[Closed] Hop Pro 2 rear hub bearings dead after 4 months :/ Just bad luck?

Email Hope, they should last a good deal longer than that unless you ride hub deep in Peak District puddles all the time.

Just average mud in South Wales 😀

I would try hope and see what they say.

people will tell you to open up the bearings and pack with grease but this is a contentious idea. I never do it but still have bearing bearing life in thousands of miles.

My suspension is there might be a quality control issues and some bearing housings are slightly undersized leading to bearings that fail early

Incredibly bad luck.

Hope bearings usually outlast their owners, who have spent most of their rides laughing at owners of shimano hubs, which usually disintegrate within minutes

Where is a decent place to get replacement bearings while we're vaguely on this topic
(thanks OP for this minor hijack 🙂 )

I get mine from a local engineering supplies place. Anywhere that sells decent quality branded bearings will do

My first set lasted only about 6 months, though i've no idea what that meant in terms of miles, on that bike. For comparison of conditions, I had a Shimano BB fitted at the same time and it lasted better 😉 Second set is doing a bit better. They are pretty small bearings and though the sealing's not bad, it's not amazing either.

My Shimano BB has lasted for roughly 2 years and is still going strong which is what makes me wonder if the rear hub bearing failure is a little premature...

No worries on the highjack dirtbiker100! I would love to know where to buy the best after market replacements too 😀

I did a couple of thousand on my Evo hubs last year, still smooth. Do you use a pressure washer?

just bad luck, mine usually last 18 months at least at a similar use rate as yours

are you totally sure its the hub? just asking as I once had to apologise to the guy at just riding along after pestering him about a hub wearing out really quickly, turns out it was my frame bearings make things wobbly at the back, the hub was fine

I had a similar problem with a Pro II rear hub. It would seize after only 2 - 3 rides. Each time I would replace the bearings and it's be fine...for 2-3 rides. Drove me mad. I spoke to Hope (Lancashire not Yorkshire - how very dare you!) and they suggested I sent it in. Which I did and they replaced the hub free of charge. I think the suggestion was that a small % of hubs are marginally too wide and this allows water ingress. Either way, I trust Hope kit and the aftersales was excellent. I have lots of other Hope hubs with no bother. One piece of advice I was given: how far can you push the bearings in by hand? If significantly then the hub may be a problem.

Yes definitely the hub bearings. They barely spin in my hand and it got so bad on the last ride that the hub end caps are trying to rotate in the dropouts and wearing the end caps/ dropouts- not good for keeping QR tension either!

No pressure washer, just a brush and soapy water as I am not posh/ lucky enough to be able to avoid the extra elbow grease.

Sounds like bad luck then

Thanks Will, I will have a go by hand before contacting Hope. Great advice, thanks

I've just had to replace mine after 7 months, although having felt the difference between new & old, they've been in a bad state for at least 3 months. IMO changing the drive-side spacer design to reduce drag has led to poorer sealing. I've had the freehub off after a particularly wet trip to Wales & found water inside.

Before you buy new ones, knock them out to find out which are gone. My drive-side S61903 and the S17287 and middle S6803 were all rough as ****. The remaining S61903 & S6803 were as smooth as the new ones. UKBikestore sell them separately, but they're not cheap. Expect to pay £40 for a full set.

4 months isn't very long and hope's bearings are good quality most of the time INA or SKF, any chance of a photo of the bearings if you do decide to service it yourself of before you send off the hub?

Sounds like a warranty issue to me and having dealt with Hope several times I'd reckon they'd be wanting to accomodate you and sort it out.

I get at least a year to two years out of mine...pawl springs tend to go first.

Someone was talking about stiffness in the rotation...you have to watch the non driveside seal for that...put too much grease on and the wheel won't freewheel or turn well

my pro 2 bearings only lasted around 6 months, contacted hope they said the new ones would cost £x.xx (rrp).
then around 6 months later i had a single replacement bearing fail catastrophically damaging the axle, and leaving me trying to descend ther nutcracker in lustleigh on a fixie!! i ended up replacing axle & 2 bearings also when i opened it up all the pawl springs bar one were fubarred too so they got replaced at the same time, no offers of help from hope they just told me what rrp was on replacement parts, fair enough i guess but i certainly didn't get the famous customer service everyone else speaks of on here (must be my westcountry accent).
never had any other hubs fail like this.

try the Enduro 17287 abec 3 bearings from [url= http://mbbearings.co.uk ]mbbearings[/url]

What bike have you got ?
Is it standard QR ?
Only asking because some frames seem to load bearings more than others some will even snap axles just curious as the usage your stating seems very low for them to be worn out...

You mean like a bent drop out?

No I mean some frames seem to load bearings and axles more than others
Something might be an issue frame wise which can lead to premature bearing wear
We've had some issue's with some marins snapping the axles in pro 2 hubs and hope will make a steel axle when I phoned and said we had a customer who's broken 2 axles they actually said does he have a Marin if so he needs a steel axle.
My point being there could be another another cause for premature bearing wear especially if the next set lasts a similar period.
Fingers crossed you've just been unlucky.

Are they Marins with rear maxles? Pro 2s didn't play well with with maxles- lots of issues especially with maxle lites with the taper, since the Pro 2 maxle axle is paper-thin. (it's just the same as the QR axle, with a bigger hole through the middle)

I did smell that.

I'd call hope my pro 2 hubs seem to go on forever mate.

Well, with everything taken apart the bearings in the hub shell seem fine but the bearings in the freehub (particularly the drive side) are stiff and squeaky. I would imagine it is these that are causing the issue. I will take it to the LBS for a second opinion and see what Hope say...

Bike is a Santa Cruz Superlight

drive side freehubbearing seems to have a hard life and fail the most easily

I'd definiltey say bad luck, i put Pro2's on my bike a year and half ago, out on my bike 3- 4 times a week in Bristol then probably once a month in wales, including downhilling at Cwmcarn and i'm a fat bast*rd and the bearings are still as good as new

you don't spray GT85 or equivilent on the hubs after cleaning do you? i've been told that stuff will take the factory grease off shortening the life, so just spray with water and brush off to clean, leave evrything else

No nasty spray or pressure washing. Just soapy water and a brush for the regular post-ride clean.

the bearings in my Pro2 rear went in <15 rides, which was disappointing. The replacement set have lasted better though.

Mine have gone at the mo. As a bonus the freehub has seized onto the axle. Hope have said to get the wheel to them and it will £22 + postage back. Not bad I would say.

my pro 2 bearings only lasted around 6 months

the bearings in my Pro2 rear went in <15 rides

Hop Pro 2 rear hub bearings dead after 4 months :/ Just bad luck?

Have a search through my previous posts.

**feeling smug** 😉

You running shimano Peter? 😉

You running shimano Peter?

Actually no, not 100%. But if I was buying new, I proably would get XTs

I have:

1 Pro 2 (Front) which eats bearings regualrly.
3 x Hope XC (2r, 1f) which are waaaaaaaay better lasting
2 DT Swiss 240 which are too new to pass comment on
A couple of old Shimano/unbranded C&C hubs which go on and on and on and on
A DT Swiss Onyx which eats cheap bearings but seems a lot better if I pop the seals and regrease before I fit

Mrs PP has
2 Pro 2s. Which are shit. Utter shit. The bike uses more hub bearings than it does brake pads (Serious) and one of the flanges broke off
2 Shimano 475s, which get a bit rough fairly quickly but then never get any worse and it doesn't matter becasue they are so cheap

I've got my bikes sorted now, I think I should go about getting Mrs PP some decent wheels.....

.......................
EDIT
Oh, and something just a little bit special, wheel wise, for my next bike which has been on a slow burner for a long time now, and will also be a little bit special itself 🙂

Hubs are back from Hope having had the hub shells replaced but they still only spin about 2 or 3 revolutions before coming to a halt. This stiffness occurs when rotation is around the axle so it is not pawl drag 😐

Is this normal for hub rear hubs? Is this the best I can expect them to be?

This is the thread I started: [url= http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/hope-pro-3-hub-problems ]Hope Pro 3 hub problems[/url]

Seems like the new design isn't as good as the previous one.

It's taking a long time but it looks like Hope are sorting mine out under warranty. The bearings are worn too.

How do you guys manage that? My hope pro III set of wheels have gone through hell in the last 2 years and I barely have to true them. The bearings run as smooth as they can in spite of the constant enduro racing, shuttle days, lift days and general thousand of altitude loss they have gone trough.

No idea Juan! Mine were great for a few weeks but have never spun smoothly since, despite being returned to Hope under warranty.

I have heard stories of inaccurate machining on some batches and all sorts of other things which may at least partly explain the problems.

Anyone else have stiff rear hub axles even with new bearings?

TandemJeremy - Member
drive side freehubbearing seems to have a hard life and fail the most easily

No surprise really as the drive side lacks the seal that the non-drive side has - design flaw?

My Pro II SP's have officially lasted 2 years but I am a regular fettler and usually overhaul my bike after every winter - The bearings are running rough but still spin well.

I think Hope hubs are like Landrovers - good at what they do, spares readily available and they go wrong/wear out more often than you think - but they are easy to fix.

The pawl springs seem to be an annual service item.

EDIT

Could never figure out why they didn't include a drive side seal.

Could never figure out why they didn't include a drive side seal

Yeah I can't believe the sealing on Hope hubs, given they are British.

DanW, if you are out on Saturday let me know and I'll take a quick look then and see if I can shed some light on it.

Steve(your friendly LBS)

Thanks Steve, I think I'll pop them along to you. I was hoping they would come back from Hope absolutely perfect but I'm not convinced that they actually are.

I'm a massive fan of Hope hubs - good tough British design!

However, i was gutted for some guy from St Helens who i met at the top of Jacobs Ladder on Sunday with a split Hope hub

That is one hill i'd hate to have to walk down!! 🙁

I commented earlier in this thread about lifespan... Both my Pro 2 rears have needed the bearings done again since then, I'd say the lifespan's just about acceptable but certainly not long (the set of Flows has done moderate miles, the set of 721s has done really fairly few miles but harder use and worse conditions) OTOH I run 2 sets of DT240s which get a lot more use in all conditions , and I've only had to change a single bearing in those in the same time that I've done 3 complete sets in the Pro 2s. (the DTs have one very exposed bearing but the rest are well sealed)

Mind you, if I never need to change the middle bearing on the DTs I may not be so happy, seeing as how it needs an expensive special tool whereas Pro 2s can be serviced with a couple of sockets and a coarse grade hammer.

One of my friends is bringing his bike over to get the wheels sorted, bearings are shot on the front wheel, not seized but rough so it's time for a strip down of both wheels, saying that we fitted them well over two years ago and I've been on at him for 12 months to check them.

The bearings in my front bulb hub which I prefer over the pro 2's that I have on my DH bike, got checked yesterday and after about 20 months and 3 different bikes are still smooth.

Not checked the rear bearings recently except for a standard spin check and shake test for play, but they do seem fine.

I would run good quality bearings with a proper water proof bearing grease to weather proof them, moto X bearings go through all sort and they last years.

As far as I'm concerned for the mountain bikes the main issues are internal rusting or poor quality bearings.

What ever you decide good luck and remember if you buy used and you don't like something you can always sell it and buy something else without losing out too much 😉

Oh, sorry- the other thing that I meant to say is that the price difference between Pro 2s and DT240s will pay for an awful lot of replacement bearings and pawls!

Northwind what kind of bearings are you running in the pro 2's?