formula hubs? any good?

Question

so i want to try building a wheelset for my fixie that will basically be a cheap fix for my current stock wheels. ive been looking at formula hubs and wanted to know if theyre any good. i plan on using mavic cxp elite rims. any other suggestions for hubs are appreciated.

Answer 1

Would go for Shimano Tiagra or similar, a cheap hub that's fitted to three of my bikes and also use Halo hubs which have lasted for nine years from billys.co.uk which came with Halo Combat wheels. As for rims try Rigida Sputnik which along with the Tiagra hubs are from sjscycles.co.uk. My Cannondale road bike wheel build with 700C Shimano Tiagra hubs, Shimano cassette [10] and the Rigida Sputnik rims came in at over £200 built by the wheel builders in the sjs shop, not bad for handmade wheels, doing it yourself would be even cheaper. This shop does an excellent Gussett single speed conversion which along with the Surly Bigfoot single cog makes for a great single speed conversion, the only downside is it freewheels.

Answer 2

It's really hard to save any money by building your own wheels.

The assembly factories that buy hubs, rims and spokes by the truckloads simply get so much lower prices on the parts that you as a small purchaser just can't beat it.

People build wheels b/c they like it, or to get a rim/hub/spokes combo that isn't available otherwise.

So a "cheap fix" it ain't.

Formula hubs for derailer gears tend to do OK but not great. Getting parts is more difficult than Shimano, but not impossible.

Don't know about SS/FG hubs.

I've used Circus Monkey hubs and been reasonably pleased with those.

If you want cheap, buy a wheelset off Amazon, eBay or similar. Check spoke tensions and bearing adjustment and ride.

Answer 3

Formula makes hubs at various different levels of quality, you can't generalize by brand

Answer 4

Unless you plan to do fix geared trick stunts or race on a track invest in a multi geared road bike. Then you'll have a bike that's more practical for street use.