Ok so today I replaced the two bearings in the hub of my rear Hope XC hub, didn’t replace the bearings in the freehub as they felt fine. Now this is a job I’ve done a few times without any problems however this time I’m getting major bearing drag but only when I do up the quick release.

I installed both new bearings using the socket drifting method and as far as my eyes can see I got them both in nice and straight. when I spin the wheel in my hands I can feel that the bearings are a little tight but nothing to major. I put it in the dropouts and it will spin for a good many rotations however as soon as I do up the quick release it will only do 3 or 4 rotations at most.

What is going on? I’ve run out of ideas having spent 3 hours trying to sort the problem.

youve got the two spacer sleves (on the axel, between the bearings the wrong way around

one is a tiny amount bigger than the other, if you mix them up it jams the hub.

99% certainly that

sorry forgot to mention this is without the freehub on! and if I do completely reassemble the hub the problem is still there. The spacers haven’t got mixed up I’m 100% certain of that

bearings not seated properly perhpas?

I must be misreading this. How are you doing up the qr without the free hub on?

hope hub – the axle goes right thru the freehub

But the end cap fits over the free hub and stops the qr compressing the back end. Without the freehub in place, there’s nothing to affect the bearing so I’m struggling to see why this makes the op’s problem worse.

Good point

I put the end cap on the non drive side and the axle has enough of a flange to clamp in against the frame so that the bearings are properly compressed.

I considered the bearings not being seated properly as the most likely cause but I have removed them and reseated them a couple of times without improvement. How about a slightly bent axle?

How about a slightly bent axle?

easy enough to check – just roll it on a flat surface

would it cause this problem though? Its just I’ve spent all afternoon on this hub and I’m knocked these bearings in and out so many times!