My ongoing Brooklyn Machine Works Gangsta project

On chubs, I think there were stories a while back of QC issues floating around on the internet.

However, I thought this from here was worth quoting:

Shit, this is exactly why I stopped spending time here.

Listen: if you don't care about how or why something works and only about the amount of money you have to spend on it, yes, Phils are going to be suggested over Chubs every time. If you actually want to make practical, tangibly improved, and worthwhile upgrades to a fixed gear, you'd better look somewhere else.

As is said in every other stupid "hub x vs. hub y" thread, hubs are a stupid, stupid upgrade, as you will not be able to tell that they've been changed*. You're not going to feel or see a difference between a Phil or a Formula hub, except that the Phil looks like it should cost more (as in the finish on the Phil is clearly superior to the Formula). Performance-wise, a hub shell is a hub shell, and as long as its design is sturdy, it doesn't matter one fucking iota whether it was made in Taiwan or on the fucking Moon. What matters is the bearings, the seals, and the effort put into maintaining them. Everything else is just fashion. As Jesse pointed out, if you want to get something flashy, at least get something which will actually feel flashier, and have a positive impact on your ride.

Before anyone misunderstands, Phils are obviously at about the top of the pile, as far as hubs are concerned. They're beautiful, made in the USA (well, the shells are), and lend you lots of nerd cred. If you have the money to throw around, get them, please. But don't try to justify your need for them by citing increased performance, making mention of anything being "buttery," or claiming that you can just "feel" the difference. They're purely a luxury item, not a practical one. The difference between the Phil and the Chub is that Phil hasn't completely fucked up their entire line of products once already, and they don't glue their shit together. If you are forcing yourself to get a small penis compensating hub, get a Phil you fucking morons.

• That is, of course, unless your hub(s) are fucked up because you know shit about maintaining things that you buy and thus have never serviced them.
  
  
  

But my overall view is they look fun and if you like them, who cares.