Industry Nine’s product concept is quite simple. They focus on razor-sharp tolerances through their hub systems and in turn their customers get lightweight and simple seeming products that meet high performance expectations and last ages with basic routine maintenance a five-year-old can do.

The Hydra hub is their flagship product. The rear hub delivers near instant (0.52°) engagement out of a system that looks a heck of a lot like most high-end pawl & driver hubs. Maybe you have to be a giant bike nerd to appreciate it, but this kind of engagement is otherwise the sole realm of significantly heavier and much more complex clutch hub systems, where the Hydra can be fully torn down for a clean and lube without a single tool. The hubs have no independent bearing adjustment and, whether you’re in the camp that thinks that is a feature or a deficiency, there’s only one other hubset I’ve ridden that’s as ridiculously smooth and drag-free right out of the box.

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