Im bored of replacing my mavic fts-x every year when it decides to die. It seems theres an option from the states to replace the nylon bushing with a bearing, but Im struggling to find info on that.

So, the next best bet is probably a new wheel/freehub. Whats generally regarded a reliable/basic freehub thats user serviceable and takes cartridge bearings…..and doesnt cost the earth.

background: Im a lardy **** who likes blasting around the south downs/friston/stanmer with the occassional foray over to that welsh wales.

Hope or dt.

DT240S lasts forever and has great sealing, but changing the central bearing is a pain in the cock. (the others are straightforward). IME that’s more than outweighed by the longevity, but it’s a trade of “pain in the arse servicing, infrequently” against “easy servicing, fairly often”.

Hope are simple to service but ime not particularly well sealed- I expect to change every bearing in my Pro 2s twice before I’d even have to touch a 240, and some of the bearings 3, 4 times as often.

Done 7200Km on my Hope Pro 2 Evo hubs in nearly three years without touching them. Still run good and smooth. My riding: rarely visit trail centres so think old fashioned XC. I’m not exactly thin! Never tried DT so can’t comment on those.

DT Freehub servicing.. it ain’t hard.

[video]https://youtu.be/PXJ2ao-Iq14[/video]

pre-filling bearings will make a big difference.

Pro2 here – so far it is 9 years in and 000’s of miles, with an annual clean and pop in some fresh grease. Bearings last 2-3 years it seems as well….

i’ve got dt swiss 240s, super simple to clean and replacement star ratchet isn’t hard to obtain either. (just dont over lube!)

When you say youre replacing Mavics what is thats breaking? I had a big downer on those nylon bushes but now think they are more reliable than bearings.
Have you tried cleaning them and lubing with very light oil?

Yes, Wilburt. The cassette now has lateral play so a clean/lube wont do the job, I cant seem to find a source for the bushing so Im left replacing the whole hub body at ~£35. The “hubdoctor” fella sells an upgrade kit for ~£40, which then lets you use cartridge bearings, but thats basically half the price of a new crossride wheel with the ts-2 hub.

Hence, looking at options 🙂

Not sure how simple it is to service my Hope pro 2 evo rear hub bearings. Got 3 sets and not been able to kill any of them. Bought the tools last year but only needed the front presses. I did break some pawl springs. In this respect the star ratchet system looks more reliable.

To service a Hope free hub is as simple as it gets, basically pull it apart, clean, push back together. Pawls/springs can occasionally break but are relatively cheap to replace

DT. I swapped freehubs and it was a case of pulling the old one off and pushing the new one on. Took literally 5 mins including a minute or two of me thinking “This seems too easy”.