# Formula Wheels, Rims and Hubs



## meeshu (Jan 31, 2008)

There are some bikes that have 'Formula' brand wheels, rims, and hubs. I would like to check the technical specifications of the Formula gear, but I can't seem to find a website that has this information.

If they have one, does anyone know the website for Formula gear please?

Thanks.


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## slicknick (Apr 12, 2007)

Formula aka Xero wheels, are cheaper wheels but decent in quality. Giant puts them on a lot of their bikes. I have an older set of XR2-lites which are nice and I have no problems with them. You can get the semi aero XR-1 lites for around $200. Here is their website:
http://www.xerowheel.com/


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## rruff (Feb 28, 2006)

http://www.formulahubs.com/

They are primarily a hub company who also sells built wheels using their hubs.


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## meeshu (Jan 31, 2008)

Thank you very much for the links folks! Some very useful information there! 

However, I can't seem to find information on wheel model CXR-220 which I'm wanting the specs for !?


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## kbiker3111 (Nov 7, 2006)

rruff said:


> http://www.formulahubs.com/
> 
> They are primarily a hub company who also sells built wheels using their hubs.


Is there anywhere to source them? A set of claimed weight 68g/210g would be intriguing.


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

Yeah, I know, I know, I'm dredging a thread that is almost 10 years old, but the other option is start a new thread.

Anyway, I just had a Formula rear hub fail after only 700 miles on my new gravel bike. Looking around at user reviews, I found on MTBR they got an overall average 2.38 out of 5, based on 80 users - lots of early failures:

Formula Basic Front & rear Hubs Hub Reviews - Mtbr.com 

I notice a lot of new bikes are coming specced with these hubs. Has anybody here had any experience with these recently?


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## MMsRepBike (Apr 1, 2014)

Isn't Formula a Novatec brand?


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## cfoster (Dec 20, 2007)

Lombard said:


> Yeah, I know, I know, I'm dredging a thread that is almost 10 years old, but the other option is start a new thread.
> 
> Anyway, I just had a Formula rear hub fail after only 700 miles on my new gravel bike. Looking around at user reviews, I found on MTBR they got an overall average 2.38 out of 5, based on 80 users - lots of early failures:
> 
> ...


Most of their product/business in the US is for OE bike spec. Formula will make a $2 hub - $80 hub (ex-factory cost). OE's need cheap, they're not selling most of their bikes based on the wheel spec.

Formula's high end road hubs are as good as anyone else's, in fact they are producing a lot of the high end road hub spec for other brands. For MTB hubs, I think that the marketplace is demonstrating that almost any branded hub, aside from one or two very specific hub models, is prone to failure. MTB drive trains have evoled much more rapidly than the freehub diameter, mechanism/types of engagment, and options are limited due to patents. That, and at the end of the day, OE needs cheap, cheap, cheap, mostly.

All I can say, is that when it comes to judging a brand that is synonymous with OE spec, best focus on each specific hub model, and research it exclusively. A simple statement that "Formula is good", or "Novatec is the best", doesn't mean anything any more. These companies can and will produce what you/the OE customer asks for. If you can't find a/your particular hub model, good chance it wasn't meant to be found.

With regards to MMsRepBike....."Novatec" is JoyTech's high end brand/product line. Formula and JoyTech are not the same company.


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

cfoster said:


> Most of their product/business in the US is for OE bike spec. Formula will make a $2 hub - $80 hub (ex-factory cost). OE's need cheap, they're not selling most of their bikes based on the wheel spec.
> 
> Formula's high end road hubs are as good as anyone else's, in fact they are producing a lot of the high end road hub spec for other brands. For MTB hubs, I think that the marketplace is demonstrating that almost any branded hub, aside from one or two very specific hub models, is prone to failure. MTB drive trains have evoled much more rapidly than the freehub diameter, mechanism/types of engagment, and options are limited due to patents. That, and at the end of the day, OE needs cheap, cheap, cheap, mostly.
> 
> ...


Interesting CFoster, thanks for the info. So in a nutshell, it's another example of bike makers sneaking cheap parts in places less visible in order to save $$. Bottom brackets used to be a common place to sneak in cheap parts. You will see that nice shiny derailleur, but you won't see a BB.

The only problem I see with doing this is for the company supplying the cheap OE parts. My immediate reaction to this experience was "I will never touch another Formula product". Shimano does this too, but they are big enough and have enough name recognition for people to realize their higher end products are good.

Edit: CFoster, I just now noticed that you are owner of BWW??


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## jetdog9 (Jul 12, 2007)

Sort of thread dredge, sorry... it took some digging to find out the wheels I have are Formula but now that I have, I am finding it very difficult to find maintenance parts. What I need are some end caps because I damaged one. Just that part is not available, looks like I have to buy an entire front/rear hub rebuild kit via a dealer that carries the brand of bike that OEM'd the wheel... 

If they are on a million new bikes, which they seem to be now, it'd be nice if parts were available.


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