beginner hubs, and fork for zebdi

[snakebite]

ok, i am new at this trials thing. I was wondering if some shimano xt hubs are good enough for a beginner. or should i save up, and go all out for some chris king hubs? do i really need uber fast engagement to learn the basics?

on a side note, what size fork should i get for my zebdi? the 400mm or 425mm planet x super light.

[Yurich]

xt hubs will be fine, just know that you'll be replacing freehub bodies about once every few months....it's really not that bad.

I'd go with the 400mm and a higher rise stem

[Matt]

Eventually I would say you're going to want a chris king hub. But as long as you have a rear wheel already I can't recommend you buy one right away. If you're in trials for the long haul and don't have a rear wheel, you might as well pick one up and get it over with, no sense in buying an xt, a chris king, two sets of spokes and two wheel builds (if you don't buy your own wheels). You'll be fine on an XT for your entire trials career, but I would recommend riding what you have until it breaks, at that point you're probably ready for a chris king.

[Elan]

i wouldnt even bother with XT hubs. get a deore hub and save some $. because for trials they are both going to give you the same quality of ride.

zebdis are designed for street use, or are used by most for that type of riding. it really depends on what youre doing. if you plan to ride street a lot, get the 425mm. if you plan to be riding a lot of natural terrain, get the 400mm.

[snakebite]

zebdis are designed for street use, or are used by most for that type of riding. it really depends on what youre doing. if you plan to ride street a lot, get the 425mm. if you plan to be riding a lot of natural terrain, get the 400mm.


would a 425mm keep the bb level? also, does anyone know the wheelbase length for the zebdi?

[xxxfr]

the 400mm puts the bb at 0mm drop, 425 will put it at about +6mm, the wheelbase is 1014mm w/ the 400mm kniffen

[hophopsnap]

I have a shimano xt front disc hub for 8 months, and its still super smooth and perfect. Wont be replacing it till it blows...

[Elan]

xts suck. i would never ride one. i need chris king hubs because otherwise i wont be as good.

[xxxfr]

kings definalty spoil you...and dont get deores....xt's will last for a few months, deores use a cheaper freehub body

[oicdn]

I would say jump headfirst into a King. once you have one, you'll wonder how you rode without them (how I am now on my streetbike). It's a worthwhile investment that has a REALLY LOW loss rate in that, you can ALWAYS be sure that that king, whatever it's laced to can be sold in a heartbeat to ANY trials rider. Even people with one, will prolly buy another if it's a good deal....so the whole "get this if you don't know if you're gonna stay with trials" is kinda crap....

[valiumlaw]

ok, i am new at this trials thing. I was wondering if some shimano xt hubs are good enough for a beginner. or should i save up, and go all out for some chris king hubs? do i really need uber fast engagement to learn the basics?

on a side note, what size fork should i get for my zebdi? the 400mm or 425mm planet x super light.
There is a compromise between a shimano XT and chris king, called the Hope XC.

My first rear wheel was a shimano XT, and although fine for a couple of months, the freehub body soon died, its better that you get a Hope XC and see it as more of an investment, like instead of buying numerous waste of money freehub bodies, just buy one hope xc rear hub, that should last you. IMO you dont need uber engagements for trials, i got by fine with the hope xc's 22? engagement points.

If you need to know more about the Hope XC for a rear hub on a trials rig search for it at www.trials-forum.co.uk (http://www.trials-forum.co.uk) , where a while ago they were discussed with vigour and alot of useful info. can probably still be found.

Id say go for the longer 425mm forks, back in the days the trialskings much preferred the feel of the longer forks over the shorter ones, you may to?

[oicdn]

See, for you, Hope is a good idea/compromise(sp?) cause you're in the UK. Here, a Hope rear is shy of a King. Not like by $2 or anything, but enough to the point where'd you'de be better off saving your money to get the King...

[snakebite]

are hadley's any good? they sound like they are stronger? are they as fast chris kings?

[dookie]

Another thing to consider is a front freewheel. You can run a fixed rear hub and a front freewheel.

An ACS claw freewheel is fairly durable, (put loctite the bearing preload nut to keep it from coming loose) cheap (about $20) and has 32 engagement points. (twice as many as a Shimano) Or you can go to the ENO Trials freewheel with 72 engagement points for about $100.

Trialsin or Webcyclery have an Echo crank for $80 that handles the front freewheel.

A Surly fixed hub is $69 at Webcyclery, or you could epoxy your currrent hub to make it a fixed hub. (I've never done this) There may be cheaper fixed hubs out there, I'm not sure.

These are much cheaper options than a $260 King. BUT, there is no doubt that a King is really a good investment.

I was amazed at how much better pedal kicking was when I went from a 16 click Shimano to a 32 click ACS. I can only imagine how a King hub feels.

[Gargamel]

Dont listen to people saying to buy a king, even for a pro-rider they are cheaper solution (ss hub with freewheel and regular crank or front freewheel with fixed hub)

Anyway, XT are fine for a beginner, i started on those and i still got one on front.