SpeedCific

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Soul FH Classic Front Hub

Soul FH Disc Front Hub

SpeedCific "Perception" 260g Rear Road Hub

When talking to people about this item, we often hear... "Perception? Odd name for a hub." Here is the story. We do all our own wheelbuilding at SpeedCific. For years we've been frustrated by the vast pricing gap between mass-market Shimano™ hubs and the high-performance aftermarket brands. It has always required a huge jump in price to get any significant improvement in performance over Dura-Ace™. After talking to a number of manufacturers about this issue, we discovered that the primary factor dictating the pricing of aftermarket hubs is not actual cost, but consumer perception based on price. In other words, unless a manufacturer sets their MSRP sky-high, consumers won't think their product is as good as all the other hubs that also cost a fortune.

We are not convinced that all cycling consumers are incapable of looking past a price tag and intelligently comparing features. The "who can charge the most" competition also has very serious drawbacks for both dealers and consumers. For dealers, this has made it next-to-impossible to custom build wheels. Mail order vendors routinely sell Shimano™ hubs below dealer cost. Any superior aftermarket hub set is so expensive they are usually economically better off selling pre-made wheels. Instead of being able to focus on workmanship and customization, the bike shop is reduced to selling the exact same product everyone else offers and competing on price alone.

For consumers, this means that they lose access to custom built wheels and are forced to select "one size fits most" pre-built products designed for the average consumer. The goal of our Perception hub set is to offer a product with clearly superior performance at a comparable price to the best mass-market hubs. We figure a certain group of performance-oriented consumers are knowledgeable enough to look at features and not be wowed by price tags alone. These are the same folks who understand the superiority of custom wheels.

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COMPARISON	SpeedCific Perception	2003 Dura-Ace™ HB-7700	2004 Dura-Ace™ HB-7800
Weight without skewer	260g	312g	264g
Q.R. Skewer Included	Yes, 56g	Yes, 64g	Yes, 64g
Total Weight w/ Skewer	316g	376g	328g
Axle Diameter/Material	12mm/Steel	10mm/Steel	15mm/Aluminum
Freehub Engagement Speed	24 point (15°)	16 point (22.5°)	Not Published
Freehub Body Material	Aluminum	Titanium	Aluminum
Hub Shell Forming	Forged	Forged	Forged
Bearings	4 Dual-Sealed Cartridge	Loose Ball	Loose Ball
Shimano™ Version Compatible with 8, 9, or 10 speed cassettes?	Yes	Yes	No, 10 Speed ONLY
Campagnolo™ Compatible Version Available?	Yes	Ya Kiddin?	Uh, No!

Specifications
Spoke Circle Diameter	41mm L 49mm R
Center-to-Flange Spacing	32mm L 20.5mm R
Available Drillings	28, 32H
Spoke Hole Diameter	2.4mm
Color Options	Black or Silver
Suggested Retail Pricing	$99.00

"Dura-Ace" and "Shimano" are trademarks of Shimano Inc.

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Last modified: September 08, 2003