What's in a name? Industry Nine has a name that almost any self respecting mountain bike rider knows well. This company is composed of a small group of about 3 dozen bike crazy employees who churn out precision made bicycle hubs daily. This is all happening in their Asheville North Carolina facility. Industry Nine keeps most of it's production in house with the exception of high end ABEC Grade 5 sealed bearings. If you're wondering what the acronym ABEC stands for, that's a good question. ABEC stands for Annular Bearing Engineers Committee. More commonly referred to as the ABEC scale, an industry accepted standard for the dimensional control and manufacturing tolerances of ball bearings. The ABEC scale is numbered as follows, 1, 3, 5, 7, and lastly 9. These numeric references identify the quality of the ball bearing. Each number corresponds to the roundness in the inner and outer races of a bearing. The higher the number, the tighter the tolerance. So a grade 5 bearing is a very high quality one. 

It's attention to details like this that set Industry Nine apart from the competition. But it's not just a matter of building any old hub and adding a top end bearing. 

From the get go I think it's important to discuss the build philosophy of Industry Nine. It's immediately evident when you visit their website that they still believe strongly in the classic straight pull hub design. Because they make both J-bend and straight pull designs no one is written out of the script. Industry Nine's efforts have been divided fairly evenly between satisfying the needs of the road racers as well as the MTB crowd. Fatbike riders are also more than welcome. 

                 Industry Nines i25 TL front hub with a hidden radial spoke pattern. Stealthy!

I think my favourite Industry Nine hubs are their "Classic" line. This line pretty much covers all the bases, including MTB, road, cyclocross and Fatbikes. All of these particular hubs favour the traditional J-bend spoke that allows several different lacing patterns and guarantees that the  owner will be able to source a new spoke at any bike shop they should walk into. That level of flexibility and easy service is very important to many riders. Myself included! 

What about disc brakes? Industry Nine is using the ISO 6 bolt interface on some hubs but also offers the option of centerlock  on other models. So you are covered with both platforms. 

Can I get my favourite colour you ask? I would say you have a pretty decent chance. Industry Nine does not disappoint when it comes to a broad range of bright and beautiful colours. At the moment we have black, red, silver, blue, gold, orange, turquoise, green and lime to choose from. Impressive! 

Industry Nine i25 TL rear hub. 24 holes and weighing a mere 230 grams. A 4 cross straight pull  drive side and a radially spoked non-drive side combination. 

Industry Nines "Classic" MTB hub set. The freehub sports 120 points of engagement with 6 pawls. Available in 28 or 32 spoke holes and numerous axle configurations. 

                                                                                    A detailed exploded view of the internals of a an Industry Nine rear hub. 

We are now carrying Industry Nines complete line of hubs. Shoot us an email if you have any questions about building up a set of very nice wheels. I'd be honoured to build them!