This was a brand new hub in 135 q/r form, purchased via CRC and built up into a 29er wheel by me.

After five months of use on a Trance 29er build I went to change the transmission which was very worn and chainsucking under pressure. I don’t keep a tally of mileage but I’d guess I have done between 1500 to 2000 miles on it.

Once the old cassette was off I noticed the free hub was stiff, so I opened it up to investigate and the two inner bearings inside the feehub had disintegrated scouring the axle in the process and leaving me with the outer bearing cases stuck inside the freehub.

For the last month of use I had noticed a creaking noise when putting a lot of pressure down on climbs, which I thought I had traced to the press fit bottom bracket cartridge and I’d bought a new one to fit when I did the chain/cassette/chainrings etc.

In hindsight (always a great thing!!) the noise must have been these disintegrating free hub bearings.

I’ve done a quick search on here and not found any similar problems being aired.

Anyone else experienced this?

It’s worth sending hope an email if you feel it’s failed prematurely.

It sounds like you’ve been ignoring an obvious problem for a long time. No wonder its in a bit of a mess now 🙁 but as you say, hindsight is a great thing.

Happened to mine after 1500 miles. Hope replaced the hub with a new one no questions.

@billyboy – this happened to me last weekend (see my recent thread on here).

Only difference is this happened on my Pro II hub (non evo).

Same clicking / cracking noise so I removed the reehub to find only 1 pawl / spring functioning and both bearings had disintergated leaving the shells wedged in the hub. I also noticed a slight hairline crack on the hub so I’ve emailed Hope to see if they will warranty.

There was also a similar thread on here recently with a guy having the same problem on a tandem, so I think this is quite common.

I’d email Hope and get their take on it as they may warranty for you.

My thread:

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/hope-freehub-confirm-what-i-already-know

I think you’re first port of call should be CRC as they sold you it, though to be fair they’d prbably just pass you across to the legendary Hope service team.

Hope will sort you out, I’ve used them a worryingly large number of times including fractured flange on a hub around the spoke holes and a completely split freehub body. Not 100% sure I’d recommend their products now but always sorted stuff for me.

Endurokid

You have the exact same problem as me.

It’d be nice to know why this is happening after only 5 months of use!

My older Pro 2 hubs go about 4 years between bearing replacements.

Hope’s aftersales service is brilliant so I’d expect them to sort it for you. However, the seals they use seem to be pretty ineffective against certain grades of grit/sand/mud and if used regularly in foul conditions an annual (or more frequent) strip and service is essential for problem free running.

Hope pawl springs are crap. I used bits of high density foam rubber cut to exact size and its been running fine (and quiet) for two years. Also stainless steel bearings run longer.

Stripped my 3 year old pro II Evo the other day because I thought it was time for a service, stripped it completely and every bearing was perfect and smooth, I cleaned and greased every thing and rebuilt it i thought that was amazing, into the 3rd winter probably done 6000miles+ and jet washed each week, front was good too it had been run with 15mm adapters just changed to 20mm which dont seem to seal aswell.
Bought another set for my 29er, with the 40t freehub can’t wait to ride them see how the freehub compares.
Just thought I’d add a positive swing 😀

Maybe a bad batch of bearings!

Hope so!

I bought these hubs because older ones I own have always been reliable and easily serviceable, and there is good/excellent back up from the company.

As ever- Hope aftersales great, Hope products not the best- the sealing in the hubs isn’t up to scratch so even though they use quality bearings, they don’t last well. Worth trying them to see if they’ll help but you do need to be on top of the bearing wear on their hubs.

I had a Pro2Evo fail in exactly the same way the OP described. 1 week in France, 2 rides at BPW and a few local loops. It failed in the Lakes on day 1 of a weeks riding. Biketreks sorted me a new freehub as bearing race stuck fast in old freehub. Shit happens.

I’ve had this issue! About 500 miles in (6 months use) and started making a horrendous noise under torque, particularly when climbing.

got home, popped off the freehub only to find a ground out mess where the bearings and pawls once were. The internals just crumbled into my hand!

I’d expected better quality but, in fairness to Hope a replacement was with me within a couple of days. The replacement has been faultless ever since.

I’ve emailed Hope to see if they’ll warranty as I’ve also noticed a slight hairline crack in the freehub body.

I’ve since noticed some scoring on the axle but not sure if this should be there as it looks too perfect to be caused by worn bearings? It’s at the end of the axle, can anyone shed any light on this?

Edit: just looked on CRC and the mark I’m referring t should be there!

Hope have just done a magnificently quick warranty turn around for me, but they have not given a whisper of explanation for the premature failure of my hub so I’ve made a separate post, titled “Dear Hope Technology”, seeking an answer to that question.

Why not ask them direct instead of cocking about on here?

I have many hope products and have never had an issue.

They do not ‘owe you an explanation’, just be glad that they’ve sorted you out FFS.

The trouble is….I think they do

29er wheels there lies the problem!

Sometimes, despite best intentions and QC, stuff breaks without apparent explanation or readily discernable reason. End of. If it was the bearings Hope don’t even make them so it is their supplier.

Stop acting like some kind of martyred princess and get over yourself. You got a duff one and they put it right without fuss. Stop trying to whip up a shitstorm and be grateful you were dealing with hope rather than some of the other manufacturers who treat customers as an unfortunate side effect of selling their product.

I guess you also belive that there is no such thing as an accident, just someone who hasn’t taken the blame yet. At least I know who the “no win no fee” adverts are targeted at now.

To give you some perspective, I have 3 sets of hope hubs in the family and all have been faultless. The oldest set are 11 years old and are on their 3rd set of bearings as of last week.