MTB Hubs — The Lowdown
The hub is the central part of your bike's rear and front wheels, the connecting factor between the wheel and frame. The axle's fitted through the hubs, allowing your wheels to move freely. Hub maintenance is an integral part of the smooth function of your mountain bike.
When purchasing a hub, you need to know whether your MTB has a disc or rim brakes and the necessary width of the hub. If the chosen hub's too wide, it might not fit into the frame or fork correctly. The system used to mount each hub depends on axle type — the number of holes on the hub is an indication of how many spokes it requires to work. If after reading our guide you're still not sure which hub you need, get in touch with a member of the friendly Bikester customer service team.
Choosing your hub
There are three different types of mountain bike rear hubs — these are:
- freewheel
- internally geared
- singlespeed
It's important to determine which kind of MTB you have before buying a rear hub. Almost all rear hubs have a freewheel feature on the drive side of the hub. This looks like an aluminium or steel tube into which you insert the cassette or sprocket. This will contain spring-loaded elements, which produce the soft clicking noise you hear when you're coasting.
Generally, modern mountain bike rear hubs have widths of 135mm, 142mm or 148mm. 142mm is the standard on most MTBs across a range of riding styles, yet 148 mm continues to gain popularity.
On Bikester you'll find the hubs broken down into the following categories for easy browsing:
- Front wheel
- Rear wheel
- Disc brake 6 bolt
- Disc brake centre lock
- Rim brake
Taking into account different types of frames and forks and whether you have a rim or disk brakes will help you choose the right hubs for you.
Brands on offer
Here at Bikester, we offer a great selection of different brands when it comes to MTB hubs. We'll look at a selection of these in more detail.
Shimano MTB hubs
Here at Bikester we stock a wide variety of Shimano hubs. Each hub has a description that lists its compatibility and unique elements. Shimano are famed for their high-quality components, and it's important to note that some of their hubs require maintenance with the bearings and grease elements, and most components are replaceable.
DT Swiss hubs
DT Swiss offer well-engineered bike components with a varying price range, so you can choose which level of performance hubs you would like from their selection. They have the competitive cyclist in mind when designing their products, and they're famed for their quality and durability.
In some of their high-end hubs, they've employed an impressive freehub system that transfers your highest pedalling loads into more direct power during the ride. They also follow a no-tool concept, so they can be fixed whilst you're out and may not have your tool bag.
Have a browse of their hubs and note the extensive range of different designs.
We also stock a number of other reliable brands, such as Newmen MTB hubs and Novatec hubs. We have compiled a selection of the best bike components on offer so that you can be sure you're making the best choices.