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Update: Tune’s ultralight Princess MTB hub sheds more grams for 30th anniversary <70g

Written by Cory Benson
Tune Princess 30 years Uli edition ultralight mountain bike hub
9 Comments
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Remember that exclusive we got on Tune’s latest Princess Skyline mountain bike hubs? The front weighed just 78g. Well, now a limited Princess 30 years Uli edition shaves another 10% more off what had already become one of the lightest disc brake hubs available, and we know how they did it…

Tune Princess 30 years Uli edition ultralight mountain bike hub

Tune Princess 30 years Uli edition ultralight mountain bike hub
c. Tune

The production Princess Skyline already got down to 84g with the most recent move to centerlock rotor mounting. Then, the preproduction Princess Skyline from back in May had dropped under 78g thanks to more careful machining and the use of carbon endcaps. Now this latest tease brings the hub weight below 70g. How did they do it?

Tune tells us there are three main tricks: those patented carbon endcaps that we broke the story on (which will soon be offered on all Tune Skyline hubs), new lightweight ceramic bearings around the 17mm alloy axle, plus a new secret aluminum alloy from which Tune machines the limited edition hub body.

The Tune Princess 30 Uli edition front hub should be available after Eurobike to fit 12 & 15mm thru-axle & QR wheels, but not Boost spacing, making it an ultralight choice for XC, CX, gravel & road disc. We will have official pricing & availability estimates in a couple of weeks, and hopefully news on a matching ultralight Prince rear hub…

en.Tune.de
Cory Benson
4,348 articles

Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.

Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry created some of these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components, and worked as a bike shop mechanic.

Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, and short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.

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Seraph
Seraph
5 years ago

Yeah but even most XC race machines these days are coming with boost spacing, so not making these boost compatible is kinda silly. For an ultralight road/gravel bike I can see them being neat though.

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K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
5 years ago
Reply to  Seraph

There is a boosted version of this hub. Pretty silly, huh? [shoulder shrug]

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Seraph
Seraph
5 years ago
Reply to  K-Pop is dangerous to your health

There isn’t a boost version of this exact hub, which is what I’m talking about, since that’s what the article is talking about.

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Reply
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
5 years ago
Reply to  Seraph

The Princess Skyline boost front is 93gm. You really going to split hairs over 23gm?..ok then. That’s the weight of about four nickels and a penny. Give your address, I’ll send you .21¢

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Dinger
Dinger
5 years ago
Reply to  K-Pop is dangerous to your health

23gm doesn’t sound like much in the context of pocket change, but it’s 30% more than the featured hub and that’s a lot. As long as we’re counting in grams, this counts to the people who would open their wallets to buy it.

0
Reply
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
K-Pop is dangerous to your health
5 years ago
Reply to  Dinger

A boosted version of this hub would most likely weigh in at 78gm, same as an Extralite Hyperboost. Could the weight weenies deal with the extra 8.5 grams of heft?…probably not. Better off staying in bed whining about the weight of what are already a couple of the lightest disc hubs on the market than actually riding.

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AC
AC
5 years ago
Reply to  K-Pop is dangerous to your health

You completely missed the other guy’s point. Maybe try to focus on arguments over opinions?

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Phil Succuluski
Phil Succuluski
5 years ago

i Have a real light, hardly ridden, carbon wheel set with Tune hubs just hanging in my garage unusable because the spoke hole just broke away. Luckily this happened while I wasn’t using them. I prefer a little more weight if it means they will safely hold together.

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blahblah1233445
blahblah1233445
5 years ago

My friend assembled a wheelset based on Extralite Hyperboost hubs (78g+162g) dedicated for XC racing and they still work, at least for now. How will it fair in 3-4 years, we shall see…

I prefer DT 240s hubs – lightweight, but strong, easy for mods (different ratchets) and maintainance. Plus the abundance of spare parts.

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