Test: The English company Hope is known for a whole range of high-quality products. Above all, however, they are known for their high-quality hubs with the characteristic rattle and robust inner workings. For a long time, however, hubs were reserved for those who built wheels themselves or had them built. For some time now, however, Hope has also been offering complete wheels with rims from its own production. As the name suggests, the Hope Tech DH Pro 4 is designed for tough downhill use.
The requirements for a downhill wheelset are considerable. Of course, the rims are particularly stressed – they should also be able to withstand one or the other hard impact, but not be an anchor heavy with lead. The entire wheel system is stressed by constant lateral forces in fast corners or berms - here the construction quality is not right or if the hub flange does not have enough 'meat', defects are inevitable. All in all, a really demanding balancing act between weight, stability and price. With a total of 2.278g (1.078g VR / 1.200g RW), the Hope Downhill wheels are certainly not lightweight, but they promise durability from the first touch.
Hope Tech DH Pro 4: The rims
The eyeleted rims made of 6061 T6 aluminum are 33mm wide on the outside and with their internal width of 28mm they also easily hold wide tires up to 2,5″. Of course they are tubeless compatible, although many downhill riders still rely on a traditional tube setup. When it comes to the wheel size, the currently most common variants are 27,5″ and 26″. 29er downhill fans will still get nothing - but should the wheel size continue to gain acceptance in the DH circus, we'd be surprised if the guys from Barnoldswick wouldn't follow suit.
The rims are constructed with three hollow chambers in a similar way to the enduro counterparts, but come with significantly thicker walls. They weigh a robust 623g (26″) or 655g (27,5″) respectively. They are only available as a 32-hole version and come laced with Sapim Race spokes and brass nipples.
Hope Tech DH Pro 4: The hubs
The heart of the Hope Downhill wheels are of course the hubs. Here you can fall back on many years of experience and proven quality in a wide variety of disciplines. The Pro 4 hubs introduced three years ago have replaced the endurance runner Pro 2, improved them in detail and retained the well-known strengths. With 44 locking points, you get a pleasantly low release angle; this helps if you correct the pedal position in tricky places and then don't want to step into the void.
Friends of the characteristic Hope sound will certainly be happy with the Pro 4 hubs - even if the freewheel rattles a little quieter compared to the well-known Pro 2 hubs. Speaking of the freewheel: In addition to the two common standards Shimano 9/10/11-speed and XD, there is also a Hope freewheel. The latter was specially developed for the in-house Hope cassettes.
There is a correspondingly large selection of hub widths and axle standards: from quick releases and classic thru-axles with 100mm or 142mm hub widths to Boost and downhill dimensions with 20x110mm at the front and 150mm or 157mm at the rear, there are almost all available standards.
Hope Tech DH Pro 4: On the trail
You immediately notice the loud rattling of the rear wheel hub, very typical for Hope. Otherwise, the wheels behave inconspicuously at first - just as you would actually want from a wheelset. Most of the time I rode the Schwable combo Dirty Dan in the front and Magic Mary in the back, both 2,35″. I showed courage with the air pressure and was on the road with 1,9 bar in the front and 2,1 bar in the back. Depending on the track, this has cost me a rim or two in the past if the landing wasn't quite right or the line wasn't necessarily perfect.
Among other things, the Hopes had to prove themselves for three weeks in Whistler, where they were put to the test; long days, good vibes, adrenaline pumping and extremely dusty conditions were a tough test for rims, hubs and the wheels themselves. The construction of the wheels was close to perfection: nice and stiff, but with enough comfort not to feel too hard. In addition, I only had to slightly correct the spoke tension twice over the entire test period of several months. It really doesn't get any better than this.
The rims show once again that one or two additional grams in the wheels are well invested in the material battle downhill. In Whistler I had two nasty flat feet and had to end the rest of the descent with no air in the tire, so to speak on the rim. The result: If at all only minimal dents are visible, but if you are honest, the Hope rings put up with the ordeal without any problems. Impressive! The same applies to the hubs: From the fine dust in British Columbia to wet mud packs in Schladming, external influences couldn't harm the bearings at all and the wheels still run as smoothly as at the beginning of the test phase.
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