ONYX VESPER FRONT CENTERLOCK DISC HUB

Design and construction

Onyx designs, machines and assembles in the USA, and treats color as part of the product rather than a finishing option: more than twenty anodized colors are cataloged, with a further limited color released each month that is gone once it sells through.

A front hub is a bearing carrier with flanges, and that is the whole job of the front Vesper: 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

On a technical climb or a trials move there is no dead stroke, and because the clutch locks across its whole face there is no harshness either.

We build the Vesper for cross-country, trail and enduro wheels; for downhill and e-bikes the Onyx Classic is the heavier-duty version.

A front wheel is where you feel a hub least and a build most. With no drive torque to carry, the front Vesper 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

Which version this is

Version notes. Centerlock rotor mount, QR 5x100mm, Thru Axle 12x100mm, Thru Axle 15x100mm, Thru Axle 15x110mm Boost and more, 24h, 28h, 32h, about 155g, in baby blue pc, black ano, black aura pc, black matte ano, blu. If your frame or fork uses a different standard, the other versions of the Vesper on this site cover it.

Centerlock is the lighter, quicker rotor mount: a splined rotor drops onto the hub and a single lockring holds it, so a rotor swap takes a minute with a lockring tool and there are no six small bolts to torque or lose. Shimano and most current road and gravel rotors are centerlock; 6-bolt rotors fit with an adapter.

Sizes, fit and compatibility

J-bend spokes in any gauge; we build most Vesper wheels with Sapim Race, D-Light or CX-Ray spokes or DT Competition and brass nipples.

It pairs naturally with Reserve, Nox, We Are One, ENVE, DT Swiss, Race Face and Stan's rims that match its drilling. Tell the configurator your bike type and weight and it suggests a spoke count and lacing pattern to suit.

Put it in a custom wheel

Build a custom wheel around the Onyx Vesper Front Centerlock Disc Hub — the link drops you into our Custom Wheel Program with this hub pinned, ready for you to choose the rest. It is set up for gravel and road disc, mountain bike, MTB single-speed and fat bike builds.

Building it at ProWheelBuilder

Onyx makes the Vesper in Minnesota; 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 Vesper's drilling and color, strikes through combinations that are not made, and prices the wheel live.