Hi Mike, I’m a middle aged bicycle hack who isn’t sponsored or supported by any brand so while my opinions are my own I’m not prone to hyperbole when comparing items - I’m beyond considerate of the fact that a reader may use my experience as part of their purchasing decision and everyone I know works f***ing hard for their cash. I would be gutted if I recommended a product - or favourably compared two products - and ended up wasting someone else’s scratch.
(It’s just one of the reasons, working in shops, that I always had better relationships with customers than owners/employers.)
Out of the box, the only two hub systems that are comparable, that I’ve ridden, in terms of drag are the leaf spring Hydra and magnetic P321. Put a season or two into a King with a couple of rebuilds and it’s there as well.
Aside from that aside, both the P321 and Hydra have less drag that the I9 Torch system that both companies previously used. Also will reiterate that I’ve ridden both hubs with the same rubber on a single speed hardtail so I feel pretty solid about my elimination of variables.
If this was a German mag doing crazy wattage testing in a lab, I’d guess P321 would edge a narrow win between magnets and adjustable bearing tension but in the real world I think it is a choice between philosophies for hub purchases.
On the OE wheel front Hydra looks to be dominating the high-end wheel game for whatever reason.
DT Swiss isn’t in the discussion unless you don’t care about hub engagement or want to carry some extra ratchets in your hip pack. That’s not me, so I don’t generally include them in my work.
June 5, 2020, 8:47 p.m. - Andrew Major
Hi Mike, I’m a middle aged bicycle hack who isn’t sponsored or supported by any brand so while my opinions are my own I’m not prone to hyperbole when comparing items - I’m beyond considerate of the fact that a reader may use my experience as part of their purchasing decision and everyone I know works f***ing hard for their cash. I would be gutted if I recommended a product - or favourably compared two products - and ended up wasting someone else’s scratch. (It’s just one of the reasons, working in shops, that I always had better relationships with customers than owners/employers.) Out of the box, the only two hub systems that are comparable, that I’ve ridden, in terms of drag are the leaf spring Hydra and magnetic P321. Put a season or two into a King with a couple of rebuilds and it’s there as well. Aside from that aside, both the P321 and Hydra have less drag that the I9 Torch system that both companies previously used. Also will reiterate that I’ve ridden both hubs with the same rubber on a single speed hardtail so I feel pretty solid about my elimination of variables. If this was a German mag doing crazy wattage testing in a lab, I’d guess P321 would edge a narrow win between magnets and adjustable bearing tension but in the real world I think it is a choice between philosophies for hub purchases. On the OE wheel front Hydra looks to be dominating the high-end wheel game for whatever reason. DT Swiss isn’t in the discussion unless you don’t care about hub engagement or want to carry some extra ratchets in your hip pack. That’s not me, so I don’t generally include them in my work.