I prefer steel bearings. AFAIK there arent any good tests on it but i believe tolerances and grease have a bigger impact than the material. Decent steel bearings with good tolerance would be my personal choice for perfomance and longevity.

That makes a lot of sense.

This is actually one of the reasons I’m looking more closely at the bearing choice for our next wheel builds.

If the goal is long term reliability rather than marginal gains, it sounds like a high quality steel bearing with good sealing may be the more sensible choice for a bicycle hub.

I’m curious what others think though, especially people who have put 10000+ km on their hubs. For those riders, what has actually failed first over the long term: the bearings, freehub, spoke hole or something else?

I’d rather optimize the wheelset around the part that actually limits its service life than spend money on something that only looks better on a spec sheet.

[Pedaldancer]

That makes a lot of sense.

This is actually one of the reasons I’m looking more closely at the bearing choice for our next wheel builds.

If the goal is long term reliability rather than marginal gains, it sounds like a high quality steel bearing with good sealing may be the more sensible choice for a bicycle hub.

I’m curious what others think though, especially people who have put 10000+ km on their hubs. For those riders, what has actually failed first over the long term: the bearings, freehub, spoke hole or something else?

I’d rather optimize the wheelset around the part that actually limits its service life than spend money on something that only looks better on a spec sheet.

Well.. my H Work hubs came with ceramic bearing.. that was just for advertisement at exhibitions (I got a color swatch which is usually shown at exhibitions)
My conclusion: i had to change the front bearings in less than a year. After replacement everything is fine at the front. And today I spinned the rear wheel in my fingers... feels like i have a pepper mill..
This is now roughly 1,5 years , every good and bad weather, cycling trough winter. I kept care of good protection from water and salt with high viscosity grease, so that's not the issue... but that's a very fast dead I need to admit.
Of course if water enters the inner it's a sudden death. (Alson know that  )
Mileage is something around 5000km. I can't tell it more precise , as I use 3 wheelsets  on that bike and didn't track it too precise.

So what to do:
I will exchange the rear also with decent steel bearings and then everything will be absolutely fine. That's how it is on the front since I changed.

[fhill]

That makes a lot of sense.

This is actually one of the reasons I’m looking more closely at the bearing choice for our next wheel builds.

If the goal is long term reliability rather than marginal gains, it sounds like a high quality steel bearing with good sealing may be the more sensible choice for a bicycle hub.

I’m curious what others think though, especially people who have put 10000+ km on their hubs. For those riders, what has actually failed first over the long term: the bearings, freehub, spoke hole or something else?

I’d rather optimize the wheelset around the part that actually limits its service life than spend money on something that only looks better on a spec sheet.

As someone, who really mistreats his off-road wheelsets, high pressure washing, bumps etc. Classic CX riding, honestly depending on the use case, normally the bearings rust faster than anyother things. Never had problems with spoke holes, freehubs etc.
It's always the bearing that makes problems like rough running first.
My recommendation would be, stainless steel bearings for road use, off-road hubs normal bearings as with the rougher terrain it's always more likely that they degrade faster than their road counterparts, no need for the stainless steel there.
Important in hub design to me would be that it's easy to replace all bearings, front hub normally is quite easy, rear hub bearings normally easy as well, but sometimes, the freehub bearings are a pain in the ass. (Newmen Fade Freehub, for example is absolute pain, as you've got to get the inner bearing through where the outer bearing sits..)

So my conclussion, easy serviceability should be priority number one, prio #2 hub design with bearings as big as reasonable, helps to have them live longer (esp. offroad), prio #3 the bearings you're choosing.

Cause if you mess up with prio #1 or #2, the customer is annoyed either with how long the service takes time or that they have to do it every 6 months. Normally not much people really care about the brand of the bearings. Also ofc ceramic bearings sounds nice on the spec sheet, but in my eyes people profit more if you put in a solid steel bearing they don't have to look at even once in the lifetime of the wheelset