Hope HB 130 Updated with Return to Boost Spacing, Mullet Conversion Rocker Upgrade and Factory Build
Photos: Sam Needham
Just over a year after it first launched, Hope is rolling out a number of updates to its British made HB 130 trail bike. Hope has now apparently sold 250 of the carbon, 140mm/130mm travel bikes and has decided it is time to ring in some updates.
Although the mainframe remains largely the same, there's a return to a more conventional rear hub standard, more spec levels, a chance to get your hands on some rare Hope Green parts, and a Mullet conversion kit available as an upgrade.
Return to 148x12 Boost standard
On both the HB 160 and the launch version of the HB 130, Hope forged its own hub standard, the HB 130x17. The idea here was to reduce the width of the rear hub to 130mm for better clearance through Yorkshire gritstone while keeping the hub flanges sitting at a similar width apart to a boost hub. Space was saved between the frame and disc, and disc and spoke flanges, the spoke angle was also symmetrical which is touted as the ultimate solution for reliable wheel building. The hub axle was 17mm instead of 12mm, which is the size of Hope hub inner bearing races, the races sat directly on the axle, instead of on spacers on the axle.
Following customer feedback, Hope has redesigned the rear end of the bikes to now take standard 148x12 hubs to increase the compatibility. Hope said: "There is no gain in terms of performance, it just means that should an owner have an issue on a trip, it makes it easier to fit a standard wheel and enjoy the rest of their trip." The other benefit for Hope is that it allows the Barnoldswick brand to offer frames at a cheaper price.
Mullet Rocker Upgrade
While both standard builds come with 29" wheels front and rear, customers can opt to switch to a mullet set up thanks to an aftermarket upgrade from Hope. The switch is made by swapping out the standard rocker for a mullet specific one that will keep the rider in the same pedalling position but with a smaller rear wheel. Hope sells the rocker as part of a kit that also includes a Fortus 26w rear wheel and a Maxxis High Roller 2, 2.4" EXO TR tyre for £465.
Factory Race Build
Alongside the standard build, you can now get a FR, or Factory Race, build of the HB 130 complete with parts used by Hope's race team. This includes Ohlins suspension, a SRAM X01 drivetrain and DMR Deathgrips but most excitingly, a lot of green anodised Hope parts. Green anodised parts are normally only available to pro riders so to see them available on a regular build will have fans of the British brand eager their hands on some. From what we can see in the pictures provided by Hope, you get green bolts, brake levers, brake reservoir covers and brake calipers. There's also a custom paint job on this bike from Hope's in-house paint tech, Bailey.
The FR edition of the bike costs £7,299.99 with a frame only version available for £4,199.99.
More info, here.
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The problem though, as the wrote above, is being in a remote place, like Moab for example, and breaking a proprietary hub on your fancy-pants boutique bike and there’s not a shop in town that can replace it. I’ve been there. It’s sucks.
Id rather just rent a bike for a couple days then spend even more money on something I don't want. Plus, if hope hubs are as good as everybody says then the chance of having an issue with the wheel outside of breaking the rim should be so small why worry about it?
What were decision factors include (1) an unproven design (2) needing to invest in a separate proprietary wheel to have a spare (not to mention replacement expendables likely requiring purchase from a small parts pool with no aftermarket support) and in the end (3) extremely low if any resale market for those spares and parts due to being well beyond even a niche
All the established 'standards' work fine for me and have the cross compatibility, support, and markets I'm looking for.
I mean, we're seeing this risk in action right here. We're in an article about Hope doing a near 180 on their design 3 years after it dropped with the 160, based on customer feedback, seeing no new aftermarket, and a step closer to deprecating their own 17mm axle--and at the same time there are people downvoting my comment about not being economically shortsighted when this frame dropped. That on its own is kind of lol worthy
Also can relate to the whole obsolescence thing. Though Hope is very good with post production support, even a decade after they have stopped production of something. If I was going to buy something risky, Hope would be one of the few companies I would trust to look after me regardless if the product succeeded or died an early death.
You make good points, for sure. Not sure why people feel the need to obsessively down vote sensible level-headed posts just because they don't agree with them.
77-78° seat angle(proper); 475-485 reach(L avg); chainstays + per size; links/chips adj geo; 63-65 ha; many playing catch up...
Remember when we were all riding 100x20mm front hubs? Good thing we switched from that weak standard!!!
Also specialized (the pioneer company that everyone loves) was still using 135mm rear hubs not too long ago.
The industry switches things up so that your old stuff becomes obsolete and you HAVE TO continue to buy new stuff.
Makes you wonder what would have happened if they would have come up with this before boost...?
Hope has made a great bike, that will never be mistaken anything else other than a Hope bike.
It’s pretty easy to understand why increasing the diameter of the axle by 40% means you can run a narrower hub width and still achieve the same stiffness.
That's insane.
yer tinfoil hat might be a little too tight, bud.
OK, yea I totally glanced at the article and went down to the comments...
Ok its made in house. But Pace RC295 and Bird Aeither 9C carbon frames are sub £2k with a shock.
Outdated? Checked!
Overpriced? Checked!
If I recall correctly, the hub offered wide flanges and low or no dish. Wide bracing and equal bracing and spoke tension, while providing a narrow rear end. What's not to like?