Anyone running ONYX hubs?

PB Forum :: All Mountain, Enduro & Cross-Country
Anyone running ONYX hubs?
Author Message
flag lightlives
Posted: Jun 23, 2019 at 6:12 Quote
I rode an Onyx Hub for nearly a year now.
I am very pleased by its performance.

Instant engagement is the thing but I still would prefer a more simpler Hub Design like Hope that is silent or like the ONYX noiseless.

I had some issues with the play-setting screw getting loose and eating the bearing seal.

When you think about riding a fancy hub I would take the Onyx any day.
flag xmesssenger
Posted: Jun 16, 2021 at 22:58 Quote
Very pleased with my Onyx hubs.
Building my dream bike, a lightweight trail bike, Intense Sniper Trail, I upgraded the wheels to Nobl carbon with Onyx. The only area I compromised weight wise because the other benefits outweighed it. King was the only real challenger and they aren't much lighter, maintenance is an issue I want to avoid but their engagement mechanism looked impressive. This is why I9 was never a contender, I wanted high engagement via something really robust and everything about Onyxs sprag clutch design appealed to me. I don't want issues with my rear hub which I have had with others. The fact it uses dual rows and how they all engage simultaneously distributing all that force just makes sense. I like how it happens closer to the center of the hub, away from contamination.
The hybrid ceramic bearings are nice I guess.
Yes the silence is sweet, hearing your tires on the ground but any other noise becomes intolerable forcing you to maintain your ride.
The lack of friction when coasting is no joke. I never thought so little energy could be noticable and the objectivism in me still doubts it but I find myself coasting equally to other cyclists on a paved rail trail riding city bikes with narrow slick tires.
The engagement action is a love or hate, I love it. It's how the steel "sprags" pop up and essentially trapped between metal surfaces. If a traditional pawl system is like a hunk of metal suddenly hitting a wall then this is the same hunk of metal being captured in a crevasse, there's a ramping up effect rather than an instant slam. I feel it adds a degree of smoothness to the entire drive train. I'm convinced it's better for the chain and cogs and improves shifting at slow speed in the lowest gears because of instant engagement, there's no lag you get with lesser hubs waiting for the cassette to turn required for a shift to complete. Also, it's in this situation the lack of clang engagement seems to help increase the smoothness of shifting. I'm not claiming this is some major upgrade in shifting but it is a noticeable improvement over traditional hubs in very specific situations that deserves mention because I don't think anyone has really mentioned this in a review.
I added possibly a 1/4 lbs to my weight weenie build with zero regrets.
flag Taildragger
O+
Posted: Jun 17, 2021 at 4:24 Quote
I can honestly say that xmessenger hit the spot with that assessment.

 


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