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New Hope Pro II hubs, tight bearings

1250 Views 19 Replies 7 Participants Last post by willymcd, Jul 24, 2007

willymcd

Discussion Starter · Jul 21, 2007

I just got a set of hope Pro II hubs and the bearings are super tight, don't spin very freely when compared to new hadley or chris king hubs, the freewheel is also stiffer then the rest. The front hub isn't bad but not great either, I am figuring that they break in???
Do they?
How long to break in?
When they are broken in do they spin as freely as chris king and hadley?

1 - 20 of 20 Posts

sneakyracer

· #2 · Jul 21, 2007

Yesterday I went to a shop and saw a new rear wheel with a very light industry nine hub, played with it and it felt very tight, tried to spin it freely and wouldnt it was tight. I could turn it without too much force but wouldnt keep spinning at all after I lt it go. I was surprised.

Mark M13

· #3 · Jul 23, 2007

I too have the same exact issues as Willy.
The difference is mine is a year old and on my race rig.
I kept waiting for them to break in, but it's safe to say they've had enough time.
I have another rear wheel with a King on it and it spins soooo much smoother.
There's no comparison. Something has to be up with the Hope. If you try to back pedal it in the stand, the chain slackens from the resistance at the cassette.

Anyone have any clue as to how to fix this?

Thanks,
M

willymcd

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 23, 2007

Never broke in huh, that doesn't sound good, maybe i will have to exchange my rear for a hadley.

half_man_half_scab

· #5 · Jul 23, 2007

Mark M13 said:
If you try to back pedal it in the stand, the chain slackens from the resistance at the cassette.

I get this exact problem and was wondering what the hell was going on. I notice it when applying lube to the chain, and backspinning to work it in to the links. Seriously F's up my cleaning ritual. I too would be interested to see if this may be resolved.

65bug

· #6 · Jul 23, 2007

Crap!:madmax: I just bought one too. Not even installed yet! I paid 169.99 for mine. The guy told me it would break in.
I am talking about the axle bearings, the cassette feels fine! Nice and noisy too. Are you guys talking about the axle not turning smooth with little resistance?
I will tell you what, the DT Swiss hub was SMOOOTH as hell..................

Low_Rider

· #7 · Jul 24, 2007

Regarding the Hope Pro II, they should gradually free up after a few rides.

It's hard to say how long it will take, as mine were relatively unused leading in to a solo 12 hour event, and they were smooth and free afterwards. I'd say a few hours will loosen them up enough for them to not pose a problem, and they should be flawless after a couple of hundred kilometres. Your mileage may vary!

Mark M13, I would consider checking the seal between the hub body and freehub to make sure that it is seated properly. Failing that, pull them apart and give the freehub a clean, and only apply as much fresh, lightweight grease as needed.

Jerk_Chicken has a great post here that may help.

Cheers, Dave.

65bug

· #8 · Jul 24, 2007

Low Rider,
Thanks for the encouraging words. I have been rotating the bearings for a hour or so while watching the news and it has gotten better!
A few rides and I am sure it will be good to go!
Question: What do they mean by no steel cassette's? Are some aluminum and some steel?
Thanks

Low_Rider

· #9 · Jul 24, 2007

Yeah I played with mine a little before lacing them up too, and I thought I could feel them loosen a little.

No real idea with the cassettes, I remember reading something along those lines when I got mine. I know cassettes with individual spacers and sprockets that aren’t pinned will gouge the freehub body a little if you don’t get the lock ring nice and tight. A lot of cassettes these days have the sprockets mounted on an aluminium carrier, so I assume that’s what they mean?

65bug

· #10 · Jul 24, 2007

Low Rider,
That's kinda what I though ttoo. I know some of the hubs came with a warning sticker on them. Mine did not have one on it! Does anyone have a picture of theirs with the sticker?
I hear a steel one WILL tear the hell out of the hub!!!

Thanks

Mark M13

· #11 · Jul 24, 2007

Ahhh...got it...

After reading the most excellent post by Jerk Chicken I took the hub apart.
In my case most importantly the response by marcus_dukakis further down in the thread was the ticket. Once I snapped the seal between the hub body and freehub back into place things improved significantly. Now, the pawl system is still heavier than my Kings, but that's by design. So I won't fault it for that. Also, there was still a lot of OE grease in there and no signs of contamination. I've raced this wheel in some horrendous conditions and I know from experience that a King or Shimano hub wouldn't have faired as well.

Side bar: while everything was apart I also noticed my drive side dropout is tweaked.
It's actually a manufacturing flaw as the dropouts are not square :madmax: This too was contributing to the considerable drag.

Anyway reseat the main seal and see if you have any luck.

MM13

Low_Rider

· #12 · Jul 24, 2007

Yeah the seal can be a slight pain. When I did mine I thought I had it right, but I needed to play around a bit to get it to settle properly. I’m running a minimal amount of Prep M, with the intention to check it every couple of months until I find a lighter grease that I can use a little more of.

I’m running a Shimano road cassette which is all separate. I’ve noticed a tiny bit of gouging but it’s nothing major, and certainly nothing to worry about.

When I first installed the cassette I tightened the lock ring to specification, but since then I’ve done it by feel and haven’t had any issues, I’ve had it off a few times and it hasn’t got any worse.

Windjammer

· #13 · Jul 24, 2007

Unless I misunderstand things, a too tight hub is simply a matter of too much load on the bearings. My brand new XTR hubs were shipped too me a little too tight, I've heard it is fairly common for this to happen. The solution is to lighten the preload on the bearings until there is play when the hub is not locked into the bike frame, but none when the hubs are locked down. Use a cone wrench to loosen a locknut about an 1/8th of a turn, then tighten the cone back up to it and test for play, repeat until you just get play. You can work from just one side, but if you have to loosen to much, then switch to the other side so the exposed axle stays even on both sides. Be sure you are fully tightening the cones back up to the locknuts. You are adequately done once you have play outside the bike, but none in the bike. Perfection is achieved if you have play when the quick release skewers are 75% closed, and none when fully closed. Once you are happy, you can count and note the number of exposed threads on the axle. Then when you have to overhaul your hubs, you can just set your locknuts to the correct number of threads and you will only need to do a little fine tuning to get perfect bearing adjustment again.

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Mark M13

· #14 · Jul 24, 2007

It's been a while since I've wrenched Shimano hubs. But, you sound like you're describing a cone and ball system. These are very different. The cone/ball system is very smooth and wonderfully simple to work on. But, it's also heavy and very prone to contamination. This is why most aftermarket hubs don't use it.

M

Windjammer

· #15 · Jul 24, 2007

ahhh. I felt I was missing out on something. thanks. I will need to go read up on Hope then. Do they use some sort of cartridge bearing?

65bug

· #16 · Jul 24, 2007

Hey,
I am WAYYYY over my head here as I hav enever had one apart. Do I dare need to take mine apart for any other reason then to see what it's like.
Oh wait, Jerk Chicken has a article on it with pics..........................................

Low_Rider

· #17 · Jul 24, 2007

It's not difficult, take your time and you can't go wrong.

There are a number of companies using sealed bearings, if anything I'm noticing less and less ball and cone based hubs about.

Again, Jerk_Chicken's post here has an exploded diagram and step by step photos and instructions to pull these hubs apart.

willymcd

Discussion Starter · #18 · Jul 24, 2007

I think I am going to exchange my rear hope Pro II, I am thinking for a hadley, I played around with one today in the shop and the freewheel was super smooth, the 72 point engagement is great, it is also really quite, but that doesn't matter. I think there is just too much resistance on the hope freewheel.

65bug

· #19 · Jul 24, 2007

Low Rider,
Thanks man! So, the freewheel just pulls off from what I gather then! I am keeping mine as it's just so dam nice looking and light! Mine is blue in color. Should go nice on my Specialized Enduro Comp SL.
I got give it a chance! You guys have any favorite rims and spokes?
Thanks

willymcd

Discussion Starter · #20 · Jul 24, 2007

I laced my front pro II up with DT competition spokes and xm819 rims, thats the way to go if you want tubeless, if you want better spokes it is around a $100 upgrade to the sapim cx-ray spokes, which are supposed to be stiffer and they are lighter.

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