I had xc hope hubs for trials for years and I can definately say they are far better than any shimano hub. When I was riding years ago everyone I rode with had either hope xc or king hubs. I ran mine standard but alot of people used to stretch the hub springs, not sure if it made a difference to performance (and I'm sure someone on here will advise against it) but they sounded alot louder. On another note, I'm running a Pro 2 now and totally agree that it's amazing, never skipped or given me any issue.