Bought a new set of hope/stans wheels in May last year and have ridden roughly 500 miles on them. I’ve just come to replace the cassette on them and have noticed a 1-1.5mm gouge in the freehub.

I have used an XT cassette so guess it’s the first cog that doesn’t sit on the spider…

Is this normal for the age of the freehub?

Yep. File the burrs flat if it makes it harder to get the cassette off and move on.

Unfortunately, yes. I haven’t found it to be a problem on my 4 year old Pro 2s, although getting the cassette off can be a faff.

Yes, that’s normal.

Alloy freehub bodies are the biggest funk up of weight-saving in the entire industry.

Make sure you do the lockring up good and tight. Supposed to be 40Nm, which is quite a lot of torque compared to most bike fittings. Doesn’t stop the damage completely but definitely reduces it.

Alloy freehub bodies are the biggest funk up of weight-saving in the entire industry.

Unless you’ve got a file, obvs.

Though an XT cassette has an alloy spider the first few cogs yes aren’t on the spider and they’d be steel so could eat in. Though first cog is right at the front by the lockring. That looks like 3rd or 4th cog thereabouts.

Should see the state of an alloy freehub with an all steel cassette though! I made that mistake.

Funny you should post that… the Ti freehub on my original Hope Ti-glide hub is much worse than that, the contact edges of the splines are eroded for about half of their length. I bought the wheel second-hand about 15 years ago so I’m not too surprised although the creaking from the cassette is annoying.

I blame the sloppy fit of the cassette on the freehub.

Unless you’ve got a file, obvs

Not really. It messes up the shifting under load when the ramps are no longer in alignment.

Should I speak to Hope about this? I can’t see how it’s fit for purpose after such a short time.

Are XT cassettes are recommended to be used with these freehubs?

Op what would you say to Hope ? Its what has always happened with alloy freehubs, its just normal wear and tear. The hubs perfectly usable and will continue to be so for ages.

Op what would you say to Hope ?

I wouldn’t use the words “fit for purpose” myself.

Non-issue.

Wait until you’ve done 5000 miles on it…..

The OP’s post is why I spec a steel freehub on my rear wheels, the weight issue is a matter of grams but the resistance to wear is worth it.

Should I speak to Hope about this? I can’t see how it’s fit for purpose after such a short time.

It’s alloy. People want light stuff. This is what happens to every alloy freehub body out there.

Are XT cassettes are recommended to be used with these freehubs?

Yes
They specifically say you should use XT as a minimum. Again, why buy an expensive lightweight hub and put a heavy cheap cassette on it? That’s just common sense.

It’s alloy. People want light stuff. This is what happens to every alloy freehub body out there.

I can understand that, but after 8 months / 500 miles?

They specifically say you should use XT as a minimum. Again, why buy an expensive lightweight hub and put a heavy cheap cassette on it? That’s just common sense.

I used an XT cassette.

I can understand that, but after 8 months / 500 miles?

Yep. It’ll still probably look the same in another 5000 though frankly, and I’m not sure the time is relevant.

Shirley it will just get worse over time?

After a fashion, IME they wear to a point, then don’t really get any worse. Unless your cassette is loose or sommat.

they seem to settle down over time.

Just file the burrs off and pretend you haven;t seen it.

Probably, but it will cause no issues, I’ve been using one with cheap cassettes, xt cassettes, sram pg990 and even singlespeed. It’s notched to **** but still works after 8 years.

Just ride your bike 🙂

matts – Member

Unless you’ve got a file, obvs

Not really. It messes up the shifting under load when the ramps are no longer in alignment.
I’d be amazed if the shifting under load was affected at all.
If so presume you wait until the required point in the cassette’s rotation before shifting up the block?

Hope are happy to replace under warranty, hopefully I’ll get a steel one through 🙂

Again, why buy an expensive lightweight hub and put a heavy cheap cassette on it? That’s just common sense.

Sometimes you just want a nice quality wheel or hub and it comes with an alloy freehub, no choice.

I tried to spec a steel freehub on my latest set but not an option. Comes alloy. Trying to find a steel replacement I can add later, but not sure there is one (DT 350), but I’ll mash up the alloy first. Cassette on it is steel spidered SRAM, because it’s a decent cassette with loads of life left in it and shifts beautifully.

Its a known problem.

It was worse on my pro iii mono road wheels, than any of the MTB wheel sets I’ve owned. Smaller cogs on road cassette = more load on splines?

Hope were great and replaced the alloy body foc 2 times (total of 3 bodies from new). Finally they gave me the steel body foc, cannot fault their customer service.

Always fitted cassette lock ring at 40nm using torque wrench, and anti seize on body before fitting. Dressing the damaged splines makes it easier to refit the cassette but does not help the situation as once the splines are damaged the cassette can move under load, creaking and accelerating wear..

Best solution I’ve seen is American classic with their alloy body with steel strips on leading edges, as the hope steel body adds a huge chunk of weight leading to the hub not being ‘light weight’ by any means.

It is the most annoying thing about hope hubs without steel freehubs and maybe the reason they do t just spec steel as standard is it would kill their sale of new hubs!

^ The noise of Hope Hubs are the most annoying feature in my book whatever the material 😉

One answer would be to machine away about half of the thickest spline and then bond a steel section in to replace it, like on that American Classic hub.
If you had access to a vertical mill it wouldn’t be a big job and you could use a piece of gauge plate to make a hardened insert and bond it with JB Weld or similar.