Ambrosio Zenith hubs - any good?
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Jim Bronson
Jan 15, 2015, 12:34:40 PM1/15/15
to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
I got in on a post-Christmas sale and bought a pair of Pacenti SL23
650B 32h rims for half price. They are a more-triangulated rim
somewhat like the Deep V (but wider) which for whatever reason I seem
to have better luck with not breaking spokes and so forth, probably
because they can take higher spoke tension to begin with. These
particular rims are rated for 125kgf max.
I was wanting to get an SP Dynohub for the front build, which I will
buy from Rivendell because they have a good price and I like
supporting them. For the rear, I was perusing the Interwebs for a NOS
Ultegra 6600 or 6700 rear hub (before settling for a 105 hub) when I
came across these Ambrosio Zenith hubs. They come in a fairly shiny
silver, which was attractive to me because I have been programmed by
RBW to love shiny silver things.
Ambrosio doesn't appear to have resellers in the USA but I found one
on a UK site for $63.53 USD with $12.20 Royal Mail shipping, so a
little less than $76 shipped to my door. This compares favorably with
the costs of a NOS Ultegra hub that I was seeking out, and the hub is
much nicer looking than the Ultegra hub to boot.
There aren't that many opinions about these hubs out there, but they
generally seem positive. Doing further research, these Ambrosio hubs
are actually made by Novatec, who makes hubs for a lot of different
companies that sell bike parts. Including even the Grand Bois hubs
apparently, and those are over $100 more.
Opinions on Novatec hubs seem to vary on the quality of bearings that
were used in the first place in manufacturing for the particular
variant. I have no doubt that Jan specifies very high quality
bearings for his Grand Bois hubs, for example.
Of course if I buy this I am hoping that Ambrosio specs the good
stuff, but, I could always replace the sealed bearings with something
better.
Thoughts?
-Jim
P.S: if Novatec builds so many hubs for 3rd parties to OEM, why
doesn't Rivendell get in on the action? I could see a Silver branded
hub in beautiful polished silver. Maybe the required minimum order
for a branded hub is more than Riv could commit to?
--
Keep the metal side up and the rubber side down!
650B 32h rims for half price. They are a more-triangulated rim
somewhat like the Deep V (but wider) which for whatever reason I seem
to have better luck with not breaking spokes and so forth, probably
because they can take higher spoke tension to begin with. These
particular rims are rated for 125kgf max.
I was wanting to get an SP Dynohub for the front build, which I will
buy from Rivendell because they have a good price and I like
supporting them. For the rear, I was perusing the Interwebs for a NOS
Ultegra 6600 or 6700 rear hub (before settling for a 105 hub) when I
came across these Ambrosio Zenith hubs. They come in a fairly shiny
silver, which was attractive to me because I have been programmed by
RBW to love shiny silver things.
Ambrosio doesn't appear to have resellers in the USA but I found one
on a UK site for $63.53 USD with $12.20 Royal Mail shipping, so a
little less than $76 shipped to my door. This compares favorably with
the costs of a NOS Ultegra hub that I was seeking out, and the hub is
much nicer looking than the Ultegra hub to boot.
There aren't that many opinions about these hubs out there, but they
generally seem positive. Doing further research, these Ambrosio hubs
are actually made by Novatec, who makes hubs for a lot of different
companies that sell bike parts. Including even the Grand Bois hubs
apparently, and those are over $100 more.
Opinions on Novatec hubs seem to vary on the quality of bearings that
were used in the first place in manufacturing for the particular
variant. I have no doubt that Jan specifies very high quality
bearings for his Grand Bois hubs, for example.
Of course if I buy this I am hoping that Ambrosio specs the good
stuff, but, I could always replace the sealed bearings with something
better.
Thoughts?
-Jim
P.S: if Novatec builds so many hubs for 3rd parties to OEM, why
doesn't Rivendell get in on the action? I could see a Silver branded
hub in beautiful polished silver. Maybe the required minimum order
for a branded hub is more than Riv could commit to?
--
Keep the metal side up and the rubber side down!
Chris Chen
Jan 15, 2015, 1:03:25 PM1/15/15
to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
"because I have been programmed by RBW to love shiny silver things."
Love it.
They do look nice. Assuming the freehub body is good, I'd say go for it, wear out the bearings, and replace them with nice ones when you do :)
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Philip Williamson
Jan 15, 2015, 6:50:44 PM1/15/15
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Mike Schiller
Jan 15, 2015, 7:01:55 PM1/15/15
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I had picked up a 36h set of these hubs a few years ago. All the reports I read were positive about them. At the time all the rims I wanted to use for 650B were 32h so I sold the hubs.
They do have aluminum free hub bodies so they last longer if you use a cassette with an aluminum carrier body that most of the cogs are attached to or the free hub body will gall.
BTW...I've been using Miche Racing box hubs for 3-4 years and have been very happy with them, made in Italy and use cartridge bearings as well. Reasonably priced too.
~mike
Carlsbad Ca
Brewster Fong
Jan 16, 2015, 12:04:51 PM1/16/15
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On Thursday, January 15, 2015 at 9:34:40 AM UTC-8, Jim Bronson wrote:
Good solid hubs for the money. Jan Heine use to sell these as the Grand Bois hubs:
He raved about them how good they were and for under $76, it's pretty much the best hub you can get new! Good Luck!
Kieran J
Jan 16, 2015, 12:48:29 PM1/16/15
to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com
I have a set of the Grand Bois high flange hubs and they are very sweet and lovely. I suppose the Novatec would be similar. They certainly look nearly the same.
It is worth mentioning that they do have an audible and distinctive ratcheting sound when coasting or backpedaling (although not Chris King swarm of bees level). If you prefer the silent operation of Shimano hubs like Ultegra, LX etc., it's something to consider.
KJ
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