SON DELUX CENTERLOCK DISC HUB

Design and construction

The Delux uses the same sealed construction as every SON, with air exchange through a pressure-compensation system rather than the bearings and a five-year warranty that covers them, in a smaller, lighter shell with a coil and magnet arrangement tuned for higher wheel speeds. Schmidt makes it in a standard version, a Wide Body version that spreads the flanges for a stiffer wheel, and an SL version whose axle carries the electrical contact so a matching fork needs no wires or connectors at the hub.

The Delux comes in rim-brake, 6-bolt and centerlock versions, 100mm spacing, 32 and 36 hole and some lower counts, polished silver or black.

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 Delux dynamo 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

A SON Delux wheel is as close to drag-free as a dynamo gets. On a randonneur or gravel bike at 25 km/h and above it powers a bright light and a charger with a loss you cannot feel, and it weighs little more than a good ordinary front hub. At walking pace on a steep climb the light dims a touch earlier than a SON 28, which is the only trade. For fast road, randonneuring, gravel and 650b or 26in wheels, the Delux is the SON we recommend.

A front wheel is where you feel a hub least and a build most. With no drive torque to carry, the front Delux dynamo 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, 24h, 28h, 32h, about 390g, in black, polished, red, silver. If your frame or fork uses a different standard, the other versions of the Delux dynamo on this site cover it.

This is the centerlock Delux dynamo: the rotor sits on a spline and a lockring holds it, which saves weight over six bolts and makes swapping rotors a one-tool job. If your rotors are 6-bolt, a centerlock adapter fits them, or choose the 6-bolt version of the same hub.

Sizes, fit and compatibility

The Son Dynamo SON Delux Centerlock Disc Hub comes in the drillings listed on this page in 100mm spacing with the brake mount shown in the configurator. J-bend spokes in any gauge; we build most Delux wheels with Sapim Race, Laser or CX-Ray spokes or DT Competition and brass or alloy nipples.

It pairs naturally with the HED Belgium R and G, Velocity Quill, A23 and Aileron, Mavic Open Pro UST, DT Swiss RR and GR rims and the gravel carbon rims in the catalog. Pick road, gravel or randonneur as your bike type in the configurator and it recommends a spoke count and lacing pattern.

Build a wheel around it

Offered for gravel and road disc, track and road single-speed, touring, mountain bike, MTB single-speed and fat bike builds in our Custom Wheel Program. Start with the SON Delux Centerlock Disc Hub and the configurator pins it for you, then checks each choice you make against it.

Building it at ProWheelBuilder

SON makes the Delux dynamo; 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 Delux dynamo drilling, strikes through combinations that are not made, and prices the wheel live.