[Electric_City]

Hadley is the best company I've ever dealt with. Great product, easy to talk to, easy to get in contact with, they stand by their product, they work with YOU (not just thru a shop) great CS!


Bought Hadley hubs in 2010 and loved high engagement ever since. The simplicity of maintenance is unbelievable. But 2 years ago the bearings were in need of replacement. I found some ceramic ones (cheap) and changed them in half an hour or so at the shop.

I'm not at the shop anymore and I needed them changed again since they sucked and had excessive play. A buddy that's working there tells me he's replaced "a million of them" on Hadley's and has a bearing puller for them. We'll... His socket set or whatever the fuck he used fucked up the threads. The bearings weren't installed correctly and the cassette body would bind up and turn the bike into a fixie. The chain would slacken and fall in between the chainstays and tire... FUCK!

I called Hadley and talked to Mike Hadley! Hey, that's pretty cool! I explained the situation and figured out that it was reassembled correctly, but something else was wrong. He sent me the schematics of the hub and I verified it was put back together correctly, but something wasn't correct.

I called and sent the hub back to them. They called and said the bearings needed to be replaced and the hub shell was toast (from my expert buddy. Ya know, he's from Colorado, so he's done this shit a million times). They offered me a shell for free cause the anno has a blemish, they'll put in new bearings and change the axle to a 12x142 (while still sending my old 9x135 back) and literally rebuild it while it's there for around $60. Now come on! Who the hell else in the industry takes care of customers like that?

In the past I broke a pawls at some point and called them. I had 4 new pawls, a spring and a seal within days. The cone ends started to crack this spring. Called them up and they not only sent the ends, but an ENTIRE axle.

Most companies in this day and age have you take stuff to a shop and have them return it, them deal with it and kinda cut you out of the conversation, even though it's your product. But these guys don't. We all joke about the website, but we know that when we call, we're going to talk to Suzanne.

To finish off- Thank you to Hadley for making a great product in the USA and for having a RAD team to help us out when we need it. Ttyl, EC

 

[StiHacka]

Their products and customer service are superb, apparently they are passing the savings coming from no marketing on us customers.

I hope they are not building a website anytime soon.

 

[jonKranked]

hadley always ftmfw

 

[Bikael Molton]

Still a great product. They work so well that mine are years and years old.

I guess one of these days all these dumb new standards will force me to give Hadley more money... which would be a good thing.

 

[jonKranked]

Still a great product. They work so well that mine are years and years old.

I guess one of these days all these dumb new standards will force me to give Hadley more money... which would be a good thing.

i have a 20mm front hub i bought in 2002. been ridden hard, raced DH, have only ever needed to service it twice (more preventative than anything). just converted it to 15mm for a trail bike. that's right, converted it to a standard that didn't even exist when the hub was made.

 

[StiHacka]

just converted it to 15mm for a trail bike. that's right, converted it to a standard that didn't even exist when the hub was made.

Sounds like the people who invented the 15mm standard did a great job.

 

[jonKranked]

Sounds like the people who invented the 15mm standard did a great job.

until they went BOOOOOOOOOOOOST

 

[StiHacka]

until they went BOOOOOOOOOOOOST

Must be a new generation of designers.

 

[slimshady]

Must be a new generation of designers.

I blame the obesity epidemics:

 

[IH8Rice]

because of their awesome CS (and products of course) i wont use any other hubs on my bikes. i like dealing with small companies that seemingly go out of their way to help a customer. avalanche is similar as well.

 

[csermonet]

I have a set on from 2007 on my DH bike and one from '10 on the trail bike, and every time I've dealt with Hadley I've had similar CS experiences. Nothing short of stellar. I've taught myself how to service them and it's stupid easy. I even invested in the Hadley tool kit that comes with all the cool custom made Hadley tools, and even bought the wrenches that weren't included so i had the absolute complete set. Love my Hadleys, will be getting a brand new set whenever I decide to upgrade to a new trail bike.

 

[Gary]

Who the hell else in the industry takes care of customers like that?

Hope

if you're in the UK.

I'm not a gushing fan tho... Their products are just acceptably decent and reasonably priced (but I only use them because their CS is so good)

 

[Electric_City]

Hope

if you're in the UK.

I'm not a gushing fan tho... Their products are just acceptably decent and reasonably priced (but I only use them because their CS is so good)

I love my Hope Tech3 V4 brakes. They're the best by far. Fortunately, I've not had to contact them cause their product seems flawless so far.

 

[csermonet]

I love my Hope Tech3 V4 brakes. They're the best by far. Fortunately, I've not had to contact them cause their product seems flawless so far.

One of the local guys I see at the trails has those brakes on his DHR and they are a damn work of art. The lever feels amazing, would love to get a run or two in on those and see how they perform

 

[Electric_City]

So again, Hadley for the win!

While building my hardtail up, I needed a freehub and 12x142 axle. I ordered it through Hadley and had it shipped to the shop. I go to put it together and somethings not right. I call Suzanne and start to explain it to her and she immediately apologized and said she already knows the problem. They changed their axles so it works on both XD and Shimano and I was sent the old one. She said that a new one's on its way and explained how and why they changed, what they changed, and how it works for them and us. The correct axle is on its way for no charge! I even asked if I could return the old one and she said not to worry about it.

Thanks again Hadley!

 

[KenW449]

I love my Hope Tech3 V4 brakes. They're the best by far. Fortunately, I've not had to contact them cause their product seems flawless so far.

Sounds like i know what brakes i am putting on my DH bike. I'll move the Avid code Rs over to the trail bike, and the Shimano M365s to the HT.

 

[csermonet]

Sad thing happened. I ended up with some I9's on my new build. In a happier story, the Hadley/471 wheels I had on my previous trail bike are going to a new owner (a close friend is buying them) and they will get much more use, and hopefully abuse. He's never had a proper wheelset, steppin straight up to the big leagues.

If i had it my way, i would have offed these i9's a while ago and built up a new Boost hub Hadley/471 wheelset, but given the circumstances under which I acquired said I9's it wouldn't be a good look.

 

[Electric_City]

There's some updates to Hadley in 2018 worth noting-

I called Hadley last week and told Suzanne that I needed a freehub and a 12x142 axle for my H600135 r16. The parts were sent, but the freehub had an undersized (id) bearing and the bushing had a flange on it I've never previously seen. I called up and talked to her and she immediately knew the issue and sent me a new axle for no charge. The conversation was interesting because she told me for 2018 they had to figure out how to standardize the axle to fit both Shimano and sram freehubs without having 2 different axles. We talked about the never ending "standards" and how they have to keep changing to boost now and even fat bikes. She then said Shimano and sram freehubs too and 15mm front hubs and how it's hard for them to keep up.

Fwiw, the H600 is their modern hub in production. The 135, 150 or other number represents the standard width.
The R16 or R18 is the year of manufacture.

The 2018 updates are on the left in the pics.

Both are 12x142 ta's.

This is the new axle disassembled

The spacer is taller and has a flange that butts up against the end of the axle and the bearing. Notice the engraving. "s" for Shimano, "x" or "XD" for sram. The "r16" is the standard one used in the pre 2018 hubs.

On the end of the freehub you can see that the ID of the bearing is smaller, but the OD is the same as always.

The assembly is the same as the other hub. Insert from disc side, install the roller bearings with the plastic sleeves flange facing in, place the new "s18" sleeve over the axle (it will bottom out on the axle), freehub, and lastly, the end of the axle with the threaded pin.

The part of the axle end between the threads and the flange is what the bearing inside the freehub will ride on. The standard 23 and 15mm wrenches are needed to tighten the axle on.

The "R18" is probably on the freehub so you can order parts with less confusion.

 

[Sandwich]

are you running ti spokes?

 

[Electric_City]

No. Sapim Leader.

I'm not sure what they're coated with, but when you thread them it leaves a stringy strand behind.