Kaly wides with a stretched 200x50 and you’ll eat those words. Well worth the price tag on them for the ride you get from them. But maybe just different strokes different folks.
But does that actually have anything to do with the hubs or is it just because stretched tires?
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I love my hyperims…but I don’t see much advantage to em. To the point that I just bought a set of fivestars 
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Tell more about the ride. Sounds like more traction, but comfort?
Shit. I didn’t know about the Tb wobbles. I have 9 of them yet to be used. Not as excited as I was… rip
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You can just as easily take metal molds that were spun on a lathe, and use them to cast plastic wheels.
I have two sets of Megastars. One of them had a wheel so out of round, I couldn’t even use it. However, that’s just because their wheels require too many pieces to all line up perfectly. The aluminum 5 star spokes they use don’t fit into the hub perfectly. Some barely fit, while others have play, and it translates to roundness. A proper metal wheel should be more monolithic, like what Etoxx makes.
Some of the heaviest, most durable hubs I know of are plastic, Trampa 3 star Primo’s.
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Metal Hubs, really not sure what to say about them.
I personally feel they are a waste of money for how I ride. (Jump, Grind, etc)
I don’t want to pay the extra again for a Metal Hub that are not much more durable than the NylonGlass ones.
When a Metal Hub impacts on a side load from a 6ft drop it can bend the Metal hub and metal
in most cases does not rubber band back into shape. The NylonGlass hubs will allow some flex
then reform into shape. If a nylon glass hub flexes to much it breaks but this will usually only
happen on the lip of the NylonGlass hubs. Now for the Metal hubs when you bend the lips of
the hub you have to bend them back with tools, this can end up just breaking the hub when trying to
correct the bend.
I have only broken 2 hubs to far. One a Metal hub and one a plastic hub.
Both from landing the board on its side like a primo slide/rail slide.
So the impact hit 2 wheels on the lips of the hubs. Metal as stated bends and cant
unbend some of the abuse from riding. the NylonGlass hubs have more of a elastic
property which allow them to stretch and such when landing improperly.
I very much prefer the Plastic Hubs for cost, durability, elasticity, etc.
Metal has its place but pretty confidant its not 100% needed in this area.
Thats my 2 cents.
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Really good stuff! Appreciate everyone’s insights.
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I mean it’s the hub creating that stretch so I’d say it has a lot to do with the hub. Kaly wides give a much more comfortable and grippy ride than say mbs hubs (imo).
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Same inner tubes, right? Do you just run them at higher pressure?
Seen a video on insta where Kaly said he was making a one piece rim and he is going to use 3" wide tubeless tyres.
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Sorry, i know ppl have already responded to this, but it’s just so wrong I’ve gotta break it down why.
First off, your implicit assumption is that plastic wheels cannot
keep bearings square
The material (plastic vs metal) is 100% independent of tolerances and fit (and manufacturing method). Raw cast aluminum can have pretty shite sloppy tolerances. CNC milled nylon can easily achieve precision fit.
Again, material has nothing to do with precision. If you’re talking about specific models, name them. Aluminum transfers heat better than plastics, so they may cool faster than the exact same hub in plastic.
Definitely not. Speed rings are used to reduce friction between the wheel bearing and axle nut. They’re far too thin to have any effect on alignment.
Spacers space. The majority of people on this forum probably hacked their spacers to length with a Dremel - they’re definitely not precision fit or squared (not for $12 on Amazon). The spacers between bearings act as a backstop for the bearing race. If your wheel bearing seats or the bearings themselves are poorly manufactured or abused, no spacer or speed ring is going to help.
Not to mention, some of the best, low friction thrust bearings (aka washers aka speed rings) are nylon, PTFE, or delrin plastic
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I personally did not have any issues with plastic hubs yet (trampa hypa and superstar hubs).
On trampa superstars the bearing seat can be a bit off due to production and alignment tolerance which will make the tire run not true, but the same issue you will have with the cnc megastar hubs as they use the same bearing seat.
There might be some precision cnc hubs from other vendors where that is ruled out better.
If you are looking for a light weight and budget build, than plastic hubs are the way to go.
Meanwhile there are lighter cnc hubs available, but for example my 3DS 9“ hubs where around 450g per hub vs. Phatlatz are around 250g.
That’s 800g weight saving if you go plastic.
If you have a budget and like the look of precision cnc hubs better, than go for them.
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Second Andy here. I had issues with the spokes on mega / super stars. Metal doesn’t automatically = good. MBS rockstar is actaully really good set of hubs all things considered. With hubs the few pieces the better. Less stuff to misalign.
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Yes sir.
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Dope. Thanks for confirming! I was worried that using wider hubs would mean fewer tube options.
I have to say getting some rims from the Bronx is super tempting. I’m probably going to stick with MBS for now because they’re solid and really well priced, but I’m going to keep an eye on those tubeless rims that @Tamatoa mentioned. I’ve been riding tubeless tires on my cross/gravel city bike for years and they’ve been excellent (other than an early issue with my rear rim that had a manufacturing defect causing problems with sealant). Overall a good direction I think. I appreciate @Kaly pushing things forward.
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Yeah, I agree. It’s just that the other parts are heavy enough I wasn’t sure how much of a difference metal rims would make. Those drives are the heaviest pieces of metal that I have around. Will try to get used to the weight before considering adding more. 
I’m kind of surprised no one brought up unsprung weight. Personally I don’t know enough about truck suspension behavior to have much to say. I’d expect better responsiveness to bumps, but I don’t know if it would even be perceptible. Maybe it’s a factor for racing applications. @MoeStooge or @RipTideSports — can either of you weigh in on what we should learn from eskate racing?
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Half aluminum half plastic for me
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I meant does the material and precision of the hub make a difference in the performance, or is it simply stretched vs unstretched? Like if I take my MBS hubs and add a 7/8" spacer would it feel the same?
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