Boyd 85 Road Front Black Hub
The Boyd 85 is the rim-brake road hub from Boyd Cycling in Greenville, South Carolina, built for the classic road wheels Boyd still makes alongside its disc range. This page covers the Boyd 85 Road Front Black Hub.
The Boyd 85 is built to order here. Choose the rim, spokes and nipples in the configurator; the wheel leaves Georgia laced, tensioned and trued.
Design and construction
Boyd designs the Quest around bearings first: Enduro ABEC-5 cartridge bearings in common sizes, which roll smoothly, last well and are replaceable anywhere. End caps convert the Quest between 12mm thru-axle and quick-release standards in road, gravel and Boost MTB spacing, and the flanges are J-bend for the widest spoke choice.
A front hub is a bearing carrier with flanges, and that is the whole job of the front 85: two sealed bearings on a stiff axle, end caps for your fork's standard, and flanges spaced to give the spokes a good bracing angle on the rotor side. There is nothing to engage and nothing to swap. Everything written about freehubs and engagement applies to the rear hub only; what you get up front is the same shell quality and the same seals without any of the moving parts.
How it rides
It is the hub for a classic road build on a Boyd Altamont or Rouleur rim-brake rim, or any rim-brake rim in the catalog, at a fair price.
A front wheel is where you feel a hub least and a build most. With no drive torque to carry, the front 85 can be laced two-cross or even radial on the non-rotor side on a rim-brake bike, which makes a lighter, more direct-feeling wheel; on a disc bike we lace both sides crossed so the rotor's braking torque has spokes to pull against. Either way the front wheel is the one that steers, and a stiff, true front wheel is most of what makes a bike feel precise.
Specifications
| Position | Front |
|---|---|
| Axle options | QR 5x100mm Front |
| Drillings | 20h, 24h, 28h |
| Spoke head | J-bend |
| Brake | rim-brake |
| Left flange diameter | 36.5 mm |
| Right flange diameter | 36.5 mm |
| Left center-to-flange | 39 mm |
| Right center-to-flange | 39 mm |
| Weight | 95g |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Finishes | black |
Which version this is
Version notes. Rim-brake rotor mount, QR 5x100mm, 20h, 24h, 28h, about 95g, in black. If your frame or fork uses a different standard, the other versions of the 85 on this site cover it.
This is the rim-brake 85, with no rotor mount at all: a lighter, simpler shell for road, track and classic frames that stop on the rim. It builds into the lightest wheel the model can make and it is the version to choose for a rim-brake bike; the disc versions of the same hub have their own listings.
Sizes, fit and compatibility
J-bend spokes in any gauge; we build most 85 wheels with Sapim Laser, Race or CX-Ray spokes or DT Competition and Aerolite, and brass or alloy nipples.
It pairs naturally with the Boyd Altamont and Rouleur rim-brake rims, the HED Belgium R, H Plus Son Archetype and Velocity Quill. Pick road as your bike type in the configurator and it recommends a spoke count and lacing pattern.
Build it into a wheel
This hub is live in our Custom Wheel Program for road rim brake, track and road single-speed and touring builds. Start a build with the Boyd 85 Road Front Black Hub and the configurator opens with this exact hub pinned at the top of the Boyd list — you choose the rest of the parts and it validates every combination as you go.
Boyd's testing and certifications
Boyd Cycling designs its own hubs and builds them into wheels in Greenville, South Carolina. Every model runs on Enduro ABEC-5 cartridge bearings with LLU/LLB seals; the Grade 54 has a forged 6061-T6 shell, a 7075-T6 axle, straight-pull flanges and Centerlock mounting, the Sixtus mountain hub has six-bolt rotor mounting and Boost spacing, and Boyd states the Sixtus is "Fully eBike Rated". Published front weights are 120 grams for the Quest, 100 grams for the 85 road hub, 85 grams for the Grade 54 and 178 grams for the Sixtus.
Boyd states its hubs are tool-free to service, with the end caps swapped by hand, and publishes no bearing-life or durability test figures.
Boyd's videos
Certifications
- eBike rating (maker-stated) — Boyd states the Sixtus MTB hub is "Fully eBike Rated" (source)
- Handbuilt in USA — Wheels handbuilt in Greenville, SC (product pages) (source)
Sources on Boyd's site:
- Quest Hubs Info | Boyd Cycling
- 85 Hubs Info | Boyd Cycling
- Grade 54 Hubs | Boyd Cycling
- Sixtus | Boyd Cycling
- Repairs and Warranty | Boyd Cycling
Everything in this section is published by Boyd. ProWheelBuilder is the wheel builder, not the tester, and the hub reaches us as the maker ships it.
Building it at ProWheelBuilder
Boyd makes the 85; ProWheelBuilder is an independent custom wheel builder in Georgia and not the manufacturer. The build is the same every time: measured ERD, spokes cut to the half millimeter, staged tensioning with a gauge, stress relief, a final true, and tubeless tape and a valve on request.
The configurator shows only rims and spokes that fit the 85 drilling, strikes through combinations that are not made, and prices the wheel live.
Warranty
Boyd's warranty. Boyd Cycling warrants carbon wheels bought new since 1 January 2018 for life against manufacturing defects and alloy wheels for three years, and runs a lifetime crash-replacement scheme that follows the wheel rather than the owner.
ProWheelBuilder. Our one-year wheel warranty applies to any wheel we build around this part, alongside whatever the manufacturer offers. Inside that year, broken spokes are replaced no matter how they broke, and the wheel labor is ours - truing, re-tensioning or a full rebuild. A rim or hub failure that the maker covers, we claim for you and see through; one the maker declines, we answer with an eligible replacement at 25% off current retail. Shipping both ways is yours, and components you supply yourself fall outside this cover.
Full terms are on our Policies & Warranty page.
85 Road Front Black Hub questions
Can I use this hub with disc brakes?
No - this is the rim-brake version and it has no rotor mount at all, which is exactly why it is lighter and simpler. It is the one for a rim-brake road, track or classic frame. A disc frame needs one of the disc versions of this hub, which are listed separately.
Is the Boyd 85 disc compatible?
No. It is a rim-brake hub; the Boyd Quest is the disc hub.
What bearings does the 85 use?
Enduro sealed cartridge bearings in common sizes, replaceable at any shop.
What spoke counts suit the 85?
20 to 28 front and 24 to 32 rear depending on rider weight; the configurator recommends.
Is ProWheelBuilder the manufacturer of the Boyd 85 Road Front Black Hub?
No. The hub is made by Boyd; we are the wheel builder in Georgia who laces it into a finished wheel to your spec and stands behind the build.
Which axle spacing does it fit?
QR 5x100mm Front. Measure between the inside faces of your dropouts if you are unsure, or text us.
Does it need special spokes?
No. It takes standard J-bend spokes, which the configurator offers in every gauge and finish we stock.
Not sure? Text or leave a voicemail on 470-253-0929 or email info@prowheelbuilder.com — you will be talking to the people who build the wheels.
