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Review: White Industries Centerlock Disc hubs…for cyclocross (updated)

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White Industries has been making bicycle components for a long, long time. Founder Doug White started out with The Pegger, a simple Velcro strap to keep your pants leg from getting caught in the chain (check out this article), then went on to make bikes, derailleurs, cassettes, and now hubs and chainsets.

The CLD (CenterLock Disc) hubs were their first to get a more modern, swoopy profile. They look the part on the road, but are ready for mountain bikes, too. That means anything from pavement to, let’s say, trail riding is fair game. I put this set through the paces on my cyclocross bike, which sees a fair amount of year ’round riding and training use on gravel, road and dirt, plus the expected racing…

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The hubs were sent laced to Zipp 303 rims, built by WheelBuilder.com, so we only have complete weights. Front was 784g, rear 897g, for a total of 1,681g. Claimed weights for the hubs are 145g and 265g.

Not being tubeless ready rims, I ran latex tubes with various non-tubeless tires from Challenge and Continental during the test. Despite at least one race with too-low pressure seeing the rim meet some roots, I never flatted, which was both surprising and comforting. Build quality was excellent and the wheels stayed strong and true. That said, I still prefer tubeless and had these been my own wheels would have laced them to something ready for it.

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The hubs come as either QR or thru axle and are not convertible. Except that you can use Mavic QR adapters inside White’s thru axle end caps, so if you’re still running QR but want to be future proof, simply buy the thru axle hubs and order Mavic QR end caps online. UPDATE: White Industries also now makes and includes their own QR endcaps to go from thru axle to QR, no need to order Mavic ones. And, you can go from QR to TA with an axle swap, so it’s technically convertible but not as easy as just swapping end caps.

Hub shells are machined in house from 6061 alloy, and the front gets two sets of sealed cartridge bearings. Choose from 9mm QR, 12mm thru (road) or 15mm thru (mtb, etc.) axles. They also make a 6-bolt disc brake hub, too. Front and rear are available in 24, 28, 32 and 36 hole drillings, coming in black, silver, red, gold, pink, purple and blue.

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Out back, all of White’s rear hubs use an 11-speed titanium freehub body, even the XD Driver equipped ones. Inside the shell are three drivers with 24 engagement points, which was adequate for my uses. Mountain bikers might want something a little quicker, but this kept noise at a very reasonable level and offered an acceptable 15º engagement.

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Campagnolo freehubs are also available, which are also titanium and 11-speed.

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On the bike, they spun impressively free and smooth. A small hole on the non-disc side allows access to a preload adjustment set screw.

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The hubs were ridden through a mix of wet and dry rides, warm and very, very cold. They remained bullet proof throughout, ending the test as solid and smooth as they started.

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The only sign of wear was a very slight marring of the freehub body. Visible, but not enough to cause any issues with cassette removal or installation.

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Among high end aftermarket hubs, White Industries’ offerings are on par in price and weight to most, if perhaps a tad on the heavy side for the rear hub. The CLD hubs retail for $166.50-$186.50 (front) and $327.50-$347.50 (rear). The upside to a non-convertible design for the axles is that everything is purpose built, so there are not tolerance or looseness issues where the wheel connects to the bike. That, combined with White’s precision machining and history of making rock solid components, lends a lot of confidence that these hubs should last a lifetime.

WhiteInd.com

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16 Comments
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Steve @ G4G
7 years ago

Actually… They are convertible between 15 and QR out of the box. I just had a set built up and the front came as a 15 with removable caps for QR popped in. The rear came with a QR axle, but since I changed frames I just ordered the 12 through axle and swapped it in just a few minutes. Also, I had WI install the 48 tooth ratchet ring, which was no extra cost. They’re beautiful hubs.

Pong
Pong
7 years ago

So after one ride the free hub body had slight marring? After 50 rides do you need to buy another one?

Ken
Ken
7 years ago
Reply to  Pong

Most of the marring occurs when you tighten the cassette down, not from riding

steve
steve
7 years ago
Reply to  Ken

@Ken, those marks are 100% from ridding not tightening the cassette. If the cassette it tightened to the proper 40Nm they are much less common. They do not come from installation.

Ken
Ken
7 years ago
Reply to  Pong

And he never specified it was after only one ride plus you don’t take your cassette off every time you ride your bike

Robin
Robin
7 years ago
Reply to  Pong

That’s a Ti freehub body. That’s about as bad as the marring will get.

Dominic
Dominic
3 months ago
Reply to  Robin

Ya, that’s by far the worst I’ve seen on a White hub. It just does not get bad.

Paul S.
Paul S.
7 years ago

I will echo Steve’s comments… 48 tooth is now an option (no cost increase over 24 tooth when you order). I cross-shopped these vs DT 240s and i9 Torch hubs for a road disc wheel build. These were a narrow win over the i9’s, but the DTs get left in the dust when you consider how much things cost. If you could order the DTs with the 36 or 54 point engagement and the stainless freehub without paying extra, they would be a similar value to the White and i9 options, but those two features cost you an extra $250 dollars!

ascarlarkinyar
7 years ago

I just built up a cx wheelset with straight pull dt swiss 240s centerlock hubs and I couldn’t be happier. These look like a step down.

Kernel Flickitov
Kernel Flickitov
7 years ago
Reply to  ascarlarkinyar

240s have been the benchmark of aftermarket hubs forever. White Ind makes really great hubs, nothing to sneeze at. I’ve had both.

RobertW
RobertW
7 years ago
Reply to  ascarlarkinyar

Whites have better flange spacing and will give a stiffer wheel, everything else equal.

rw
rw
7 years ago

WI offers a 48 points of engagement (POE) freehub option.

Joey B
Joey B
7 years ago

I just built White Industry CLD 48 tooth hubs with Easton R90 SL rims and Sapim C X-ray spokes. I use these spectacular wheels on a Sage Barlow gravel/adventure bike. Rock solid and buttery smooth bearings. Lots of choices but it’s hard to beat White.

Banjo
Banjo
7 years ago

So these won’t fit my specialized frame which needs an SCS type rear hub then?

2wheelsport
2wheelsport
7 years ago
Reply to  Banjo

@Banjo. You can. Get a standard, not SCS, derailleur hanger. I’ve run Tune, DT, and White Industries hubs on my disc tarmac.

Tom
Tom
7 years ago

White, King, Onyx, etc.

Nice to have quality, USA-made options!

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