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Project321 Boost hubs do it different, plus new singlespeed, cyclocross & Lefty hubs!

project321 boost mountain bike hubs
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project321 boost mountain bike hubs

To take advantage of a Boost frame or fork, most hubs usually grow by 6mm in the rear and 10mm in the front. Project321’s new Boost hubs’ shells do just that, but they left some of those gains on the table when moving the flanges.

“Everyone’s just taking the extra 10mm and pushing the flanges out by 5mm per side,” says Jake Lyles, Project321’s product designer. “But, on the front, we kept the right side where it was and only pushed the left (disc brake) side out. That means the flanges only spread by 5mm. So the bracing angle on the right didn’t grow like it would on some other hubs, but this gave us a more even angle on both sides. Just because we could take the full 10mm, we didn’t necessarily think we should.”

Here’s why that matters…

project321 boost mountain bike hubs

Besides evening out the spoke angles, Jake says they also paid attention to the angles at which the nipples sit in the rims -especially carbon rims- and now they can create an almost dishless wheel. For example, on the Nox Composites Skyline 29er carbon rim with a 2x lacing on a front wheel, he says the bracing angles are 6.3º and 6.0º – virtually identical, and with 96%:100% tension ratio. It actually moves the steeper side to the non-disc side.

project321 boost mountain bike hubs

On the rear, they left the disc side flange where it was and moved the driveside flange out 3mm wider. The reasoning is the same, and it let them machine a little extra material off the shell between the non-drive side flange and the rotor mounts.

Jake pointed out that their flanges are angled such that, in most wheel builds, the spoke doesn’t touch the flange other than the spoke head and where it’s poking through the hole.

project321 boost mountain bike hubs

Other than that, the Boost hubs are essentially the same as the originals, with one small tweak: The logo is new, and it’s etched into the body rather than a decal or print. They’re available in the full range of colors, and there’s no longer any special order or upcharge for the pink, purple and other fancy hues…it’s all available as standard and (according to Jake) usually in stock.

We’ve been running P321’s G2 hubs on our Project XC Race Rocket hardtail with great results, and we’ll soon be swapping in this new Boost front with the new Lauf Trail Racer V2

In other news, their single speed rear hub has switched from the standard Industry Nine freehub body they’d been using to the new Torch FH design, which they say dropped ~60g off their singlespeed rear hub.

They’ve also got new Lefty 2.0 hubs that’ll fit the new Lefty 2.0 and Lefty SuperMax forks, which has wider flange spacing to create a stiffer wheel.

project321 CX1 cyclocross hubs

The new CX ISO hubs also get the new I9 Torch freehub bodies, this time with an 11-speed width to accommodate modern road cassettes. They have half the engagement as their mountain bike hubs (60 versus 120) thanks to using half the pawls (3 versus 6), which was mainly done only because that’s how it’s offered from Industry Nine. Drillings are offered in lower spoke counts than MTB, letting you choose between 20, 24 and 28 on the front, and 24 or 28 on the rear.

Project321.com

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Von Kruiser
Von Kruiser
8 years ago

Jake at Project 321 is a great guy. Super precision machining and made in Fresnot, CA… hell this is the place where Cher went to HS so they have to be cool!

Morgan
Morgan
8 years ago

Beautiful work by Jake. I own a set. Of wheels by Poject 321 and they are bullet proof!

Tim
Tim
8 years ago

Rather than build a symmetrical wheel, he decided to move the weakly braced side? Why not go to a truly balanced build? These do look nice overall, though.

Eric
Eric
8 years ago

nifty and all, but a proof is in the bearings and the freewheel mechanism. Thats where a hub shines or fails.

Jon Frey
Jon Frey
8 years ago

I’ve known Jake for years, and have very happily ridden his products. Do not hesitate to support Project321. Their products are top-notch and they look even better in person.

Keith R
Keith R
8 years ago

I own 5 sets of P321 hubs (not an employee), and I’ll never run anything else…EVER. I also have 3 P321 Lefty adapters (Spark 29, Anthem X 29, and Mojo 3). Jake builds the best products available. He’s a perfectionist, and he’s also a great person and friend. Once you ride his hubs, you’ll never go back! As a former aerospace machinist I really appreciate the quality products P321 produces. Keep it up Jake!

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