Originally Posted by
prj71
The real difference being discussed here is cup and cone bearing hub vs. cartridge bearing hub. The cartridge bearing hub is superior to the cup and cone bearings all day long. Cup and cone bearings on bikes are now old technology and only found on cheap bikes.
When a cartridge bearing has worn out, just throw it away and replace. If cup and cone system is worn out...just hope you caught it in time...water and grit turn into a nice grinding paste which is likely to damage the internal surface of the hub shell...and then there goes the nice smooth rolling surface.
It's being superior isn't 100% true, sure you can toss the cartridges but how precise the hub is machined along with the axle and caps all help to determine how good the hub really is or even how long the bearings last. While I think the average cartridge bearing hub is easier to maintain from my own experience I wouldn't take the average cartridge hub over a new set or XT or XTR. I do prefer my Kings and WI, but I have a very smooth, fast and reliable set of 8000 series XT hubs on my adventure bike which spends as much time on the gravel as it does in the mountains and I fail to see where most cartridge hubs are actually superior. I9, Hope, Phil, King and WI are all better in so many ways but are also 2-4x the price for that better. Too blanket of a statement leaves out a lot.
OP: enjoys the new wheels, sounds like a solid build.