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Old 06-30-19, 07:22 AM
  #11  
elcruxio
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Originally Posted by Rick
Your assumptions are incorrect. Phil Wood uses heat treated SS in there hub axles. All the parts are over engineered. If you need to replace a bearing two 5mm hex wrenches are all you need. There hubs are not the lightest either.
Yes, and? It could be chromoly for all I care. Also if I recall Shimano used steel in some of their hubs. But it's not really the material but how it is designed.
Like I said, my Hope RS Mono has fared well with a tandem grade touring load (150kg) with an aluminum axle. Doesn't seem to be giving up the ghost just yet.

As to Phil Wood hub service being possible with just a 5mm hex wrench, it's not really 100% accurate is it? It requires a striking tool as well doesn't it? A mallet or a hammer? If we go with these kinds of standards, hope hubs require no tools whatsoever to disassemble and reassemble.

The next touring wheelset I build will likely have DT Swiss hubs. They're pretty much the top of the crop and use pretty darn generic bearings so easy to replace if broken.
And if I had the absolute need to overpay and put something like $600 in hubs I'd get the 540 tandems. But I think I'll do fine with just the typical 350 or 240. They're also easy to convert from QR to thru axle. Not sure if that's possible with Phil Woods.

You need to realize that people go around the globe with Shimano LX hubs. It isn't really that complicated.

Paul uses the one piston system like Avid and several others do. You can make a stronger brake with one piston. Paul did not stop there. There is no perceptible play. There is no flex in them. Paul did not make the mistake like Avid did and put plastic pad adjusters in there calipers. Some tandem riders going down a mountain lost the ability to brake because of the plastic in there brakes. The Klamper is not the lightest mechanical disk brake caliper. It is the best stopping mechanical disk brake out there. Did I mention that the Paul Klamper has bigger balls. Yes the Paul Klampers balls are larger than anybody else's ball bearings.[/QUOTE]

Ok, so here's the thing. I doesn't matter whether there's play or not. No play in the actuator arm probably feels nicer, but it doesn't make a jot of a difference especially in the case of Avid BB7's.
Secondly the no flex thing? I put to you that the 'flex' amounts in Avid BB7 and the Klamper are probably very close to same. What affects more is the flex in the cables, ie. use compressionless housings.

It also seems weird to me that some people have managed to lose braking ability due to the Avid BB7 plastic parts as those parts don't interact with the inner workings of the brake. I'm actually quite baffled how it's even possible for the plastic to somehow get into a position which makes braking impossible. Having taken apart several of these brakes I'd say it's pretty much impossible for that to happen.

Again, BB7's cost a quarter of the Klamper so you get four for one Klamper. Whether there's size difference in ball bearings doesn't seem to matter since BB7's don't seem to suffer many bearing failures.
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