Phil Wood Touring Front Hub
The Phil Wood touring hub is the hub that crossed continents before sealed bearings were common, and it is still made the same way: designed, machined and assembled in San Jose, California from USA-made 6061 aluminum, with full-contact sealed stainless cartridge bearings packed with Phil Waterproof Grease, stainless end caps and hardware, a 6061 axle and 135mm quick-release spacing. It is built for heavy-duty durability, drilled in 36, 40 and 48 hole, and it is the hub we build for loaded touring bikes, tandems and anyone who wants a wheel that will outlast the frame. This page covers the Phil Wood Touring Front Hub.
The Phil Wood touring hub comes from us only as a finished wheel: pick the rim, spokes and nipples, and we lace, tension and true it by hand in Georgia before it ships.
Design and construction
Phil Wood's bearings are the point. They are full-contact sealed cartridge bearings, meaning the seal rubs the inner race rather than floating above it, which adds a little drag and keeps water out completely; packed with Phil's own waterproof grease, they run for years in the worst conditions. The touring hub uses a 6061 axle and 6902 bearings, with a Carbonyte low-drag bearing upgrade available, and the shell is machined thick because a touring hub is not where weight is saved. Wide flanges give the rear wheel lateral stiffness under a load.
This is the front hub, and a front hub has no freehub. What matters here is the part of the hub that carries the wheel: the bearings, the seals, the axle and the two flanges, and the front touring shares all of them with its rear partner. It is the simpler half of the pair and the one that runs longest between services. The driver and engagement story belongs on the rear hub's page; this page is about a front wheel that spins freely, stays sealed and builds stiff.
How it rides
Under a fully loaded bike on a gravel road it does not flex or complain, the bearings never need attention, and with 36 or 40 spokes on a Velocity Atlas or Dyad it stays true across continents; we have customers on Phil hubs with decades of touring on them. It is not light and it is not aero, and on a touring bike neither matters.
For lighter road use the Phil Wood Pro hub is the step up; for loaded touring and tandems, the touring hub is the Phil Wood hub we recommend.
A front wheel is where you feel a hub least and a build most. With no drive torque to carry, the front touring 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 | 36h, 40h, 48h |
| Spoke head | J-bend |
| Brake | rim-brake |
| Left flange diameter | 59 mm |
| Right flange diameter | 59 mm |
| Left center-to-flange | 31 mm |
| Right center-to-flange | 31 mm |
| Spoke hole diameter | 2.6 mm |
| Weight | 202g |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Finishes | polished, black |
About this listing
What sets this listing apart from the other touring versions: rim-brake rotor mount, QR 5x100mm, 36h, 40h, 48h drilling, about 202g, in polished, black. Pick the one that matches your frame and rotor and the rest of the hub is identical.
This is the rim-brake touring, 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 Phil touring wheels with DT Champion or Sapim Strong spokes and brass nipples.
It pairs naturally with the Velocity Atlas, Dyad and Cliffhanger, Mavic A319, H Plus Son TB14 and Velo Orange Voyager touring rims. Pick touring or tandem as your bike type in the configurator and it recommends a spoke count and lacing pattern.
Build a wheel around it
Offered for road rim brake, track and road single-speed and touring builds in our Custom Wheel Program. Start with the Phil Wood Touring Front Hub and the configurator pins it for you, then checks each choice you make against it.
Testing, standards and warranty at Phil Wood
Phil Wood & Co. states it was founded in 1971 and that its products are “completely designed, manufactured and assembled in San Jose, California”, machined from US-produced materials on CNC machining and turning centers with diamond-tipped tools. The company says a front hub shell passes through seven production stations before assembly, and that it specifies every bearing it uses, many made exclusively to its specifications. It publishes no load, fatigue, salt-spray, or ISO/EN figures.
Phil Wood states its Standard bearings are stainless steel cartridge bearings with a 100% Phil Waterproof Grease fill and full contact seals; Carbonyte bearings use a 30% Carbonyte grease fill with a partial contact seal and are not recommended for year-round mountain biking or touring. Shouldered axles position the bearings so no adjustment is required. Shells are 6061 aluminum with 7075 axles and end caps; the front touring hub weighs 202 g. Rider-plus-bike limits are 280 lb / 127 kg (Classic) and 190 lb / 86 kg (Pro).
Phil Wood's videos
Certifications
- Made in USA — “Our products are made in the USA- they are completely designed, manufactured and assembled in San Jose, California”; “All of our manufactured items are machined out of US-produced materials” (source)
- Lifetime limited warranty — Original owner, manufacturing defects; one-year guarantee on bearings and on Classic stainless cassette bodies / Pro aluminum parts (source)
Sources on Phil Wood's site:
- About Us - Phil Wood and Company
- Warranty and Return Policy - Phil Wood and Company
- Bearings - Phil Wood and Company
- Hubs - Phil Wood and Company
- Touring Hub Front - Phil Wood and Company
The figures, certificates and media above are Phil Wood's own. ProWheelBuilder does not run these tests; our part is the wheel we build on the hub.
Building it at ProWheelBuilder
Phil Wood makes the hub in San Jose, California; ProWheelBuilder is an independent custom wheel builder in Georgia and not the manufacturer. We measure the rim before we cut a spoke, bring the wheel up in three or four rounds with a gauge, stress-relieve it between rounds and true it last, then tape it and fit a valve if you want it tubeless.
Only compatible hubs and spokes appear in the configurator, impossible combinations are struck through rather than hidden, and the price is live.
Warranty
Phil Wood's warranty. Phil Wood & Co. gives the original owner a limited lifetime warranty against manufacturing defects, with a one-year guarantee on bearings, stainless cassette bodies and aluminum Pro parts. Proof of purchase from an authorized dealer is required, and bearings that fail from contamination or lack of maintenance are not covered.
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.
Touring Front 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.
Why full-contact bearings?
The seal rubs the inner race rather than floating above it, which keeps water out completely at the cost of a little drag. On a touring hub that is the right trade.
What spoke count should a Phil touring wheel have?
36 for touring, 40 or 48 for tandems; the configurator recommends from your bike type and load.
Is the Phil Wood touring hub disc compatible?
The touring hub is rim-brake; Phil Wood makes 6-bolt and centerlock disc versions of its Pro and MTB hubs for disc frames.
Is Phil Wood made in the USA?
Yes. Every hub is designed, machined and assembled in San Jose, California from USA-made aluminum.
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.
