[simian23]

I whacked my nearly new rear wheel into a curb my last ride out. I was running about 25 psi in the rear tire, but the curb edge blew right through that and severely bent the lip of my XR4.1d rim, knocked the wheel a little out of true (wow, strong build), and now apparently has mucked up the hub as well.

Symptoms: rotating the non-drive-side spacer is hard. It doesn't feel like metal-metal contact, it just takes excessive effort to spin, feels like rotating the axle through molasses.

Cause: Hope says maybe the axle is bent. I need to remove it and check alignment on a table.

Anyone else do this to a Hope hub? It frustrates me that I rode my hardtail for years and years without a problem. Then I drop tons 'o cash on the latest and greatest, and it fails almost immediately.

How hard is the hub to disassemble? According to Hope, I just pry off the non-drive-side spacer with some pliers and tap the axle out with a (plastic) hammer from the drive side. Umm....did they leave out any details?

 

[simian23]

At the risk of talking to myself...

...I am going to respond to my own post.

Yep, I bent the axle. I pulled the hub apart, which was really easy, and banged out the axle by tapping with a hammer. First I rolled the axle on a table, and thought I could detect a *slight* variance.

The mechanic had the bright idea to put the axle into a drill and spin it. At high velocity, it was obvious. Axle is bent. Damn.

Dunno if this is a warranty situation, or represents a misuse of the product? I wasn't doing a "drop", I just mis-judged a bunnyhop and hit a curb. Very hard, apparently. We'll see what Hope says. I'm pretty bummed out that when I finally spend some serious cash on bespoke parts, they break immediately, whereas my mass produced Shimano stuff has never, ever let me down. Hmm....

I whacked my nearly new rear wheel into a curb my last ride out. I was running about 25 psi in the rear tire, but the curb edge blew right through that and severely bent the lip of my XR4.1d rim, knocked the wheel a little out of true (wow, strong build), and now apparently has mucked up the hub as well.

Symptoms: rotating the non-drive-side spacer is hard. It doesn't feel like metal-metal contact, it just takes excessive effort to spin, feels like rotating the axle through molasses.

Cause: Hope says maybe the axle is bent. I need to remove it and check alignment on a table.

Anyone else do this to a Hope hub? It frustrates me that I rode my hardtail for years and years without a problem. Then I drop tons 'o cash on the latest and greatest, and it fails almost immediately.

How hard is the hub to disassemble? According to Hope, I just pry off the non-drive-side spacer with some pliers and tap the axle out with a (plastic) hammer from the drive side. Umm....did they leave out any details?

 

[ickyickyptngzutboing]

Keep us informed please! Unable to afford Chris Kings, I opted for the Hope Bulbs because they looked a little more stout than the XCs... anyways, I'd like to hear about your customer service experience with Hope!

 

[shiggy]

Not a warranty issue IMO. Slamming a curb is not normal wear and tear

 

[simian23]

Let's let Hope decide, shall we?

Not a warranty issue IMO. Slamming a curb is not normal wear and tear

I presented the facts to them as I laid them out here, and did not claim to be JRA.

Hypothetically speaking, how is a curb different than a sharp rock on a trail? Nevertheless, if I have to buy a new axle and/or bearings, no biggie. They aren't that expensive, and at least the hub shell remained intact.

 

[simian23]

Update

I presented the facts to them as I laid them out here, and did not claim to be JRA.

Hypothetically speaking, how is a curb different than a sharp rock on a trail? Nevertheless, if I have to buy a new axle and/or bearings, no biggie. They aren't that expensive, and at least the hub shell remained intact.

I talked to Hope and they were great. They contacted my LBS here in Austria, whom they knew very well, and worked out the parts requiring replacement (axle, bearings). I'm pretty sure I will pay for the axle (not expensive), but they sent a set of bearings free of charge.

Nice! Unfortunately it takes two weeks from the UK to Austria, but it's raining anyway. Hope's service was excellent. They were responsive, courteous, and gave an accurate diagnosis. I won't be quite as careless with this hub....probably.

 

[WOY]

A was servicing my mate's Ti-Glide hub (essentially the same as the XC other then the hub shell) I noticed I could spin the two ends of the axle independently, thinking to myself there should not be a differential inside a bicycle hub, I took the hub apart and found that the axle snapped on the shoulder where the DS bearing is. Luckily I had a XC hub around to use as parts and one of the paw spring was broken also.

 

[simian23]

Update #2

This is beginning to suck. Apparently the parts Hope sent created some new problems. The stiction is gone, but there is now too much play in the hub. The bike shop wants to send the wheel to Hope for a warranty rebuild!

I have been without the Blur for 6 weeks now! Now we're talking another two weeks to the UK and two weeks back, plus another week for the rebuild. That means in nearly 4 months I've gotten to ride the bike for one week.

Worse yet, due to high prices in Europe, I suspect this repair will end up costing me the same or more than a brand new wheel in the US from my LBS.

What now?! Argh!

I think I'm going to just go to the bike shop, pay for the rim build, and patiently take the hub apart and rebuild it myself, while calling Hope with any questions. Maybe the shop mechanic is doing something wrong. For the record, I never asked him to rebuild the hub - I just haven't had the time to look into it myself.

If I see a problem, I can always ship the wheel to Hope on my own. Bike shops here charge an arm and a leg for everything - I just don't want this thing to add up.

A was servicing my mate's Ti-Glide hub (essentially the same as the XC other then the hub shell) I noticed I could spin the two ends of the axle independently, thinking to myself there should not be a differential inside a bicycle hub, I took the hub apart and found that the axle snapped on the shoulder where the DS bearing is. Luckily I had a XC hub around to use as parts and one of the paw spring was broken also.

 

[WOY]

The Hope hubs are not difficult to pull apart and put together. You do not need any special tool however you will need some sockets to install the bearings. I think the Hope site has good instructions.

I am a bit surprised to hear there is excessive play though. If anything the new axle I had was a little wider than the one I had and the hub was a bit tighter when the bearings were bottomed out.

Good luck!