Since I’ve recently bought a bunch of new bike stuff I’ve been trying to hold off on spending for bike stuff, but another great deal happened my way that I couldn’t pass up. After seeing the Stan’s Notubes prototype fatbike rims at Interbike I’ve been wanting to build up a set, which meant that once the rims are available I’d also need another set of fatbike hubs.
A few days ago a brand new set of the highly regarded Hope Pro 2 Evo Fatsno hubs (135mm front w/ rear brake spacing, 170mm rear) popped up on the MMBA Forum for $225, a price that really grabbed my attention. Some email back and forth with the seller, a payment sent, and a few days later they are here. I’m really looking forward to building these up, so hopefully the Stan’s rims are available soon and at a reasonable price. If I end up not building up the wheelset I shouldn’t have a problem selling them for what I paid.
These are really nice hubs, wholly made in England, with an extremely high quality feel. When actuating the freehub by hand I can tell that it will have the telltale Hope sound (read: loud) when riding, something which I’d been a bit irked by in the past on others bikes. I hope it doesn’t bother me, but I guess if it does I can always add grease to dampen it a bit… so long as I don’t screw with winter-time engagement.