[dfuse]

Hi all,

I have been commuting daily for the last 5 years or so in all kinds of weather with my hope pro2 hub. I only regreased the pawls once when I accidently pulled the freewheel off when replacing a casette, but no other maintenance has been done. But lately my wheel feels like there is metal grinding again each other, from inside the hub. It's hard to explain, when I hold my bike up and spin my rear wheel I can feel it vibrating up into the saddle, it just doesn't run supersmooth anymore.
Does this mean the bearings inside the hub need replacement? I don't think it can have anything to do with my rear axle?

 

[gregnash]

Sounds like the hub has been contaminated for sure. Whether that means that the bearings are done or not is the question. I would remove the freehub body and do some basic maintenance to that and see what the inside looks like. Could be that there is grit and grime inside there causing the feeling, but really from the sounds of it the bearings are shot.

 

[In2falling]

Hi all,

I have been commuting daily for the last 5 years or so in all kinds of weather with my hope pro2 hub. I only regreased the pawls once when I accidently pulled the freewheel off when replacing a casette, but no other maintenance has been done. But lately my wheel feels like there is metal grinding again each other, from inside the hub. It's hard to explain, when I hold my bike up and spin my rear wheel I can feel it vibrating up into the saddle, it just doesn't run supersmooth anymore.
Does this mean the bearings inside the hub need replacement? I don't think it can have anything to do with my rear axle?

Take it apart and check them.

https://www.hopetech.com/product-documents/hubs/#!pro-2-evo-rear-hub

 

[One Pivot]

Order bearings, they're way overdue. I wouldn't even bother checking, they're definitely shot.

 

[dfuse]

Ok thanks all, looks like I'll be ordering bearings and do my first hub service. If this happens again in 5 years, would the bearins still be available you think? Or do I better order double now?

 

[blkangel]

The bearings are standard bearings they are not special to Hope. I replaced my Rear Hope Pro 4 Evo Fatso bearings with Phil Wood Bearings. My rear hub was very nothcy and gritty feeling.

 

[dfuse]

Are you saying they are *not* standard or in fact standard? Sorry didn't understand your sentence completely.

 

[blkangel]

Corrected my typo. They are not special bearings. They are standard bearings.

 

[Nubster]

Are you saying they are *not* standard or in fact standard? Sorry didn't understand your sentence completely.

They are standard. You should never have a problem getting replacements. They are NOT Hope specific or proprietary.

 

[jonshonda]

I will elaborate on what the Nubster is stating and go as far as to say that not only are Hope bearings lacking any uniqueness or individuality, they are also not very good. Hope that clears things up a bit.

 

[dfuse]

Oooh thanks so that means I might now have the opportunity to upgrade to better ones? Any recommendations?

 

[NYrr496]

DO NOT buy bearings from Hope. They're crap. I ruin them in weeks. At least get Enduro.

 

[One Pivot]

Hope bearings are stainless steel, which isn't as durable or strong as a normal bearing. It's only more corrosion resistant.

Mine (factory hope) lasted a month or two before going gritty. I stick with skf, or Enduro if I have to. Enduros are kinda sloppy.

 

[shaquille_o'wheel]

NSK is about as good as it gets, they make the phil wood bearings. Kogel is worth a look. SKF is another great one.

 

[One Pivot]

Phil does their own weird thing with their bearings. They're ordered to their spec, so I do believe they're a bit different.

All though, that difference might be a small as the grease spec. They fill a bit more than usual industrial bearings.

 

[Nubster]

Funny thing is...my Hopes have 1000's of miles on them and I've yet to need to replace a bearing. So YMMV.

But the brand new bearings in the pivots of my DB Release felt like garbage with zero use. Haven't taken the time to replace them though. Not like it's something I notice on the trail anyways. They work, but when I had the bike apart to grease and check torque values when I built it...they were clearly junk.

 

[Harold]

The bearings in my Hope hubs started feeling off after maybe 500mi or so. They weren't totally trashed yet, but they were close enough. I replaced them with Enduro bearings (probably the easiest to source from bike shops) and now have over 1500 additional sloppy miles on them with no trouble.

I looked at some others like skf and I dunno if it was just the source I was looking at, but they were priced WAY higher (as in, a full bearing job would cost more than the hubs themselves).

 

[Rngspnr]

Check the bearing preload. If the bearings are seated too deep or not deep enough in the hub shell they will spin rough like they're shot. This happens because the inner and outer bearing races are not aligned properly.

 

[Shark]

Definitely at least pull them open to see what's going on. 1 grease change in 5 years isn't enough

Crazy thing, I've never had to replace a bearing in any of my hope hubs. My oldest set is about 14 years old or so.

I don't ride in the muck all too often though.

 

[One Pivot]

The bearings in my Hope hubs started feeling off after maybe 500mi or so. They weren't totally trashed yet, but they were close enough. I replaced them with Enduro bearings (probably the easiest to source from bike shops) and now have over 1500 additional sloppy miles on them with no trouble.

I looked at some others like skf and I dunno if it was just the source I was looking at, but they were priced WAY higher (as in, a full bearing job would cost more than the hubs themselves).

A single skf bearing runs about $15 on average for a hub. They're double what you can find enduros for, but I think it's worth it.