DTSwiss 350 vs Hope RS4

[composite]

I'm looking to build a set of wheels mostly for road use and wondered if anyone had any thoughts on hubs in terms of DTSwiss 350 or Hope RS4? The DTSwiss 240 would be great and everything but I don't think the weight saving is worth the money and you can upgrade the hub to the rachet system on the 350s later on.

Other suggestions always welcome.

[Mariner]

Never heard of a 350 failure unlike the Hope but someone will be along to contradict that anytime soon.

If I was looking at Hope I would probably also consider Novatec. Bearings readily available and serviceable and not paying a premium.
Spokesman wheels are importers I think.

[redefined_cycles]

I'd go with the Dt Swiss 350 myself... Can't comment on the 240 version except that theres a limit where weight dropping on the hubs stops making sense. I've got an uber light (Edco) rear hub which the alloy of the hub shell actually sort of peeled away with the flange. Contrast that to a Hope front hub of yesteryear which had a hairline crack (found it after I sold it on ebay and buyer returned) around the hubshell...

Anyway... Dt350 seems spot on (unless you can get hold of a CK for the extra bling factor.. which aren't made to be superlight which says alot).

[Charliecres]

Erm ... I’m that person. I had an axle snap on an almost new DT350 hub and there were no spares available anywhere. I think I may be the only person ever to have had a bad experience with them though.

[Mariner]

Was it a DT Swiss axle?

[Dyffers]

TL:DR They'll both be fine. Buy RS4s if you want a colour other than black.
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I've had loads of Hope hubs in the last 15 years. A couple of road 'Mono' hubs had the well-discussed-on-the-internet flange cracks (which to be fair Hope changed for free despite the hubs being about 3 years and 10k miles old, although I did have to dismantle then rebuild my wheels which was an annoyance) but I've run a pair of factory-build Pro2 Evos on Crests for years without issue (except the freehub that's made of the softest metal known to man). I've got a couple of front RS4s in wheels at the moment as I never have any trouble with front wheels.

However, I've gradually moved across to DT hubs over the last 3 years, partly because I'm curious and mostly because I'm lazy and want parts that require no maintenance. And that's what my DT350 hubs have been, maintenance free for 5k miles so far.

I tried a pair of CK hubs and came to the conclusion they looked and sounded nice but weren't worth the money as they were at best only as robust as DT hubs. And a rear ISO hub weighs a metric f**ktonne.

I also have a pair of DT240 road hubs which are a thing of functional beauty and so far the weight savings don't seem a problem (94g j-bend-spoke front hub!), so if I had the money I'd go DT240 hubs on my disc road bike(s) too.

[Charliecres]

Was it a DT Swiss axle?

Yes, on a qr hub

[Asposium]

I have four pairs of wheels with DT 240 straight pull spokes
Can’t fault them
Easy to change the end caps for current and future standards
Easy to change freehub, again for current and future standards
DT worked Shimano on the microspline standard
DT make the internals for many third party hubs
Really easy to service

Have a pair of old Hope hubs
The paw springs are forever disintegrating.

[composite]

OK thanks all. I have pretty much decided to go with the 350s. I have had 350's on my 29er for god knows how long and they have been faultless. Not even sure why I was interested in the Hope hubs, I guess I was just looking around at options.

[FLV]

I've used both hope (earlier ones than you list) but DT350's seem to be cheaper and don't break so that's where my money has gone recently.

I know this is after the fact, but there you go