Needing to replace the bearings in my front hub.

Ok i know generally you get what you pay for but do i go for the genuine Hope bearings £20 ish, the after market ebay £6 or the £15.99 ebay ceramic “upgrade”?

Any experience/ advise welcome. Thanks.

Genuine set on Merlin for £15 would be my choice or push the boat out and get Stainless Steel one from UK Bikestore for £17. ‘What’ bearing are a regular thread disagreement, personally I don’t rate cheap unbranded bearings, and it’s not like you go through lots of front wheel bearings.

if you want to be a tightarse, run a branded bearing the disc brake side and a cheapo one on the non-brake side.

Cheap bearings are cheap as the tolerancing is slacker. So you might get away with it, but there’s a fair chance they’ll wear out quicker than “quality” bearings

I get my bearings from kaesae at Katec.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/KaTec-Bikes

Anyone know what the bearing code is for Pro2 front hubs?

On the exploded drawing on the hope tech section. Same in the pro ii and evo

Front Pro 2 bearings are 61804 2RS, one each side.

Kaesae’s the man for bearings.

I’ve been running cheapo bearings in my front pro 2 (15mm maxle) and only get a few rides before they develop play.

Get the proper ones! About £16 from Stif.

Also, using the proper installation bushings makes installation a doddle (£10 from CRC).

Also, using the proper installation bushings makes installation a doddle

Do you need a puller to get the old ones out or can they be pushed out with bushings?

No need for a puller. Lever the spacer in the centre of the hub to one side and using a drift tap out with a small hammer. Also try you local (not a national chain) bearing factor for some SKF or other branded bearings, you may be pleasantly surprised at the prices (or horrified).

As far as fitting tools, if you’re a proper man and you own a load of sockets, they’re just as good as the Hope tools. You don’t need a seal driver either, it’s very easy to fit. But if you’re some sort of moisturised girlyman, and you don’t have a mancave well enough equipped to build an oil rig, then the hope tools aren’t too expensive.

ir_bandito – Member

Cheap bearings are cheap as the tolerancing is slacker. So you might get away with it, but there’s a fair chance they’ll wear out quicker than “quality” bearings

Not just that, they can be badly made, cheaper materials etc- I had some with brittle casings that chipped as I fitted them, and some that were rough from brand new. Decided it’s not worth the faff but mileage may vary o’course.

if you’re a proper man and you own a load of sockets, they’re just as good as the Hope tools

I’d say not – most sockets have a chamfered edge which tends to sit inside the outer bearing race when you use a socket that nominally has the same outside diameter as the bearing.

The outside edge is a couple of mm across, I’ve never seen a socket that chamfered. At least not in these sizes. Not saying they don’t exist mind but none of mine come close

As far as fitting tools, if you’re a proper man and you own a load of sockets, they’re just as good as the Hope tools

Yep got a shed load of sockets, work well for frame bearing so had kind of planned to use them on the hub as well.

One thing I always do is (very carefully, with a sharp knife) prize the seals out of the new bearings and pack in some decent quality grease. Even the ‘genuine’ Hope ones have a pretty stingy smearing of clear, snot-like grease and adding more grease of a decent quality is worth spending a few minutes on IMHO.