Hook Flange Onyx Vesper

Onyx Racing Products has released a variation of their popular Vesper hub with hook flanges, developed specifically for use with Berd spokes.

We’re big fans of Berd spokes here at NOBL, and there’s a lot to like about the technology. The spokes are tough, reliable and feature a compliant ride-quality which we think plays really well with modern gravel and short travel bikes. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there’s the weight. The spokes are made out of an ultra lightweight fabric, so there’s a whole lot of grams to be saved by making the swap over from steel. If you’d like to know more about Berd technology, check out our FAQ.

Previously, wheels using Berd spokes required quite a bit of preparation ahead of the wheel building process. Using a series of special tools, spoke holes in the hub flanges needed to enlarged, deburred and rounded out to work with Berd’s system which was time consuming and would void hub shell warranties. If you happen to be building Berd wheels with conventional hubs and need a hand with the process, check out our Berd manual.

With this in mind, Onyx set out to design a hub that would not require any flange prep with Berd builds. The hook idea was developed in collaboration with the creative minds at Berd where the teams looked for a way to utilize the existing loops already present on the spokes for an efficient and straightforward implementation. Because the spokes are so light, they also sought to design the hub shell to match.

Onyx streamlined their machining process to produce the new hubs, and flange diameters were minimized to keep the weight down. As spoke flange dimensions are much smaller (and lighter) on their centerlock hubs, the new hook flange Vespers are centerlock only. This allowed for the lightest possible variation of an Onyx hub.

The Proof In the Pudding

Here are some weight comparisons between a new hook-flange Vesper set and a steele spoke Vesper set in the lightest configuation. As you can see, the newly developed Vespers shave about 6g of weight.

Onyx Vesper CL Boost
516g Actual Weight
Onyx Vesper Berd Flange CL Boost
510g Actual Weight