Tensile hubs - new lightweight cheap eastern express hubs

Tensile is a sub brand of Onza, famed for their Trials and street bits and widgets.

Hubs are currently £45 posted a pair (no I don't know the retailer), sold as...

'track hubs'
32h
100/120OLN
Sealed cartridge bearings
anodized black only
Hollow threaded axle/ supplied with M6 bolts (or you can put a QR skewer through them).
claimed weight 390g pair
inc lock nut

Review
So, out of the box they look and feel a damn sight nicer than formula, halo, system EX and all those other <£100 pair hubs. Bearings also feel like bearings wheras the last Formula + Halo hubs I've built up for people have gritty clunky bearings from new...
Machining quality is good, it isn't Hope good, but you aren't paying Hope prices
Fixed one side, SS the other. Quality of threads is high, DA lock ring, DA cog + BLB alu cog all thread on with fingers only smoothly (the same cannot be said for Halo, prob down to the paint).
Nice detail on the ends of the axles, they are stamped I guess in an attempt to stop them spinning whilst tightening them (Mavic Ellipse have an allen key fitting in their axles for the same task).

Weight, they are light... On my kitchen scales (+/-5g)...
Pair inc shit steel lockring + bolts = 389g
Front, no bolts = 145g
Rear, no bolts = 178g

Weather resistance, they have machined end caps which sit over the bearing, however I feel they made a small mistake here. The end caps are about the same diameter as the external of the bearing, whereas if they were a few mm larger, they would provide much better sealing and look just that bit tidier, but then again, these ain't Phil hubs, they are £45 eastern express hubs.

Going to build them into some Mavic Mach 2 CD2 semi aero tub rim's (and poss tanwalls?) for winter use on the velodrome (indoor). I'll report back in 6 months on how they go.

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Good review.

they have machined end caps which sit over the bearing, however I feel they made a small mistake here. The end caps are about the same diameter as the external of the bearing, whereas if they were a few mm larger, they would provide much better sealing and look just that bit tidier

Could you make your own thin rubber washer to give extra coverage?

Aye, could bung a fine o-ring in there and it would the job. If I was really bored I could machine a recess into each of the end caps and bond the O ring in place = very good seal + little drag. But they are for indoor so doesn't matter to me

Hubs are currently £45 posted a pair (no I don't know the retailer)...

Looks like the UK distrib is the only outlet at the moment (Rock 'N' Roll Bikes' shop is still under construction).

I wonder if @mdcc_tester has had them on the bench yet?

32h >>>>

The machined end caps look very similar to the new v2 planet x hubs. Having got them I can confirm that they also feel a lot nicer than the formula etc etc ones.

Kinda wish I'd seen these though, as it would be nice to have bolt on hubs so you don't have to carry a spanner as well

I'm sure I've seen these somewhere before, if nobody gets in before I get to a real computer I'll find the KT Industries part numbers this evening :-)

leader bikes do them too rebranded and expensive...

leader bikes do them too

But nothing leaps out from Formula/KT/Joy as being the basis of these, so maybe they aren't Taiwanese. That probably means they are from mainland, which would explain the low price :-)

Sounds like Leader...

I wouldn't mind some of their frames, if they were anything like a reasonable price for what they are. I was in China last year and came across the rims they use, £7 each retail (less if I bought a few) and frames (with the cutaway thats not wheel shaped) for £80 retail inc fork & headset.

Too bad there isn´t a fixed/fixed version.

Who even fxd/fxd? Or fxd/frwhl for that matter.

I've yet to see anyone flip their flop.

#fact

I've yet to see anyone flip their flop

I did it once, when I rode out to a hill climb. Don't Poloengers do it fairly frequently?

Well, it´s fairly useful if you live in a hilly country/area or you just do routes with different profiles time to time.

Plus in a fixed/fixed hub you can fit a SS cog, whilst in fixed/SS one you can´t run two fixed cogs (without risking your life).

I have 1 ½ sets of Tensile Trails hubs - was 2 but replaced one rear hub with an Alfine.

I've found it difficult to get the bolts done up tight enough to eliminate slipping (on the driveside of the rear wheel) but using a chain tug to prevent this is dead easy and possibly a good idea anyway.

Also found the original bearings didn't last too long. I think I changed the bearings in all 4 hubs but that was a while ago and my 3 hubs are still rolling nicely now.

Machining is of decent quality and the end cap set up is definitely a bit nicer than cones and locknuts as would be found on a male axle.

srs? I run 16t on one side and 17t on the other all the time. flip the wheel loads.
fixed / fixed is good.

using a chain tug to prevent this is dead easy and definitely a good idea anyway

Scilly doesn't flip his flop for the vertiginous descents of Suffolk?

What is the Tester-approved chain tug (serious question, never used them but am considering the idea)?

What is the Tester-approved chain tug

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fire-eye-asp-tensioner-l10sf-r10sf-2012/rp-prod584
is the 2012 version, the later one in the pic is better because it has a bit more range. They seem to have stopped making them now, so the early version is your only choice if you don't already have a bunch of them...bwahahahahahaaaa

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I did this several times a week last year. 19t for commuting, 14t for track training/racing.

I go one better. I ride out to the base of a mountain 48:16. Then stop at the base and swap to 41:26. I usually just stash the 48t chainring in some bushes.

Doing repeats is a bit shit though, as descending takes ages.

Looking forward to my touring dinglespeed setup. 42/17 normal gear, 34/21 climbing gear.

Fixed?

There's something about climbing fixed that I love. Makes it Worth all the hassle.

Yep, love me a bit of fixed touring. Shame the planetary geared cranks you had didn't seem up to the task of fixed riding, but i think dinglespeed setup won't be too much of a pain.

I'm thinking of something similar when I replace the fixed. Need a poor weather trainer/ commuter. But it would be awesome if I could take it climbing.