I replaced all the bearings on my rear pro II hub a few weeks back. Then went for a somewhat biblically wet ride around Brechfa. Cleaned the bike afterward with water, a bucket and a sponge and then left it. A few weeks later and on checking, the rear wheel was noticeably stiff to turn. It has loosened of a bit with some vigorous spinning, but I suspect that the bearings are not all that happy (again!).

The bearings I’ve used are eBay ‘boxed and branded’ jobbies – about £3 each. Not sure if they’re stainless or not, (or even if that would make much difference?). But they seemed decent enough. Surely even half-decent bearings should last more than one (wet) ride?

Is it a chance that the problem lies with the hub, somehow?

Could it be some o-ring or seal somewhere that is to fault?

Ideas please! 🙂

Have you checked the plastic shim / seal behind the freehub is seated correctly.

When I serviced my ProII it was this not being seated right that made the wheel hard to turn

Good idea!

I’m pretty sure I seated it correctly, but I’ll have another look.

Perhaps this shim/seal thing is knackered though? Hmmmm…

if you buy those cheap ebay ones the trick is to lever a seal off with a stanley knife blade, flush all the original grease out and then put some decent stuff in there before you fit them.

It’s mainly becasue Pro 2 bearings are not as big as they could be in a QR hub like the old XC, to allow differnent axles to be fitted.

Pro 2. Think Hula Hoop (Viewed from the side) = Thin
XC: Think Polo mint = Thick.

Some people have them last a fair while, but many others get through them very fast, no matter what bearings are in there.

TBH Hopes recommendations is to change all the seals when you replace the bearings – I wonder how many people actually do?

Also jet washing kills them quicker!

Regular breakdowns, cleaning and regreasing also helps!

PeterPoddy – Pro 2. Think Hula Hoop (Viewed from the side) = Thin
XC: Think Polo mint = Thick.

This would explain why I’ve needed to replace the bearings in my XCs only once this year, yet appear to be constantly shifting bearings in and out of my various Pro 2 wheelsets.

I think I’ll have to try that trick with the stanley knife + grease – cheers! Hmmmmph… it’s a right PITA, this.

Manufacturing tolerances are poor on two of my Pro2 rears. ie. distance between the bearings measured at the hub and spindle/spacers is slightly different.
This puts constant lateral loading on the bearings.
Also, two of the bearing housings are too big- I have to use bearing retainer to stop the bearings moving.
(Using Hope supplied bearings btw)
Possible that you have similar issue?

Still a fan of Hope though; I’m sure they would have sorted this out if I had got on to them earlier / could be bothered taking the hub out of the wheel.

could be bothered taking the hub out of the wheel.

You can send you whole wheel and they will rebuild it for you IIRC?

My front went through 2 sets in a year. Rear has been fine for nearly 3 years. I put it down to tolerances, of just bad luck

My front is till on it’s original and rear on it’s second in about 5 years and using a jet wash, Ok on gentle power. I put it down to bad luck, not fitting them right on replacement and possibly the area you ride.

OK. Left, XC bearing. Right, Pro 2 bearing

Untitled by PeterPoddy, on Flickr

Now tell me it’s bad luck, poor tolerances or where you ride. Go on……

a quick question on this, is it always the driveside main bearing and the inner freehub bearing that goes ? It is for me, but getting a bit more life from them now i’m using skf.

Manufacturing tolerances are poor on two of my Pro2 rears. ie. distance between the bearings measured at the hub and spindle/spacers is slightly different.
This puts constant lateral loading on the bearings.
Also, two of the bearing housings are too big- I have to use bearing retainer to stop the bearings moving.
(Using Hope supplied bearings btw)
Possible that you have similar issue?

This ^

Hmmm… intersting! I have long been wondering quite why the spindle / QR end bits seemed to have a teeny bit of side-to-side ‘travel’ in them. When I fit the bearings and put everything back together, on clamping the wheel to the frame there’s a final ‘clunk’ as everything slips together. I expect this is because of the bearing housing problem mentioned…

Any ideas just what a ‘bearing retainer’ is?

Now tell me it’s bad luck, poor tolerances or where you ride. Go on……

I’ve replaced my XCs just as many times, as my Pro IIs.

Bearing Retainer

I suspect a quality control issue to explain why there are such vastly different lifespans.

Cheapo bearing s will not help and I buy good quality bearings and never remove the seals as I believe once you remove the seal you have stopped it sealing. I get many thousands of miles of life out of mine.