So much for the 'New Specialized Hi Lo' hubs..

MTBeing · Aug 2, 2014

So much for the 'New Specialized Hi Lo' hubs.. (Recant)

I thought these were going to be vastly improved from the dreadful old Hi Lo hubs but last weekend mine began developing an intermittent knocking noise after a really hard climb section. At home, I removed the cassette to see what I could see and the axle feels gritty when it's turned. There's no play in the system that I could tell, but I have a feeling that these hubs are going to be short-lived too. The bike (Camber Carbon) is 7 months old, btw.

What I'm really wondering here is if it's worth it to have the Roval Control Trail 29 rim re-laced to a better rear 142x12 hub? The front hub is the proprietary OS28 type and it actually works fine. I like the look of Roval rims b/c the graphics are really subdued and match the black/grey color scheme of the bike itself. I guess I'd have to adjust the rear derailleur going from 142+ to 142 but that's easy. Anyone else kept the wheels and swapped out the cruddy oem hubs?

oldskoolm4 · Aug 2, 2014

The front isn't proprietary to the fork, if thats what you thought. The quick release however is proprietary to the hub. Wish it wasn't though, I liked the DT ratchet system. Have you tried the warranty route? Several here had theirs replaced. I didn't run mine for long, I replaced them with Hope Pro Evo2 with the 40T ratchet laced to Crests and have been very happy with them.

erickxcr · Aug 3, 2014

I have a stumpy fsr with the "new" hi lo hub but it is NOT 142+ it is 142mm and have almost 400 miles in central florida with no issues:
Specialized Bicycle Components

I have done some short steep climbs at carter rd in Lakeland and santos in Ocala, granted im not a pro or advanced rider that pumps out huge watts or torque to the rear but I have been riding as hard as I can in it still feels like new.
Try to warranty it ? Maybe they will come through with a nice option ?

MTBeing · Aug 3, 2014

I considered the warranty route but I'm guessing they're going to swap like for like, esp if they have had fewer issues with the new hub design. I would keep the front hub b/c of the extra stiffness the OS28 provides vs a std QR interface. I might even try to tear the rear hub down and upgrade the bearings inside, but as a last resort I'll just get a decent hub and have the rear wheel re-laced IF the rims are worth it. They seem pretty good so far under my 200 lb load.

Edit: I thought my rear hub was 142+ but now I'm not sure. Hmm...

Bos · Aug 5, 2014

MTBeing said:
I considered the warranty route but I'm guessing they're going to swap like for like, esp if they have had fewer issues with the new hub design. I would keep the front hub b/c of the extra stiffness the OS28 provides vs a std QR interface. I might even try to tear the rear hub down and upgrade the bearings inside, but as a last resort I'll just get a decent hub and have the rear wheel re-laced IF the rims are worth it. They seem pretty good so far under my 200 lb load.

Edit: I thought my rear hub was 142+ but now I'm not sure. Hmm...

I have a 2013 Epic Comp with the OS28 front hub and originally, the hi lo rear hub. I had the rear hub replaced with a DT 350 142 and re laced with DT double butted spokes. The front wheel is still stock because I wanted to keep the RWS skewer OS28 stiffness. I would prefer a 15 mm front but the cost would have been prohibitive. Anyway, I like the result because I prefer the wider 26mm rims. For the Size, the weight is reasonable.

MTBeing · Aug 28, 2014

Rear New Hi Lo hub teardown (Pics)

I want to recant a little bit about my initial impressions about this hub but I do feel that some of it was warranted. I tore the hub/axle down tonight with relative ease because the although it was functioning ok, there was a 'dry' sound to the hub. The axle was also a bit gritty feeling and now I know why.

I removed the cassette and put a 17mm cone wrench on one side of the axle and an adjustable wrench on the other side 'nut'. Lefty-loosy the NDS nut came loose. Once that was off there is a black threaded retainer nut on the non-drive side as well that is inboard of the silver NDS nut.

Loosen and remove the black retainer nut and the axle pulls straight out with no force, via the attached freehub and pawls. All in one neat assembly.

I cleaned the axle a little bit before this picture was taken but it was pretty dry with black oxidized grease along the shaft. The pawls were also dry with just a little bit of white grease in the ratchet area. What I DID like was the 3 pawls at 120 degree angles which is a far more robust setup than the old Hi Lo design. Yea Specialized.

Anyway I've included some additional pictures of the tear-down. The hub bearings as best as I could see were XERO 6903-LBLU. The freehub and axle weight (combined) was 204g) I smeared some Phil Wood grease on the axle, pawls and ratchet prior to re-assembly an the hub is noticeably quieter as you would expect.

In order to get a smooth feel upon re-assembly I hand-tightened the black ring against the bearing and lightly tool-tightened the outer silver 'nut'. It likely wont require any more torque than that because once the wheel is on the frame there's nowhere for either of those to go.

Overall, it's a much better design than the old Hi Lo and pretty serviceable to boot.

Error440 · Nov 4, 2014

Freehub and pawls looks same as in cheapest Easton XC hub, which I broke after 1000km.(((

Tyrich88 · Nov 6, 2014

IF you are still having issues, take it to your LBS and see if it can be warrantied. They may send you the DT 350 hubs

Landrew · Sep 15, 2017

MTBeing said:
I want to recant a little bit about my initial impressions about this hub but I do feel that some of it was warranted. I tore the hub/axle down tonight with relative ease because the although it was functioning ok, there was a 'dry' sound to the hub. The axle was also a bit gritty feeling and now I know why.

I removed the cassette and put a 17mm cone wrench on one side of the axle and an adjustable wrench on the other side 'nut'. Lefty-loosy the NDS nut came loose. Once that was off there is a black threaded retainer nut on the non-drive side as well that is inboard of the silver NDS nut.

Loosen and remove the black retainer nut and the axle pulls straight out with no force, via the attached freehub and pawls. All in one neat assembly.

View attachment 919067

I cleaned the axle a little bit before this picture was taken but it was pretty dry with black oxidized grease along the shaft. The pawls were also dry with just a little bit of white grease in the ratchet area. What I DID like was the 3 pawls at 120 degree angles which is a far more robust setup than the old Hi Lo design. Yea Specialized.

Anyway I've included some additional pictures of the tear-down. The hub bearings as best as I could see were XERO 6903-LBLU. The freehub and axle weight (combined) was 204g) I smeared some Phil Wood grease on the axle, pawls and ratchet prior to re-assembly an the hub is noticeably quieter as you would expect.

In order to get a smooth feel upon re-assembly I hand-tightened the black ring against the bearing and lightly tool-tightened the outer silver 'nut'. It likely wont require any more torque than that because once the wheel is on the frame there's nowhere for either of those to go.

Overall, it's a much better design than the old Hi Lo and pretty serviceable to boot.

View attachment 919071
View attachment 919072
View attachment 919073

Don't mind how old this is but I had a question about the hub driver. Do you know if the SRAM XD option is available for this hub ?

So much for the 'New Specialized Hi Lo' hubs..

MTBeing

oldskoolm4

erickxcr

MTBeing

Bos

MTBeing

Error440

Tyrich88

Landrew

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