[Closed] Hope

You should ideally contact the local shop but failing that ask for anyone with technical knowledge of the products, there's lots of folk there that will give the answers you need.

Always somebody with tech knowledge that answers the phone there whenever we call.

Well I have spoken to 2 guys in technical now and they havent a clue. Hence the need to speak to someone who does know.

What's the issue you want to ask them about?

Can we help or at least get some more details

[b]Hope[/b]less

My singlespeed Pro hub doesnt have the standard pro 2 seal in the hub body. I have been told by both tech guys that there was only one seal. I have the original seal and the new seal and they are 3mm difference in size and it physically wont fit.
[IMG] [/IMG]
Basically I was told they didnt change the seals and then was told he didnt know and maybe I should 'file' it to fit. I then dont have a locating lip to click it to the hub body. So want to know if there is a differing seal that the guys dont know about. I currently have a hub which loves water more than ducks and I have to rebuild it and replace bearings every 2 weeks. No jetwash yadda yadda, only hub I have big problems with so want to sort it properly. Changing bearings every month due to water ingress.

I'd sugest you talk to Nick Owen, he's been there longer than most and used to run the Tech support truck at events, he's also the guy that features on their tech videos. There isn't a lot he doesn't know about Hope products.

Woody?

Woody is dispatch manager but sits in the next office to Nick so could shout through the door!

Cheers chaps. Any chance of an email address so I can pop him an email or anyone link this thread to them?

Ring them, it's better.

Can do, thought it would be better to send the piccie of the seal to show them

it'll be something like service@hopetech.com but don't know off the top of my head. If you ring they can get you to email the photo over but probably won't need it.

I suspect Woody would love to be the dispatch manager!! 😀
He's the production manager.

Just been and had a measure of one of my Pro 2 hubs in the garage. My drive side seal matched the size of your new seal - 46mm OD, 4.5mm width.
According to all the Hope tech docs the drive side seal is the same part number for Pro 2, Pro 3 and Pro 2 Evo hubs including single and cassette hubs.
Part no. HUB517
When you fit it - the seal needs pushing in to recess with a snap. Hope make a nice tool for pushing the seal into place - [url= http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=28390 ]this.[/url]
Pleae ignore the last bit if you know this already.

Is your old seal just had a hard life and worn away?

I suspect Woody would love to be the dispatch manager!!
He's the production manager.

'tis true. my mistake, Hope (pun intended) he gets a raise with his new position.

Zangolin, the hub seat in the hub body is also 44.5mm . Can you measure your diameter? The seal is a solid plastic seal and will not shrink 3mm outer diameter to be able to click it in. The old seal clicks in properly. If you try and fit the seal, it just buckles and twists and will not go in.

My numerous experiences of dealing direct with Hope have been outstanding. Phone them.

Bike shops may know what they are talking about, but probably won't know anywhere near as much as the manufacturer.

Spongebob, I have called them twice and I got told by both tech guys its the same seal, but the photo shows it isnt. I will strip a mates standard MTB pro hub this weekend ( free service, he will be happy) and do some measuring myself if I dont get a dimension of the hub flange here today. This is getting frustrating, as the hub is a pain in the arse.

Thrustyjust - just been and measured the and I make it 45.5mm for the drive side seal recess on my Pro 2 hub. Sorry not much help. Be interesting to hear what the final outcome is.

I'd be surprised if there was a seal with a 44.5 OD.

Are you sure there isn't a piece of the old seal still in the hub?

Paul, the amount of times I have stripped this hub, i can guarantee there is nothing else in there. The latching rim is still attached to the seal and it clicks in nicely or should I say in a 'precision engineered way'

paulwf - Member

I'd be surprised if there was a seal with a 44.5 OD.

Are you sure there isn't a piece of the old seal still in the hub?

In old money, 44,5mm is exactly 1,750"...

And pardon my pedantry, but isn't the difference between 44,5mm and 46,0mm only 1,5mm? Or am I missing something?

Yes, but as a diameter makes a big difference in installing a solid plastic ring with no flex.

Of course, I'm not doubting that - afraid I can't offer any suggestions though. Very odd.

I have been staring at your photo thinking "I cannot see 3mm difference!".

Can you not sand down the O.D to get the size you require?

Can you not sand down the O.D to get the size you require?

of course he could (although how round it would be is up for debate)

But I think his main concern is why his hub is apparently different.

If the seal size/spec has remained the same (which I believe it has as all Pro II's I've ever seen or worked on seen have used the same seal) then there is something odd about his hub as it has a different sized seal and (as measured by the OP) seat for it to fit in.

OP - I've got a couple of Pro II (not Evo) geared hubs sitting here, and a SS hub on a wheel that i need to remove to fix a puncture later so I'll try and take some measurements of my hubs for you to compare.

Yes you can sand it down, but then you dont have the latching rim to click it into the hub, so it may just fall out. Its just I have an engineered hub, with an engineered seal, which is now 5yrs old and no one knows anything about it being the wrong size seal.From a company who thrive on their aftersales tech.I have Hope XC hubs and they dont give an ounce of issues other than an early freehub which cracked. New one FOC appeared and has a mod to stop it cracking again. If I could get an XC hub in singlespeed flavour as this Pro hub has been nothing but grief for me since day one. I still have the receipt from CR who built the wheel. It is labelled as SS/T and date of build is RW.

Could it be an XC Hub with the [url= http://www.behindthebikeshed.co.uk/531/products/hope_xc_lip_seal_hub501.aspx ]HUB501 Lip Seal?[/url]

Probably not, but worth asking. 😉

XC hub uses an oil seal style so maybe a wrong picture ? Unless they changed it to the plastic one in later XC hubs?

Right then.. Puncture fixed and other two hubs and seals measured:

Pro II no. 1 - Seat diameter 45.6mm, Seal ID 37mm, Seal OD 46mm
Pro II no. 2 - Seat daiameter 45.5mm, Seal ID 37mm, Seal OD 46mm
Pro II SS - Seat diameter 45.5mm, Seal ID 37.5mm, Seal OD 46mm (this seal feels loose and probably needs replacing)

It is labelled as SS/T

means defo Pro II Single Speed, same marking as the one I've just measured.

Cheers mate. I didnt disbelieve Hope in what they said, but maybe I have a differing hub to the now standard.I might just bin it and be done with it and get something else.

Send it to Hope and see what they say.

I asked about sending them the photo of the seals and werent interested.Chances are they wont be interested in me sending a wheel back.

It does seem proper odd, as I've never seen one with different seals, and if you have problems with water ingress maybe you have a duffer?

I guess you could try sending it to them and see what happens, either they'll manage to fit the new seal with no problems and you'll feel like a plonker, or they'll have a scratchy head moment and you'll get a new hub/shell.

I once got a 34 hole hub from Hope years ago, drilled for 36 on one side and 32 on the other!

I think what the main problem is that the point blank ' there isnt a different seal for this and not we dont want a photo and er, maybe sand it down to make it fit as i an unsure' doesnt really inspire me with confidence. i know this was an early hub when i got it, just as much as I was one of the first to get the front hydraulic disc brake system with the lever arm on my Rock Shox Judys !!. But it is a pain in the butt. It has never sealed properly and when i approached Hope previously a few years ago and said that a plastic seal will not seal as well as the XC oil seal type, the answer came back as yes it does. Thats doesnt explain why my new pawl springs ( did you know the later ones are half the size of the old spring steel?) and pawls , which i last rebuilt the hub 2 weeks ago are now full of brown water from the springs rusting. The inner hub bearing grease has gone white with water ingression and after flushing the bearing and regreasing and drying the hub out again, will know it will be wet again on a drizzly ride. It actually changes note on freewheeling through the ride. Sounds like a drowning duck by the end !! I have Goldtec hubs, Hope XC, Easton hubs on my road bike and all work as I want them too. yes, they get routinely stripped and greased, but once a fortnight is beyond the joke.

I tend to agree, it sounds rubbish and it shouldn't let that much water in, I normally only open my Pro IIs up every 3-4 months (rather than 6-12 for Bulbs and XCs) and they normally only need a bit of a clean, although my SS hub does let more water in, but as I said I think that one needs a new seal now as it's baggy.

If you're at the point of binning it then I would send it back to them and see what happens, cos if there really is something wrong with it they will sort it.

It's doubly frustrating when you've had older Hope hubs, I've not been that impressed with Pro IIs compared to Bulbs and ti-glides some of which I have still running on original bearings form 10 years ago and one non-disk ti-glide from 94/95 which is still going strong.

Yes, my Ti XC I have just after 8 ish years put ceramic bearings in it and it rolls like nothing else. 2 mates have broken Pro 2 's one split the shell in half, coming down Snowdon on the tarmac of all things, just went bang and the wheel just disintegrated and the other a flange snapped off on one side suddenly. I think the only benefit of the Pro 2 was a weight thing. My wifes XC Ti hub has the screw on ring and spider for the disc on her bike and is still running sweet.

Didn't the early ProII ss hub suffer from body fractures so the design got changed a bit? As per this thread from 2007:-
http://www.observedtrials.net/vb/f3/strong-ss-specific-hub-experiences-32776/

Wonder if your's is an early hub and they changed the seal size at the same time?

I too find it frustrating that my ProII ss hub needs much more attention than a 1996 XC hub that is still in regular use..... That one has a proper radial seal instead of the crappy axial contact plastic ring they use now (I've found Hope ignore any comments / suggestions like this and just quietly and efficiently send free replacement parts ready to fail again in another 6 months).

My wifes XC Ti hub has the screw on ring and spider for the disc on her bike and is still running sweet.

ahhh (wistful look into distance), I still have 2 pairs of them in regular use, love those hubs...

Well, just spoken to Nick and the early hubs they did use a smaller seal. So i wasnt imagining it !!. He has scoured the place and found one. It is being posted. Thanks for the help everyone. i will measure the new one with the old ( potentially worn) one and see if it is worn. He says that if it still lets water in , in the way i described, then a new freehub is possibly the way.

result!

and now we've learnt something too, to keep an eye out for the early ones. Hopefully new seal will sort out your problems!