I have a front wheel which uses a non-evo hope pro 2 front hub, and when I put it in the forks a I noticed quite a bit of lateral play in the rim, maybe 4-5mm.

I took the wheel out, removed the old bearings and the disk side bearing was shot. Lots of play.

I put some new 6804 bearings in, and now the lateral play is less, around 1mm of lateral movement on the rim, but not gone.

Is a little lateral play bad or anything to worry about? Is there anyway to reduce it? Could the centre tube between the bearings be worn due to the bad bearings? Would it be worth replacing?

I know quite a few people run the pro 2 hub on here, I think it’s the same as the evo but without the stainless steel bearings. Thanks

I don’t think the inner tube will affect lateral play, it’s just a guide for the QR. Is the other bearing not worn?

QR or 15 / 20 mm?

The sleeve tube is to eliminate side loading the bearings, but is unlikely to be damaged.

Is the axle worn where the bearings contact?

IIRC the QR front hub doesn’t have an axle does it?

My first port of call would be the bearing again – did you install them carefully, or could you have damaged them in the process? I’m not trying to get a ride, honest, I have knackered bearings by being too forceful and not using a proper tool (used a socket that I thought was the right size, but wasn’t quite!

I had something similar when the bearings weren’t properly fitted.

It was a long story but that was the conclusion.

Was there not an issue with pro2 hubs and certain forks having this problem a few years back?
I seem to recall experiencing it myself at some point.

Mine had a load of play. Turned out be an issue with the 20mm axle. When nipped up tight it was bottoming out on the fork rather than tightening onto the bearing centres. A small spacer and now its fine.

^^^ that ring a bell for the problem i had.

Forgot to include all the info in my first post. 😮

I don’t think the inner tube will affect lateral play, it’s just a guide for the QR. Is the other bearing not worn?

After removing the non-disk side bearing felt a lot better than the disc side bearing. I put new bearings in both sides of the hub.

QR or 15 / 20 mm?

QR, using a Shimano skewer

My first port of call would be the bearing again – did you install them carefully, or could you have damaged them in the process? I’m not trying to get a ride, honest, I have knackered bearings by being too forceful and not using a proper tool (used a socket that I thought was the right size, but wasn’t quite!

I did use the proper Hope tool to install the bearings, I tried to be caseful when installing them. Tomorrow I’ll take the wheel out and double check the bearings, check that they are installed properly.

If the bearings turn out to be installed correctly, what else shall I check? Thanks

Suspect the bearings are not fully home. The tube spacer should be held in place by the bearings rather than being loose – is it?

Ok, after a bit more tinkering today I can confirm the bearings are really pressed home, in fact just to be sure I removed the bearings with a puller, then made sure everything was clean and there was nothing stopping the bearings being fully seated. When re-installing I made sure the press pushed the bearings fully home.

Suspect the bearings are not fully home. The tube spacer should be held in place by the bearings rather than being loose – is it?

The centre tube between the bearings isn’t totally loose, but it’s not tight either. I can move the tube around with my finger without much effort.

I did notice something a little odd with the wheel in the forks today. If the QR skewer is not that tight there is no play, and the tighter the QR skewer is the more lateral play there is in the rim.

I think it could be a problem with the centre tube, as the hub should not be affected by the QR torque.

Next time I have the bearings out I’ll measure the tube and see if it’s worn, but when I had it out earlier it looked ok to me.

The centre tube between the bearings isn’t totally loose, but it’s not tight either. I can move the tube around with my finger without much effort.

That’s how it should be.

The center tube should makes no difference to any “wheel wobble” as the main forces are taken up by the outer races being seated on the step in the hub.
The center tube is only there to provide an extra bit of sealing and a kind of secondary support.
I’d be looking at the end caps for some kind of wear.

+1 for the end caps. I had this a while back, the end caps felt ok when pushed in, but had a tiny bit of play.

Ok, I’ve ordered some new end caps, they’ll take a day or two to arrive but I’ll update this thread once I get them installed 🙂