[tiSS'er]

OK, I am the anti-I9 person. I love my King hubs. I am building a new bike, and due to some spacing issues with the King 150's, I bought a set of lightly used I9's built to 823s for a very good price.

When the hubs showed up, the freehub was not completely set flush into the hub shell. I was able to use the axle to remove the free hub. The large bearing was rusted. The bearings feel smooth though. I was able to reset the freehub, though I am going to take it apart again tonight to lube the drive mechanism.

I am pleased with the drive, seems pretty fool proof and reliable. But I have seen many posts of failed bearings. How common is this? I know they are easy to replace. Where do you buy your bearings? From I9?

I think the spoke configuration makes for a stupid stiff wheel, but I am not convinced the bearings can hold a candle to Kings. I have not ridden these wheels yet, so I will reserve judgement on that. Just seems as though the King is a far superior designed hub.

 

[CdaleTony]

Ive missed the I9 bearing problems...Theres been 'alot'? of posts??

 

[futuristxen]

All the bearings -save for the large bearing on the cassette body- are widely available. Quality Bicycle Products carries all of the stock Enduro bearings found in the hub. As far as the quality is concerned, they are all c-zero abec-5 grade bearings. Pretty much the highest grade worth purchasing.

Typically the disc side bearing on the rear hub needs to be replaced before the rest. You can get the bearing out with whatever will reach it. Since you are planning on replacing it, it doesn't matter if you hurt it. Use the trashed bearing to press the new one into the hub shell. Its as easy as that. Just don't ham-fist it.

They have excellent customer service, call them with any questions about bearings you have. You can even order bearings through them as well.

Prepare to enjoy the low-drag, instantly engaging, stiff awesomeness that is I9.

 

[dash]

I have had bearing problems that persist till this day. My wheels have had constant side to side play to no avail. To top this, my derailleur sucked into my wheel and broke 10 spokes like nothing. The bad part. That was almost three months ago. Today, still no spokes, no bike to ride. They can't even produce a spoke a week. Great company huh. What do they say about them. They're on their way on two occasions. BS! They are big F'n liars. Stick with King's. I wish I did. They won't break all the time from poor engineering and if they did you can get parts in a much more reasonable timeframe usually less than a week.

 

[mtnbiker4life]

I'm not sure Kings are problem free

I just think they might deal with customers better. I've sent King hubs in for service & disk converion and they alway taken care of my hubs. One time they replaced the axle because the old one was out of spec. Granted they have a five year warranty. From what I know of I9's they use quality bearings. I've heard a lot of good things about I9's on mtbr. I think riding conditions and service intervals play a big role in durability. I think a set of Enduro ceramic bearings would be nice in the I9's. I intalled Enduro Ceramic Bearings in a set of Spinergy's.....smooooooth a butter.

I'd love to try I9's but for now I am invested in Kings and am happy as a bee

 

[futuristxen]

Poor engineering due to your derailler being maladjusted?

Any spokes will break with a chain and derailler in them. Even Kings, dummy.

It does suck about the availability of spokes. Are your spokes a custom length or color?

 

[dash]

Here's the setup. No doubt they look good, but constant side to side play (hence poor engineering) I've been through 3 sets of bearings in 1 year just to try to fix the play. Very frustrating when it takes up to 6 weeks each time just to get a part and they keep telling you they sent stuff out when they just don't. The derailleur thing just happened but you would think they could turn around more than 1 spoke a week. Just don't buy these wheels if you can't afford down time or have another bike. I expected more from a company that charges a grand for their wheels.

 

[Baltazar]

hmm, i got my spear parts (bearings and some other parts) in one week, and i live in sweden, so most of that time was the time it took for the shiping company to get it to my adress.

 

[tiSS'er]

I have scoped out the Enduro Ceramic Hybrid solution. Not a bad price at all. I do feel a bit of slop in the rear bearings, but it is a 12mm TA, so I will wait until I bolt it up to the bike before I get too worried about it. I have not adjusted the bearing tension collar either as I9 says this should be done on the bike.

I ordered 6 spare spokes, should be here this wee, no issue with CS. I really do like the stiffness of the wheels. I have to say, replacing spokes looks to be pretty easy as well. I just replaced a spoke on my King set this weekend, and I had to remove the cassette and rotor. Not a big deal, except it is about 105 degrees in my garage right now.

I also pulled the hub apart again to clean and lube the freewheel. I used King Ring Drive lube as I have a ton of it, and it really quieted down the freehub. Can't wait to get out on these wheels. They sure are purty!

 

[skullybones]

I had an issue with Enduro Ceramic bearings failing in my rear hub after one month of heavy use. I would stick with the stainless steel for everything but the road bike. I'm not sure if this is a common occurence, but would be interested if anyone else have had this problem.

 

[kwarwick]

I had an issue with Enduro Ceramic bearings failing in my rear hub after one month of heavy use. I would stick with the stainless steel for everything but the road bike. I'm not sure if this is a common occurence, but would be interested if anyone else have had this problem.

I've been curious if ceramic bearings are the best idea for the high impact world of mountain biking. From what I understand ceramic bearings are good because they are harder and rounder than typical steel bearings, but ceramic is also a brittle material. What was the failure mode you experienced?

 

[tiSS'er]

I had an issue with Enduro Ceramic bearings failing in my rear hub after one month of heavy use. I would stick with the stainless steel for everything but the road bike. I'm not sure if this is a common occurence, but would be interested if anyone else have had this problem.

Can you elaborate a bit on "fail"? Did they loosen up? Crack, disintergrate? Heavy use? Do you ride in wet conditions? Thanks for the heads up.

 

[skullybones]

I just pulled the bearings out today and the drive side bearing in my hadleys had loosened up (up and down, and side to side play. I pulled the seals off and there were no disintegrated bearings. They were ridden on daily for a month in the dry front range climate. they did see quite a few rocks, but i'm not sure what caused the to fail so premature. My good friend also had a set off ceramic hybrid bearings crack in his yeti 575 pivots, but they are not exactly designed to handle suspension forces. Still curious if anyone else has had this problem. I have a call in to Enduro, but from the way it sound I may not here back from them.

 

[prmulligan]

Question for those of you with I9's. I have a new set that have been on my bike for about 2 weeks. They've been ridden 5 times. I'm in the Tahoe area and they've seen little water but a ton of dust. My freehub has gone from whisper quiet, to really loud (screaming loud). It started as normal yesterday and just got more and more loud throughout the day.

Has anyone else experienced this through the break in period?

 

[mordor]

Mine were very quiet when i got them, but after 30-40 hours of riding they changed quite quickly to a loud scream, around the same noise level as broken in CK hubs, although a slightly different sound to the scream. So it is normal that they make a bit more sound after break-in

 

[EJ_92606]

Yes, they are pretty loud. However, if you switch from 6 pawl to 3 pawls they are much quieter and the lost engagement points are barely noticeable.

 

[Baltazar]

same thing on my i9 wheels, it´s the grease that starts to break.in

 

[futuristxen]

The stock white grease has a way of migrating all of a sudden, leaving a loud freehub body.

The quieter setup, for me at least, has been using a mixture of dumonde tech liquid grease with just a touch of Dumonde mr grease to add some tackiness. Works like a charm.

Ceramic bearings are a terrible idea for mountain wheels.

 

[Mojo Man]

The stock white grease has a way of migrating all of a sudden, leaving a loud freehub body.

The quieter setup, for me at least, has been using a mixture of dumonde tech liquid grease with just a touch of Dumonde mr grease to add some tackiness. Works like a charm.

Ceramic bearings are a terrible idea for mountain wheels.

I have bearing play and my I-9's and they are loader than I care for. What and where did you get this grease you talked about? Is it a big deal to get at the ratcheting device?

David

 

[tiSS'er]

I have bearing play and my I-9's and they are loader than I care for. What and where did you get this grease you talked about? Is it a big deal to get at the ratcheting device?

David

Per a conversation with I9, I am using King Ring Drive Lube. It works very well, it is the perfect consistancy and keeps things very quiet.

As for the bearings, I had the same problem and another conversation with I9 had me remove remove the axle a bit (do not loosen the bearing preload), add .5 turns of preload from its exiting postion. I was told sometimes the preload cannot be adjusted correctly with the axle in the hub.