The bearings in my front hub are a little loose. Do I replace them with “genuine” branded Hope bearings, alternatives like SKF or INA from ebay shops or that fella KaTec? Or cheapy versions?

I tend to take the easy option and get the Hope ones, knowing they will fit and be good quality. You might save yourself £3 or £4 going elsewhere. My front ones lasted over 2 years so can’t be bothered doing the research

The Hope ones are INA bearing, and the packs are usually cheaper than buying them from a local bearing supplier IME.

We (me and MrsPP) get through Pro 2 bearings like a house on fire, they just don’t last more than a year. Personally, I found cheap-as-chips ones last nearly as long as expensive ones, so that’s what I use. Fronts are quick and easy to replace.

That said I’ve put some KaTec bearings in MrsPPs rear hub, so we’ll see how they fair…..

One of my mates has been running my bearings in his pro 2’s on his DH rig for 18 months and they’re still going strong.

I’ve been running them in my wheels for about 12 months and would be very pissed if they had play.

If memory serves me right mr poddy, you were very pissed off! not that long ago with how short a period of time your bearings were lasting to the point you wanted to sell the wheels ❓

The bottom line is my bearing and hope’s come from the same supplier, the only difference is that mine are full of expensive grease, this means they will not rust internally. Why not remove the caps from your front wheels bearings pop the seals off and have a look inside ❓

One of my mates has been running my bearings in his pro 2’s on his DH rig for 18 months and they’re still going strong

Good, glad to hear it! 🙂

you wanted to sell the wheels

I got shot of one pair Pro 2s a while ago. I only have one front left (And that’s falling apart: The flange that holds the circlip that holds the 20mm adaptor cracked off, so the adaptor falls off every time I remove the wheel)
I replaced my MTB rears with Hope XCs which are far tougher in most respects.
MrsPP’s Pro 2s are still going, but even she gets through bearings far too quickly for my liking given that she doesn’t ride that much or very hard. In the time she’s had the bike she’s got through more sets of hub bearings than pairs of brake pads!

the only difference is that mine are full of expensive grease,

At the risk of opening a can of worms, it’s a 2 minute job to pop the seals off with a Stanley knife to put a proper amount of grease in the bearings. Done with care, no real chance of damaging the seals.

I did this when I replaced my Hope Pro II rear bearings recently, using a Hope kit from Merlin. The two axle bearings were almost dry and the 3 freehub bearings had only about half what I reckoned they should.

Moral is, always check under the seals regardless of where you get them from

I would pop the caps off then take the seals off the bearings, then flush everything out of the bearings housing, and then repack it with some grease and see how things pan out for after your weekend ride.

Then maybe have the bearings replaced, they dont cost that much more than the cheap ebay stuff from the likes of crc.

I would use a needle or a pin to leverage the seals out, just slip it under the inner race contact point, not a stanley knife and use a reasonably water proof grease 😀 Good luck getting the old grease out as well it can be a pain 🙁