Keeping design, engineering, and manufacturing all under one roof has many benefits, and agility is definitely one of them. Like the Chris King hubs mentioned in our last blog post, White Industries designs their hubs to be backwards compatible, so that as they respond to new standards, their older hubs don't become just become obsolete.
This past week White Industries showed-off their new Shimano Micro Spline-compatible freehub body, which they were able to develop, test, and manufacture quickly so that riders who use their hubs, or who want to get a sweet US-Made hub for their new bike won't be stuck without an option when the new Shimano XTR comes out.
Being able to respond quickly to changing industry standards means that they (and us a AVT!) are able to keep riders who use their products current and adaptable to changing standards without needing to replace an expensive hub. Like their other freehubs, this new one will be backwards compatible with many of the hubs they've made in the last 20 years, so you can rest-assured that your White Industries hub will probably* be compatible with whatever the next freehub standard might be.
This combination of the ability to make products quickly thanks to USA based manufacturing, without having to wait for prolonged research and development schedules (and the longer lead times with manufacturing in say Taiwan), plus the desire to make products that don't go out-of-date every time a new drivetrain or axle standard comes out means that when you buy a White Industries hub (and really any of the other brands that we carry), you're making an investment in a quality piece of equipment that will last and stay current for a long time to come.
We're really happy to be able to ride that type of product, and also to provide it to you, so let us know if you need help figuring out what would work best for your riding style and bike!
* Disclaimer time.. while we certainly expect new freehubs such as this to be backwards compatible with the majority of existing White Industries hubs there is an element of speculation about this and we obviously can't guarantee they will be backwards compatible with 100% of existing hubs, but it's safe to say most of them!
All images courtesy of Bike Rumor - read more on their Interbike coverage of White Industries new gear here.
