Not a long time ago, the stock offerings were expanded to cover widget upgrades in (nearly) all colours for the Classic Boost ISO hubs. As one would guess, now’s the time for the Vesper lineup!
Widgets – What Are Those?
To recap, widgets is the term used for the endcaps and associated bearing lockrings that can be configured to any of the available anodized colour options. Colourful enables the personalization and customization of the hubs to make them really stand out and to give the true final touch on an already 1st-class build.
The widgets consist of different parts depending on the hub model. With the Vesper hubs, widgets are the same as the axle endcaps. With the Classic ISO hubs, however, the pars include the front axle, bearing lockring and with the rear hub, the associated bearing lockring as well as the endcaps.
The widget type and associated parts are summarized below based on the hub model.
| Classic (Boost) | Vesper (Boost) | |
| Front | Thru-bolt axle and a 25mm bearing lockring | Endcaps |
| Rear | Endcaps and a 17mm bearing lockring | Endcaps, the non-driveside endcap employs the in-built bearing preload mechanism |
Considerations
When it comes to choosing endcaps (or widgets), it’s important to ensure compatibility. The following three considerations are best to keep in mind.
- The rear driveside endcap is specific to the freewheel driver body type used.
- Shimano HG and Sram XD(R) drivers use the same type of endcap.
- Shimano MS and Compagnolo N3W drivers use an endcap of their own.
- With the Vesper hubs, the hubs share identical endcaps independent of the brake rotor interface. In other words, whether you’re running an ISO or CL brake rotor interface, the endcaps will be the same, front and rear.
- Classic CL rear hubs are a special case and uses identical endcaps to the Vesper hubs (ISO and CL) whereas the Classic ISO hub use their own type.
Compatibility between different hub and hub shell models is shown in the table below. Models sharing compatible parts are listed in the same line.
| Dedicated endcap or axle type | |
| Front (Boost) | Classic CL |
| Classic ISO | |
| Vesper CL & Vesper ISO | |
| Rear (Boost) | Classic CL, Vesper ISO & Vesper CL |
| Classic ISO |
The Finishing Touch
When purchasing a set of Boost-sized Vesper hubs, one can upgrade the widget colour by choosing from the multiple options on offer to get a pair of hubs that will turn heads – in addition to providing class-leading performance!
Front axles, and rear hub endcaps are also available separately.