looking for a replacement rear hub since my hope pro 2 exploded a bearing at the weekend. I have a stans flow rim to lace up to it as the wheel was compltely rebuilt earlier this year, so the nipples and spokes should be good too. The XT M756A rear hub is pretty attractive at £36 on CRC but the reviews are pretty mixed. What say you stw?

Not xd compatible and not sure how many axles it works with. Can you boost it too? So really depends how long you want from it.
But simply how bad is the hope? Just replace the bearing for the quickest and cheapest option

I’ve had Flows on XT front and rear for a few years. They run beautifully as long as you are prepared to keep on top of the maintenance rather than wait for them to start sounding rough before you do anything.

A lot of the moaning appears to be about the freehub – which do need replacing more often than some others, but cost about a tenner.

Do you need thru-axle compatability?

XT on my Fatbike. That’s 5 years now and been through the crappiest conditions (salt water, sand, peat bog etc). I cleaned and adjusted it last autumn so it’s good for another few years.

it’s to go on a 26 soul which I have no intention to get rid of or stop riding. So no, no need for thru axle.

What’s the ERD? Unless you are very lucky changing from the Hope will mean new spokes. Reusing something as cheap as nipples is false economy.

Good to go then. You even get a lovely new QR with it.

Having said that though, by the time you’ve replaced all the spokes etc, wouldn’t it be cheaper to just replace the Hope bearings? Or is it knackered in some other way?

yeh one of the internal bearings exploded sending loads of tiny ball bearings floating about the freehub. I took it to my lbs and they had a look and made me aware that the freehub body was actually cracked (you can see the crack), the axle was scored (?) and there was a groove in the shell. They weren’t trying to sell me a replacement and they’ve always provided me with excellent advice in the past so I’ve no reason not to believe them.

I’m still learning about stuff I’ll admit. the listing for the hub: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-deore-xt-disc-hub-rear-m756a/rp-prod3987 says it’s 146cm whereas my soul takes 135, is 135 the frame gap and 146 the total length? so this will fit my soul?

Yep, it’s 135.

https://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/shimano-deore-xt-fh-m756-a-disc-rear-wheel-hub/aid:550352

Cheaper here (a little), also normally good prices for spokes.

Yes that’s the one you need.

You will also need a tube of decent bearing grease like rock and roll super-web and a pair of cone spanners.

You can’t just neglect shimano hubs then go back and put new bearings in them once they’re trashed like Hope. They need a strip, clean, grease and the bearings adjusted correctly every so often. How often depends on how much and what kind of use. Every 3 months in winter, or if a ride involved going over the hubs deep in water. Once you’ve done it before it’s 15 minutes at most, but it has to be done or you runin the cup races in the hub which cant be replaced.

I’ve run shimano hubs before and they’re fine, but i’d still be looking at replacing the internals of the Hope one if at all possible. Can you send it off to Hope??

Also don’t assume they will arrive from Shimano correctly tightened or with enough grease.

you’re all splendid.

Also don’t assume they will arrive from Shimano correctly tightened or with enough grease.

In fact, I’d assume the opposite these days, the number of correctly preloaded and greased hubs from the factory seems to be low enough that I can only assume that when it happens it’s purely by chance.

That’s perhaps a little unfair of me to say as actually Shimano are better than most of the cheaper C+C hub makers for delivering hubs in a usable state. OEM C+C hubs too often feel notchy and grindy straight of the box but it’s because they’re all shipped with massive preload and little lube, 10mins with the cone spanners and some grease and they’re a million times better.

This annoys me in more way that one because correctly adjsuted and lubed a C+C Shimano hub will give years and years* of solid service, but because they so often don’t come correctly adjusted and lubed people moan when they die prematurely unaware that it’s due to poor setup.

And, on that same topic, too many shop mechanics don’t bother to address this on hubs before they leave the shop (C+C in general not just Shimano), so it falls entirely to the end user to do the first adjustment, and if the mechanic hasn’t bothered to do it, they likely haven’t bothered to tell the customer they need to and so the cycle of disappointment continues.

* I have a few 80s and 90s hubs still silky smooth and on original bearings, with proper care they are almost immortal.

Have you spoken to Hope about the hub. They may be able to offer you the parts cheaper than the XT. Worth a call?

What grease do folk use on their C&C hubs? I’m nearly out and want one that is good for the splashy season.

Also don’t assume they will arrive from Shimano correctly tightened or with enough grease.

this. A million times this.

Pull it apart as soon as you get it, and fill it with grease, and nip it back up (properly) it’ll last ages after that. You can pretty much forget about them if you do this, but probably still worth adding a check to the “things to do yearly” on your maintenance routine.

@monkeysfeet
yeah, I’ve been emailing with a Johnny in the warranty dept who said nothing can be done, no foc replacement or reduced price replacement 🙁
the hub is approx 3 years old.

What grease do folk use on their C&C hubs? I’m nearly out and want one that is good for the splashy season.

– Phil Wood waterproof grease
– Shimano’s own luminous green stuff
– Rock’n’Roll red
– Silkolene RG2

others available too, but that’s my order of preference ^ and there’s normally at least one of them to hand.

ember

@monkeysfeet
yeah, I’ve been emailing with a Johnny in the warranty dept who said nothing can be done, no foc replacement or reduced price replacement
the hub is approx 3 years old.

That’s a shame buddy. Go for the XT then, with a bit of TLC every 12 months they last for years.