I suggest you look into that.
No way to diagnose from here.
=sParty

 

I know - just wondered if it was a common thing amongst i9 hubs once the bearings start to go? I’ve run hopes in the past that have been abused and hardly span at all but they never made a sound - I wonder if the silver axle it’s self would move/flex due to the bearings having a bit of play

 

FWIW, I rode an older i9 1/1 rear hub for probably at least a month while it had a sheared axle. Made all sorts of weird noises, but not consistently. Definitely need to disassemble and diagnose.

 

I’ve just taken it apart and taken the axle out with bearings, bearings are rough one one side and ok on the other, the axle seems a bit pitted marked where the rough bearing is but that’s about it, no cracks anywhere or anything odd just a rough bearing

the noises are weird though sounds like spokes pranging or popping and sometimes like a creak almost but really random times, I can’t figure it out tbh

 

If a bearing has gone bad it can begin to allow for flex and movement in situations where flex and movement were not intended to be.
then, loads and forces on parts outside of spec can cause all sorts of issues.
bearing failure on axles and in freehubs can cause noises and creaks and weird dragging/locking up issues with freehubs.
as mentioned above, tear it apart as you have done and replace the suspect bearings and service the freehub.
when I've had freehub bearings fail, they usually presented with weird noises and clicking/popping and then proceeded to drag/kickback issues and then complete failure of the system.
specific to Hydras, a failing bearing can cause exactly what you are describing.

 

I just went through the same exact thing. I replaced the derailleur, BB & chain. Ended up being one of the hub bearings on my i9. Drive bearings were fine, so just replaced the shell bearings. FYI i9 specs a 15x30x7 bearing which is not easy to find. I ordered mine from RWC. The worst part is you need the right bearing press from i9, so had to order those too. Anyways, swapped out the bearings and its running like new. 15x30x7mm ABEC 5 BEARING, DUAL SEAL

 

That sounds really promising - as my freehub body bearings are absolutely fine too

did you get weird noises like me? Is that why you changed them? Or was it just because you felt them and they seemed rough

 

If you can, replace the wheel and ride that. See if its still there.........

 

Anyone else had this? Trying to track down a creak/klunk and it’s definitely something around the rear end

bearings are worse for wear on the hub itself but freehub bearings spin freely

Mira a weird noise that occurs on flat/climb/ and more so descending… but it’s not constant at all, sounds very alarming like somethings about to break

move greased all pivots and moving parts cranks/mech etc etc and torqued and it was silent upuntil this weekend I even put a different shock in and still the same so rules that out

only thing I can think is the bearings in the rear hub/axle are a bit buggered and the stress of riding is making weird noises?

I experienced the “popping” on my hydras. Replaced bearings on hub and freehub to no avail. Then buddy who had same issue said replacing pawls might solve it. Replaced pawls and noise went away for about 9 months then it came back. Has I9 look at it and they found multiple fractures in my hub drive ring. They ended up replacing hub under warranty but stated it was policy not to reimburse me for the $250 of parts I purchased from them chasing the issue. Also, my buddy’s bike started popping again and inspection of his drive ring showed dozens of cracks. He too had it replaced under warranty

You can see the cracks

 

For a “premium” hub, Hydras are quirky/sketchy.
You have fans that have never had an issue and riders that have all sorts of weird/one off issues.
Inconsistent at best.
I like mine, but they fall below DT350s in maintenance and simplicity and reliability.
Engagement isn’t really a benefit when you need ro manuever around/through bearing failures and hub shell/free hub funk.

 

Wow many thanks for all the replies and help! Seems I may be on to something then….
I have just checked the drive ring and there are no cracks anywhere shone a torch on it and can’t see anything - so hopefully the drive ring isn’t the issue

i will grease the hell out of the axle and bearing outers before installing the new ones

 

I9 Torch, oiled the axle where it goes through the hub and freehub shell bearings. Friends have reported creaky i9 freehubs too.

 

Well quick update and hopefully helpful to future i9 users

indeed it was the rear hub bearing, and more specifically the non drive side one (rotor side) can’t believe what a awful noise it made! But glad to get to the bottom of it very quickly!
My rotor actually had stopped rubbing/ticking too so must have been some side flex in it! So another bonus

but main thing is the horrible noise is gone!
Thank you for all your advice and coming forward to say you had same issues

 

Well quick update and hopefully helpful to future i9 users

indeed it was the rear hub bearing, and more specifically the non drive side one (rotor side) can’t believe what a awful noise it made! But glad to get to the bottom of it very quickly!
My rotor actually had stopped rubbing/ticking too so must have been some side flex in it! So another bonus

but main thing is the horrible noise is gone!
Thank you for all your advice and coming forward to say you had same issues

Sweet! Glad that's all it was!

 

Thanks for the heads up @Didzy2009

I've got a horrendous creak from my drivetrain under load (SingleSpeed, not much to go wrong!) and fairly sure I've eliminated the BB, so will have a check of the rear hub and report back.

Hopefully, if I have the same issue, we'll build a 'base' of similar experiences which will mean easier diagnosis for others in future.

 

Thanks for the heads up @Didzy2009

I've got a horrendous creak from my drivetrain under load (SingleSpeed, not much to go wrong!) and fairly sure I've eliminated the BB, so will have a check of the rear hub and report back.

Hopefully, if I have the same issue, we'll build a 'base' of similar experiences which will mean easier diagnosis for others in future.

yep if you have a i9 hydra seriously look at the rotor side bearing! bizarre the noise it was making - if it feels grrumbly by finger get it swapped, it was making truly horrific noises for me, it was thanks to @Brian HCM#1 really that i knew it would be the bearing - as his description was identical to mine, especially the bit of it being so random, just on flat and inconsistently doing it out of nowhere then silence for a while

 

This is wild. I’ve been having the same issues as all of you. It has driven me nuts. It would happen randomly. Sometimes just on flat sections. What was weird was that it never happened when I was hammering up climbs. Just mostly on flat pedally trails. First I thought it was my cassette pins holding the cogs together. Then thought it was my spokes because nothing seemed wrong with my freehub as I pulled it off and checked the pawls and springs. But I knew it was coming from my rear axle somewhere. Going to replace the bearings in my rear hub and see if it fixes the creak/pop noise. I’m glad I found this thread!

 

haha happy to be of service

a month later since swapping out the bearings.......absolute silence again! its so random the way it only made the awful noise in certain parts of the ride and not where you'd expect it!

 

So mine does this from time to time. I’m not sure why it does it but I have found a fix. Whenever mine starts making the creaking/popping/twanging noise I have to pop the driver open pop the pawls out, clean everything and relube it all. After that it’s fixed. I think when the pawls start getting a bit dry/not enough lube/grease they start getting noisy. I’ve been using I9 for years and have never had any durability issues and I’m not exactly nice on wheels.

 

nope not for me - i tried all of that stuff and it remained - removed the bearings and boom absolute silence instantly after not changing anything else so was 100% the bearings for me

 

My bearings felt fine, but I had the creaking still. Maybe it was the springs/pawls as mentioned. I’m away for work and will be doing hub overhaul when I get back home. Will let you guys know what I find

 

I noticed a nice clunk on Megatower that I chased around for a solid month only to discover that 2/4 of my Hydra bearings were done after just under a year so my axle had some wiggling going on. Ordered bearings and tools from I9 but they're awaiting some things before they can ship them out to me from the east coast so to limit my time off the bike, I pieced together a hub and freehub bearing kit from multiple vendors. Thank the lord that they're easily serviceable, otherwise I'd be pretty unhappy.

 

Came across this thread and wanted to add some info about a problem I've now had with two Hydra hubs. The first was on a Hydra Trail S wheelset, and the second is on a Reynolds wheelset that came with my Pivot Trail 429. Both of these have developed odd mushrooming deformation on the back side of each pawl pocket.

For the first set, the Trail S hubs, this noise started late spring 2021 and I9 sent me a new complete freehub which sorted the problem out. For the second set, on my Trail 429, the wheels are less than a year old, 900 miles and 100 hours of riding, and I just sent email to I9 asking them about it.

I've attached two photos, first one being from the Trail S set and the second from the Reynolds set.

The symptoms are as follows:

• After the bike has sat somewhere warm, the noise won't appear until 10-15 minutes into riding.
• As I'm riding, a ticking/creaking will develop which is coupled to when I apply power to the crank arms.
• Happens in any gear.
• Noise sounds like it's spokes or cassette or something in the wheel.
• If I pause pedaling briefly then resume, seems like a 50/50 chance of the noise continuing or stopping. Conversely, if it's not happening it won't until I pause and resume pedaling.
• Axle, derailleur hanger, and cassette have all been ruled out. Spokes are fine, no marks on them and tension is even.
• If I REALLY get on the power, the noise stops until I back off and am normal pedaling again.

I understand that stuff wears, but for two freehubs from the same model to have the same problem in less than a year of use, it has me concerned about the longevity of these hubs. I've ridden the same sort of things on DTs with 54t ratchets and they just keep working.

 

Came across this thread and wanted to add some info about a problem I've now had with two Hydra hubs. The first was on a Hydra Trail S wheelset, and the second is on a Reynolds wheelset that came with my Pivot Trail 429. Both of these have developed odd mushrooming deformation on the back side of each pawl pocket.

For the first set, the Trail S hubs, this noise started late spring 2021 and I9 sent me a new complete freehub which sorted the problem out. For the second set, on my Trail 429, the wheels are less than a year old, 900 miles and 100 hours of riding, and I just sent email to I9 asking them about it.

I've attached two photos, first one being from the Trail S set and the second from the Reynolds set.

The symptoms are as follows:

• After the bike has sat somewhere warm, the noise won't appear until 10-15 minutes into riding.
• As I'm riding, a ticking/creaking will develop which is coupled to when I apply power to the crank arms.
• Happens in any gear.
• Noise sounds like it's spokes or cassette or something in the wheel.
• If I pause pedaling briefly then resume, seems like a 50/50 chance of the noise continuing or stopping. Conversely, if it's not happening it won't until I pause and resume pedaling.
• Axle, derailleur hanger, and cassette have all been ruled out. Spokes are fine, no marks on them and tension is even.
• If I REALLY get on the power, the noise stops until I back off and am normal pedaling again.

I understand that stuff wears, but for two freehubs from the same model to have the same problem in less than a year of use, it has me concerned about the longevity of these hubs. I've ridden the same sort of things on DTs with 54t ratchets and they just keep working.

Thanks for posting this. I'd been chasing a similar issue on my Hydra/WA1 Unions off and on since last fall. Tried different cassettes, derailleurs, hangars, etc etc. No luck until I stumbled across this thread. Went down and pulled off both my freehubs and sure enough, both were doing it.

Quick call to I9 and emailed some pics, and I had two new freehubs in the mail to me.

I did ask if they knew of the issue, and the guy said they'd seen a few (although I had barely started describing what was going on when he immediately knew what it most likely was.) I asked if they had done anything to solve the problem, he just said they had tightened up the tolerances on the pawls and the freehub socket. So I'm not convinced this won't happen to me again.

It's annoying AF, and frustrating knowing this is a a higher end hub. But to their credit I9 has great customer service.

 

For those not already in the know, higher quality bearings are available. Use brands like NTN, SKF or ***/INA. There are lots of fake bearings out there, so only buy from authorized sellers.

Also, put some grease under the end-cap / on top of the outer bearing seal so contaminants have a harder time getting into the bearing. I think this link has pics. Industry 9 Torch hubs....?

 

I9 took care of me as well. But I too have the same concerns. We'll see how the new ones hold up...

 

sorry for perhaps being dim - but what am i looking at in that photo above? can you circle the issues? it doesnt look out of the ordinary on the pic unless im missing something obvious

 

Hydra freehubs will wear very quickly if and when the crap seals in the Enduro bearings they use fail. Yes, there are better bearings out there but not for Hydra as all the bearings apart from the non-driveside hub bearing are obscure proprietary sizes made by Enduro. The logic is probably to have bigger bearings than standard, but the size is not the problem. The seals are and they fail very quickly!

once the bearings go the freehub body can run at an angle relative to the shaft and drive ring, which causes the pawl pockets to mushroom and pawls to wear unevenly, usually on one side.

 

This is happening to me since I serviced it a week ago, thought maybe I had just overgreased it. Noticed I had put in a pall in backwards, so will see if that fixes it… I also have some mushrooming, and the grease was quite silver metallic when I serviced it for the first time…….. Here is how it looked upon opening for the first time I serviced it:

me realizing what I did wrong:

 

Its only a matter of time before it fails beause these cavities effectively create less and less engagement due to Pawls seating deeper and deeper into freehub body, INCREASING the load on the internal AXLE ..
so 2 outcomes here:

1- The freehub will spin out and strippping and breaking the teeth
2 - The INTERNAL axle will snap (hopefully not breaking the the main axle in the process)

 

That looks normal to me, but it looks a bit dry.

What's your service frequency?

 

im struggling to see what you mean by mushrooming?! it looks totally normal to me just looks like it needs fresh grease on it and clean unless im missing something totally obvious!?

 

The gap you see behind each pawl is not supposed to be there. The pawls are pushing the sockets in, hence the edges of the sockets are raised and in return wearing the anodizing off. That’s the “mushrooming”. If it were just normal “wear”, you would still see the gap/space behind the pawls but without the raised edges.

 

Axial float is normal, but not several mm. Perhaps one of your hub bearings is not seated properly?

 

yeh that was my immediate thought, but ive had the caps off and have tapped in lightly and they are definitely seated, theres no play anywhere or roughness - and they are genuine i9 bearings that they supply from new - i guess it must just be the float thing - ill do a little video when i get chance, as industry nine have asked to see it also as i emailed them