Bought a new set of Hope bearings for the front hub. As you would expect, they feel nice & smooth. Drifted the old ones out & put the new ones in (using a 24mm socket) & they feel terrible. Really rough & notchy.

Figured I’d damaged them when putting them in, so knocked them out again and they feel nice and smooth. All roughness has gone.

So rough & notchy when in the hub, silky smooth when not. What am I doing wrong?

get the proper hope tools?

Not sure if the EVO is the same, but I forgot to put the spacer tube in an older Pro2 front once, & it felt rough but was ok once I’d spotted it on the bench. 😳

+1 proper tools

Proper tools now acquired & tried again. One side went in fine but feels exactly the same (rough in, smooth out). The other side won’t even go in straight & has gouged the race. Have I borked the hub shell?

Proper hope bearings or cheap ones? If damaged the tools make no difference, once damage in the bin with them. Bearings can feel smooth when buggered, then a tiny bit of side pressure and the notchyness appears. Remember there is a spacer in the front hub that will produce this a very slight side load.

Do you have any pics of the damage in the hub?

I need to change the front bearings on my Pro 2 hub. Is it a case of Hope ones are best our has anyone found any other good qaulity ones?

I’m sure the hope tools are very good but for the amount of use you will get from them they’re expensive. A length of threaded rod, two nuts and two big washers cost me £1-80 from the local hardware store and used like a kind of sideways on headset press did the job brilliantly.

Doesn’t the evo run different sized bearings in the front than the older Pro 2?

Doesn’t the evo run different sized bearings in the front than the older Pro 2?

Nope, the same size bearing for both hubs (6804/61804)

Doesn’t the evo run different sized bearings in the front than the older Pro 2?

Just the rear

+1 the proper tools – mine have saved me ££ over going to the bike shoppe

I found the tolerance on my pro 3 rear hub was too tight for the bearings, so by pressing them in, they went tight and notchy. Took me a few goes, but wet and dry paper, I cleaned out the anodising and a few thou of surface material and pressed them in and they went in nice and smooth and no notchiness. Took about 3 or 4 goes of in and out to get it right.I used a length of studded bar and nuts and big washers, not a Hope tool in site and the bearings went in fine.

What grease you lot using on the pawls & springs in the rear hub?

I use a smear of silkolene pro and seems great for mine. Winter might make it a bit thick, but wont know for a while hopefully !

Katec on the bay do good bearings.
Tools too.