[Closed] Easton haven what are they like

The cheap ones on crc (i work in a bike shop - had plenty in to repair) had dodgy freehub seals and dodgy bearings and seals other than that i guess they were ok, not designed to ridden in the wet or mud which i guess is not an issue in sunny California but over in our wet island it can become an issue rather quick.

Build quality of the ones i have worked on is pretty decent with even spoke tension, decent rim profile and the hubs look nice n' bling if that's yer thing.

I believe certain variants were subject to a product recall to improve the bearing quality and freehub seals but personally i'd not bother as finding spares is an issue, fwiw i've ran hope hubs since 1994, if i need a hub part or a hub replaced (only one in 19yrs) i call hope and it's on my doormat the next day, very often FOC or at minimal costs.

^^^- nail on head - they are cheap for a reason - stick to Hope Hoops

There was a problem with the rear hub bearings being over-tightened and failing prematurely, but that is now fixed with a spacer. The cheap ones are probably the older stock but ChainReaction will provide the spacer free of charge on request. There are videos and how to instal the upgrade on Easton's website.

My 2011 spec 29er Havens are holding up well after 7 months of abuse. I’m a big fan of Hope Hoops having run Flows/Pro2’s for years on my 26er bikes, and I was originally planning to buy Flows/Pro2’s for my 29er build, but my LBS was offering the Eastons at a good price so I decided to take a punt. I was aware of the sealing issues (and the resulting bearing problems), so after a few muddy winter rides I popped open the rear hub for an inspection (expecting to find filth), and was pleasantly surprised to see it was perfectly clean. I still check the hub every few rides though, just to be on the safe side. The bearings are still super smooth.

Build quality is excellent. Despite only having 28 spokes they are still true, the rims haven’t dented despite catching some sharp edges, and I’ve yet to have a spoke loosen off. My local hill has some fast fast rocky descents so wheels take a bit of beating, and the Havens haven’t let me down.

The only negative so far is that in recent weeks the rear hub bearing pre-load adjuster has started to work itself loose during a ride. It can be nipped up again by hand, but it’s another known problem with the earlier hubs. It’s not something you can feel when riding, but if you stop and grab the rear wheel you can feel it wobble a bit as if the axle has worked loose. I think some folk over tightened it to compensate and this led to premature bearing wear. My LBS received upgrade kits from Easton so I need to get mine sorted before going on Holiday in August. It’s not a major problem as I can check the adjuster each time I stop during a ride, but it’s still one of those “For ****s Sake Easton!” problems…..one that should’ve surely been picked up during testing.
Having said that, once the hub has been upgraded I reckon I’ll have one of the best non-carbon 29er wheelsets as far as cost versus strength versus weight is concerned.

The original RRP was £700 which I would never have paid, however at £360 I was willing to take a punt, but only from my LBS. I’m not sure I would buy these wheels direct from CRC as I reckon you’ll need some support at some point. Having my LBS deal with Easton has taken the sting out of the pre-load adjuster problem somewhat, otherwise my write-up might have been a bit more negative, but at £290 they might be worth a shot. As enmac points out there’s plenty of info on the web that should allow you to self-service if you’re mechanically minded.

I've got the Havocs (cheap from CRC) and have had them four months or so now and they've been fine. I bought the despite their bad reputation they have on here. I have ended up with two of the bearing spacer upgrades; one from Extra and the other one sent out by CRC as soon as they got them which I thought was pretty good (although the CRC one doesn't have the tools with it like the one from Extra did). I had the freehub off the other week when I changed to the axle to a 142x12 and was pleasantly surprised to see it free of gunk.

Build quality is pretty good although I have a slight buckle in my rear wheel which I need to get sorted. The freehub is pretty quiet which I like (I demo'd a bike with Pro II's on it and the noisey freehub wore thin very quickly). I wouldn't have paid full price for them because I'm tight! I was going to get Hopes on Stans rims because they're about he only things that aren't crazy money but couldn't resist the money off (and I think they look nice). I also thought can something that expensive be that bad?

Sorry to slightly hijack the thread - I was looking at these wheels too. Does anyone know if the front is convertible? If I go for the QR front will I be able to convert to another axel type later?

Havens here about 3 months old and no probs - I did look into the issue and believe mine have the revised hub (where still cheap tho)

ichabod - yes. The 9mm QR hub can be upgraded to 15mm.

yes. The 9mm QR hub can be upgraded to 15mm.

Donk - when I was researching the wheels before buying mine I found a couple of adapter discussions on MTBR. I think some UK users were going direct to Easton for them, but that was for front hubs.

I bought a pair from CRC a few months ago, read all the reports of dodgy rear hub internals online , but liked the spec in terms of weight and tubeless compatibility etc, and they do look pretty bling which helped..... as above, I wouldnt have bought them at full RRP, but i got them at the 360ish price.

Apparently the front hubs are fine, its the rear hub internals as mentioned previously that folk have had issues with. I emailed the distributor, Extra, before my wheels had even arrived. They kindly sent me the upgrade kit with the new rear bearings and spacer, plus the press tools to do the job no questions asked, not even for proof of purchase. Great customer service. I havent fitted the kit yet, I figured I would wait to see if I got any of the reported issues first.

Been running them for a few months, including riding the Steve Peat DH on them (17th in Masters if you are interested), which had plenty of rocks and the bombhole at the end to give them a good smash around.

Ive had no issued at all, both wheels still true and no play in hubs even with supposedly 'dodgy' old stock rear internals.