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I just bought a wheel there in Wiggles sale pro5 fortus 30 29er, with the intention of adding the Hope conversion kit to go from 142 to 148. The wheel was £171, and with the kit £189, so a very good saving.
On Hopes chart, you cannot go from 135mm to 148mm, but it does give a kit -HUB259 to convert 142 to 148.
Thing is, I keep seeing 142mm rear hubs listed as 135/142mm which leads me to think that the hub on this wheel is a 135 that hope has bumped up to 142mm, in which case taking off the fitted spacers and adding the hub259 wouldn't work.
Anyone know if a Hope wheel listed as 142mm is 142mm and the conversion kit would work, or is it in fact a 135mm that already has a conversion kit on it to take it to this 142mm width, in which case fitting the kit wouldn't work.
I cant see why it wouldnt work, but on the chart on Hopes site it shows a blank on the 135-148 bit.
I've also emailed Hope, but I cant really expect an answer till Monday, so thought I'd see if anyone here knows.
The hub is 6 bolt.
The hub will be either 135 or 142 depending on what adapters are fitted, its the same hub
You will need the boost kit if you want it to go to 148mm, thats apples to the hub being 135 or 142. Its just non boost to boost you need
I have 2 x kits on my wheels and they have been spot on
135 to 142 is done via changing the endcaps
142 to 148 is then done with spacers iirc
I don't see a kit listed by Hope.
Look at this chart and if you were converting a Pro2 Evo or Pro4 it would be HUB493. I don't see an equivalent for the Pro5
You may have to settle for one of the generic spacer kits with the washers that fall out every time you remove the wheel
but it does give a kit -HUB259 to convert 142 to 148
HUB259 is the end caps for a 12mm axle using HG or SRAM XD free hub, it does not convert to boost.
I definitely converted a Pro2Evo 142 to 148 on my last Spitfire. I can’t imagine there’s as much demand for a Pro5 boost conversion kit because most bikes are boost nowadays.
Don't use a Hope kit as it moves the cassette away from the hanger. It's better to use a generic kit that is just a 6mm spacer on the non-driveside, a 6mm disc spacer, longer bolts and re-dish the wheel 3mm. Gives you more even spoke tension too.
I used a Pro 2 with 142mm end caps and a brand x spacer kit to bring it up to boost. No issues for me but I'd get a spare spacer set as if you lose one out on the trail I imagine you'd be a bit screwed. My frame had little indents the spacers could sit in so easy to install too on the right frame.
HUB259 is the end caps for a 12mm axle using HG or SRAM XD free hub, it does not convert to boost.
I was under the impression that 148mm was boost. Not that there is a 148mm and also a 148mm boost.
Bloody bike industry, all very confusing.
You're looking at the chart wrong, the 259 kit results in a 142x12 axle on a 135 shell. That same kit results in a 148x12 axle on a 148 shell.
The bit that does my head in is one is defined by the OLD for QR and the other for 12mm.
Anyway, if yours was listed as 142mm then it's a 135 shell with the 259 kit already fitted.
The actual Hope kit you need to convert to boost doesn't seem to exist but with some **** aboutery you could probably use caps for another hub to get the same result. I've planned to use Pro2 caps to convert a Bulb in the past and only needed to shave a couple of mm to make it work. If you have a set of verniers let us know what the spacer widths are and I'll have a look at mine and see if we can figure this out.
That said, the generic kits are fine as long as you're careful when taking the wheel off.
148mm is boost. But HUB259 isn't a boost/148 conversion, it's 135 to 142 (or equivalent), all "pre boost" stuff.
If you want to use Hope parts I'd totally recommend contacting them, their online info isn't very good. Just tell em exactly what you have and what you want to do.
Have a look at the MRP Better boost. Not sure if there’s a pro5 kit or if pro4/5 is different fitting but I ran em on pro4’s for years without issues. Was way better than the hope offering as hope required a wheel redish. The MRP endcaps and disc spacer were sized properly so fit n forget with no wheel building involved.
If I recall correctly from when I was using the boost conversion kit on Pro4 they didn't have an appropriate end cap for microspline version as it's already quite long so making one with an extra 3mm wouldn't be advisable, I had to buy a boost hub back then when I switched to microspline, if Pro5 run the same endcaps as Pro4 it's a microspline issue, HG and XD freehubs shouldn't be affected, I could be wrong but that's my conclusion.
You can boost a 142 hub with microspline. Hope told me how to do it. I'll try and find the email.IIRC you use the MS freehub, boost end caps, but don't use a spacer that comes with one of them!
I wouldn't though. I could never get the shifting right. As above, I'd use a generic kit that requires a redish. I changed back to the normal caps and used a generic kit and shifting was perfect.
NB all the above was on a pro4
Edit, quote from Hope:
That is correct, you need boost kit HUB493 and microspline freehub HUB545-X12
You need to use the 2mm barrel spacer that comes with the Boost conversion (the one intended for a Hope freehub/cassette) and the Microspline drive side end spacer (NOT the drive side spacer that comes with the conversion).
Think your reading it wrong. That doc says 3 different hub shells to me.
Have a look at the MRP Better boost
That's front hub only. Wolftooth boostinator or fun works kit for the rear.
Anyway, if yours was listed as 142mm then it’s a 135 shell with the 259 kit already fitted.
This is pretty much my thinking onit now.
As to other kits, MRP and swopping the freehub from HG to microspline that would probably take my bargain wheel above the cost of a standard 148mm Hope wheel, so theres little point.
I think what I'd be better doing is putting it back in the box and initiating a returns policy. Unless I can convince Hope to return it to them(unlikely) and they can swop it for the correct thing. Wiggle dont have a 148mm 29er, and even if they did it wouldnt be for 171 quid, so probably best returning it and getting the refund.
A generic kit won't cost any more than the end caps you were going to buy anyway
(better retailers are available)
Ffs that's an amazon link, no idea why STW tries to turn it into a Kindle preview.
Hope do not make a kit to convert a Pro 5 rear hub to 12x148mm Boost, if you have a Pro 5 rear hub it must be a 12x148mm to use in a 12x148mm frame.