Industry Nine DH/FR Wheels Long Term Review

[Pixsoul]

Industry Nine Spoke Comparison

Ok here is a comparison of a standard spoke compared with a Industry Nine spoke.

As you can see the spoke diameter is large on the industry nine. Making for a quite strong (and very stiff!) spoke. If you have a look at the thread, it actually comes out of the spoke to a larger diameter. Unlike a conventional spoke where the thread is cut IN to the spoke (the valley of a standard spoke's thread is the thinnest section of a spoke generally) making it a weak point.

The hammer of the hub, where the spoke screws into is also very strong...thus in any unlikely occurance the spoke will bend, then snap if given enough force without damaging the hub.

Hope that clarifies it some more for you.

 

[udi]

Any reason they do a standard flange 20mm and 135mm, but no 150mm?

 

[Pixsoul]

Any reason they do a standard flange 20mm and 135mm, but no 150mm?

They do make a flange 150, its in production at the moment .

Should be available in a month / 2 .

 

[j5ive]

Any weight or price info on the jbend hubs yet ken?

 

[Pixsoul]

Any weight or price info on the jbend hubs yet ken?

RRP for the set is $920, I am unsure of the rear, but i know the front is ~180g. So pretty light. Also better quality bearings than anything else on the market (with the exception of king which i would say these are on par with), and of course the i9 freewheel.

I will get proper weights and post them soon.

 

[udi]

I too am interested in a weight and price for the standard flange 150mm hub.

Also, what is the amount of freewheel drag like? King have issues with too much drag, thanks to a lot of surface area constantly in contact... the best I've seen so far in that regard is the Hadley 108pt, because only one pawl is ever in contact with the track... so you get fast engagement and minimal drag.

Where does the I9 (6 pawl) fall in that scheme of things?

 

[Pixsoul]

I too am interested in a weight and price for the standard flange 150mm hub.

Also, what is the amount of freewheel drag like? King have issues with too much drag, thanks to a lot of surface area constantly in contact... the best I've seen so far in that regard is the Hadley 108pt, because only one pawl is ever in contact with the track... so you get fast engagement and minimal drag.

Where does the I9 (6 pawl) fall in that scheme of things?

Hey Udi,

I find out late tomorrow night the official weight of the flange hubs and post it up here (when Industry Nine are at work to ask).

The I9 freewheels do have a break in period, which is around 8 hours from memory. They will have drag during this period, but after that they are free as a bird. So much so that Industry Nine no longer spec the 3 pawl system (which has "less" drag) on the Ultralite / All Mountain hubs (unless you specify it) because after the initial break in, the 6 pawl system has no drag.

We have seen a couple of wheels see a little bit of drag at high speeds after break in, but this has been due to too much grease in the freewheel. So you can simply open the hub up (with no special tools) remove some grease, put it back togethor, and your off and away.

Climate can also affect any freewheel, eg. if you are in a particularly cold area the grease will be thicker and stickier, so you would replace it with a lighter weight or possibly a heavy weight lube such as the Mavic freewheel specific lube etc....but us of these require more service.

But back to topic, after break in the freewheel is good to go!

Cheers,

Ken

 

[Pixsoul]

Just got an email from a Australian Industry Nine customer living in the states, he can't post up on here so I thought I would for him:

[FONT=&quot]Ken, [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I'm an Australian living in Northern California and read the Farkin sit to keep up with news back home. I was once a member but my firewall here prevents me from being so now (pretty strict).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I write because of a few things I read in the comments of the I9 review, plus I have a set of Mavic 819s laced to mine as you mentioned. Also, I used the flanged hub which is a little different from the usual I9 setup, but more traditional in terms of wheel build.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]For the past few months I've been riding my I9 hubs. They were built by a company near here called 'Cycle Monkey' and specced with Mavic 819s that were custom anodized to match the hub (I9 actually sent a shell to the anodizers in Portland, Oregan so they could colour-match. Nice guys.). The hubs are brilliant. A front hub that can be run as QR, 15mm TA, 24mm TA, and 24mm TA is extremely versatile and makes a hub, whose initial purchase is quite high, a real bargain: they will be with me for at least the next ten years and any fork I choose. I've pulled apart a lot of hubs in my almost 20 years of servicing my own bikes and the I9 is just brilliantly designed. That drive side bearing is enormous! All ABEC 5. The pawl mechanism is so simple (seeing the technical drawings also sealed that for me). Also, 120 points of engagement are a Godsend on techincal rocky ascents: there's always power when I want it. I would never have thought I could feel the difference but the difference is huge (compared with 32 p.o.e. on my previous Shimano XT). Some people may think they make a little noise but I don't hear it over the noise of NorCal's gravel-over-hardpack.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The weights on my hubs were 200 front and 340 rear (supplied by I9). I didn't actually weight them when they came in.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I had an unlimited budget for those wheels and I chose I9 hubs and don't regret it a second. I rode the XC course at Sea Otter on a set of Chris King hubs and that ride confirmed I had made the right choice: slower engagement (yes, I felt the difference) and noisier and not as versatile. Weight? I run 2.5 Maxxis ST High Rollers, I obviously don't care about weight.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The reason I went with traditional spokes instead of I9s was mainly that it was easier to carry spares and replace spokes in mountain lion/bear country (yeah, I realise the hypocrisy in getting twisted spokes), and friend's using Mavic's aluminium spokes were having issues. I am also the kind of cyclist that waits a long time to see how others go before jumping on the bandwagon. It will be a while before I go to aluminium spokes.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Here is the gallery of some of the Cycle Monkey wheel builds. You'll see straight away which are mine:[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]http://www.cyclemonkey.com/gallery.shtml[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I got the idea of anodizing the rims after seeing the pink Chris King set.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks for the tip on LESS grease for less drag. I notice that when it is freewheeling in the stand that the friction from the rear hub will turn the cranks in the three smallest cogs on the cassette, so hopefully I will pull it apart again and get it down to 2 or less.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Cheers,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Chris.[/FONT]

 

[saundo]

Does any one know if it is possible to buy just the hubs and spokes without the wheels?

 

[Pixsoul]

Does any one know if it is possible to buy just the hubs and spokes without the wheels?

We can lace onto rims that you provide, you would be looking at a $100 reduction in the price. We only offer this as an in-house service, so you would hace to send us the rims as we currently do not allow the wheels to be built up out of house. Purely for quality control purposes.

Cheers,

Ken

 

[udi]

Hey Udi,

I find out late tomorrow night the official weight of the flange hubs and post it up here (when Industry Nine are at work to ask).

Been well over a month now and still no response!
Have you got a weight, price, or availability date on the 150x12 standard flanged hub yet? I'm mostly just curious on the weight... and whether they'll ever make one.

 

[Pixsoul]

Been well over a month now and still no response!
Have you got a weight, price, or availability date on the 150x12 standard flanged hub yet? I'm mostly just curious on the weight... and whether they'll ever make one.

Sorry mate! Must have been a "quiet night out" when I forgot about that one....

However I did find out...I just forgot to post it:

Weights: (wheels weighed on our digital Ultimate scale – measures in 10g increments)

-Ultralite wheelset on 355-26: 1470g
-All Mountain wheelset w/ 4.2d (steel endcaps on axles): 1640g
-Enduro wheelset on 5.1d (20/QR135): 1840g
-DH/FR set on 6.1d (135 rear): 2150g, (150 rear): 2180g
-Ultralite set on 355-29: 1620g, on Arch-29: 1740g
-AM wheelset on Flow-29: 1850g, on DT TK 7.1d: 1900g
-Ego road set: 1470g
-SuperEgo set: 1090g
-Front Hub (j-bend spokes): 180g +/- depending on axle configuration
-Rear Hub (j-bend spokes): 340g +/- depending on axle configuration
-UL (0.090) spokes to Std (0.100) spokes: +20g, Std (0.100) spokes to DH (0.110) spokes: +20g
- AL endcaps on axles to Steel endcaps: +40g (about 20g per axle)
-EN hubset is approx. 40g heavier than AM hubs

Last I heard the 150s were still in production, but I will check on the latest status for you and post it here. Although....I am about to got the pub for a counter meal...I will try my hardest not to repeat my actions and forget to post after a "quiet night out" .

Cheers,

Ken

 

[Pixsoul]

150 rear flange hubs are 2-3 weeks away, just spoke with Industry Nine then.

Cheers,

Ken

 

[Pixsoul]

While I would tend to agree as I don't like my brands being mis-represented, keep the potty mouths off the thread please.

 

[wagon boy]

Whilst I am happy at the moment with my Hadley/Rhynolite combo, I'll soon be changing bikes and at the same time, wheelsets... I do not like the dt rims and in the review Scott mentioned that it was being considered that rims changes may be happening - has there been any progress on this at all?

I noticed that there was also mention of using the mavic 823 but seeing as that's a fairly heavy rim, I would assume that is for the FR/DH wheelsets - how wrong would I be?

 

[Pixsoul]

Whilst I am happy at the moment with my Hadley/Rhynolite combo, I'll soon be changing bikes and at the same time, wheelsets... I do not like the dt rims and in the review Scott mentioned that it was being considered that rims changes may be happening - has there been any progress on this at all?

I noticed that there was also mention of using the mavic 823 but seeing as that's a fairly heavy rim, I would assume that is for the FR/DH wheelsets - how wrong would I be?

Still talking to several companies about a complete rim swap of stock wheelsets in Australia.

But in the meantime we can still swap rims if you would prefer to run a different rim.

The 823 was in regards to the DH/FR wheelset and wouldn't be used on any of the other wheels as it would be too heavy duty.

Cheers,

Ken

 

[wagon boy]

Still talking to several companies about a complete rim swap of stock wheelsets in Australia.

But in the meantime we can still swap rims if you would prefer to run a different rim.

The 823 was in regards to the DH/FR wheelset and wouldn't be used on any of the other wheels as it would be too heavy duty.

Cheers,

Ken

Ok, that's fair enough. Any idea on what sort of costs would be incurred by requesting a different rim be fitted? (obviously not including the rim cost itself)

 

[Pixsoul]

Ok, that's fair enough. Any idea on what sort of costs would be incurred by requesting a different rim be fitted? (obviously not including the rim cost itself)

Really dependant on the rim choice. If we can use the same length spokes as a stock wheelset then the only difference in price would be the difference in cost of the rim.

If custom length spokes had to be made then this would incur about a $75 surcharge, not including difference in rim costs.

Cheers,

Ken

 

[wagon boy]

Ok, It was in the review it was mentioned that there was consideration of free choice of rim, I guess that's not going ahead?

 

[Pixsoul]

Ok, It was in the review it was mentioned that there was consideration of free choice of rim, I guess that's not going ahead?

We are working on deals with a number of rim suppliers to see if we can get this to work.

Essentially the idea is that we can buy rims here or direct from manufacturers rather than from Industry Nine as wheelsets. Then we pay less shipping from America which should in theory hopefully offset the price of getting custom length spokes and allow us to offer a wider range of rims at no extra cost....or we would over a larger range of complete wheels with different rim options at slightly different pricing.

But I am still waitin for pricing and supply details from a number of suppliers, so while we are aiming to do that ASAP, we have to wait and see how it pans out for the moment.

Depending on what rim you choose, the spoke length would be the same and as such usually wouldn't incur a surcharge unless the rim is vastly more expensive than the stock option.

Cheers,

Ken