Hope’s homemade wheel buffet still beats most pre-built wheelsets on versatility, value and reliability. Stan’s Flow rims are good light-yet-strong and tubeless-ready hoops, and are great value from Hope compared to the price of buying separately. There’s a wide range of Mavic and DT alternatives for the same price, all laced in Lancashire using Sapim spokes.
The Pro 2 Evo hubs are superbly sealed, have fully interchangeable axles and are easily serviceable too. Hope’s factory direct after-sales service is legendary too. The straight-pull design can get baggy over time and you need to tighten the cassette hard to avoid scarring and sticking. The noisy freewheel is slow to engage and even with Stan’s rims, they’re not light.
This article was originally published in Mountain Biking UK magazine, available on Apple Newsstand and Zinio.
