Hi all. Not been on here in ages, so apologies if this has been covered recently or whatever.

I replaced the bearings in my Pro 2s a few months ago and have done really very little riding on them, almost entirely in dry conditions and both front and rear main axle bearings are absolutely shot already.
The bearings were ‘Hope’ branded ones (INA?) so I’d have thought they’d be decent quality.
In the past I’ve normally had around a year out of replacement bearings, so what do you reckon I’ve done wrong?
Ham fisted installation? (not out of the question, tbh). Is is possible for the bearing seats on the hub to wear out at all? (They’ve seen an awful lot of use).

Got some ‘Enduro’ bearings lying about so I think I’ll just whack them in for now, but is there anything in particular I should be doing to ensure longevity?

Cheeerss.

How did you press the new bearings back in?

I pressed the new ones in using the old bearings in front of a socket. Marginally better than a socket by itself I suppose…

The hope bearings are good quality, the sealing in the hubs is pretty nonexistant mind but still you should get the same life from your replacements as from the original. So my suspects would be- accidentally squashed the bearings by tapping in the centre not the outside, or damaged the seals, while fitting. Or didn’t tap in far enough so bearing gets sideloaded by axle

^ wot he said.
Having said that I have had one dodgy bearing on a brand new Hope wheel a long time ago, but for all four to be duds at the same time is unlikely?

Over the years I’ve been less than impressed by the longevity of the rear wheel and freehub bearings in my original Hope hubs, and that’s either pressed in properly by a shop of butchered by me with a big mallet – no difference. They only seem to last a few hundred miles. The fronts on the other hand have gone on for ever.

I seems to have been eating brake side front bearings in Pro 2 hubs to the extent all my Hope wheels are hanging up no longer on bikes but as wall art spares!
Fulcrum Red Zone and Mavic Crossmax SX now, fingers crossed no issues so far!