Goldtec v’s Phil Wood Hubs

I know it’s all personal preference and budget.....but dont really know much about Goldtec hubs. Looking for a new wheel build so would like some advice/opinions. Bank account isn’t bottomless but could stretch to Phil if needed. Want something that’s going to be suitable to all weather conditions and is close to bombproof. Thanks 😁

Phil’s

Just be aware of the chainline on some of the Goldtec Track hubs. I have a rear one with a 45mm chainline, it should be 40-42mm for a 120mm track hub and chainset. I believe they have changed it to 42.5 on later versions of the hub but worth checking before you buy especially second hand. My solution was to use a cog with no offset and an adjustable BB from Miche to bring the chainset out a few mm for a good chainline. Great hubs otherwise

Got both go with phil

Goldtec is UK made. It might be worth supporting a British business?

One of their employees is "on here" ( @Porky ). They also have pretty sweet prototypes that you can get if you liaise direct with them.

I had 3x "normal" track hubsets, all fantastic quality. I also have a stainless steel prototype rear track hub which was on sweet piece of engineering (although it weighted a ton).

I would say go Goldtec.

Thanks. Any reason for choosing Phil?

I got the pair of goldtec as a deal but the chainline is very acute drive side , i can not fault them otherwise and i try to buy from the uk when i can . The phil wood are just so much more bling and built by dcr wheels. Even smoother than the betd and they are smooth. Red of course🙌

Phil's.
Unfortunately have had bad experience with Goldtecs.

Paul's are also nice and less pricey. Had good experience with them.
Easy to change bearings. Only one sided and 44mm chain line though.

Want something that’s going to be suitable to all weather conditions and is close to bombproof.

I wouldn’t recommend either Phil or Goldtec given this brief.

The Goldtec hubs seemed to have a habit of shedding their flanges a couples years ago, got put down to exposure to salt as I remember.

Phils have the bearings very exposed so you’re relying on the shield on the bearing to repel water/salt etc.

I know a lot of hubs are of similar design but there’s also a lot that hide the bearings away or provide some additional shielding and if youre specifying weather resistance and have a Phil Wood type budget it would seem to me you could get something better.

Thanks for your opinion on both Goldtec & Phil hubs. You suggest I could get something better with a ‘Phil’ budget but failed to give any recommendations as to which would suit me better.

Thanks

I've had Phils on my bike for about 5 years and they are still smooth given London and Glasgow weather. Phils are a good shout from my experience.

Thanks for your opinion on both Goldtec & Phil hubs. You suggest I could get something better with a ‘Phil’ budget but failed to give any recommendations as to which would suit me better.

Thanks

What about royce ? British and bomb proof

Paul, BLB King and Ridea hubs all seem to have a bit of shielding built in to the design. Miche do too but I'm not a fan of their axle system and the hardware they use seems particularly prone to corrosion so wouldn't recommend them.

I don't think it would be in the same league of bling as Phil, Goldtec etc but a converted Shimano XT disc front hub + iso cog would fulfil the bombproof bit of your brief and the hub seals are pretty good so the service intervals could easily be as long if not longer longer than the lifespan of a cartridge bearing. Couple penny's worth of grease to do the service not £5-10 for new cartridge bearings too.

@mdcc_tester has a converted Hope front hub I believe, bearing shielding on Hope stuff is pretty good being that its designed for the rigours of mtbing. .

Hope

Nope.

XT M758 on the tandem, but the M756 is adequate for solo use and much simpler to convert, all the required parts are available OTP