Hi all, if I buy bearings for hope evo 2 hubs or frame bearing kits, is there much differents betwen the cheap eBay ones or the ones from online bike shops?
Is the extra dosh worth it in actual quality?

Even the expensive ones need servicing?

Ells

Yes – big difference even in ones made to the same spec.

Be very careful buying from ebay, there is a huge amount of fake SKF/NSK/FAG bearings about.

Online, Wych bearings are good, better still find a local bearing supplier, go in and see them.

Or here if you need any.

I get bearing from a local industrial supplier. they keep common bearings in stock. Just quote either the part numbers or dimensions to them. Or use one of the online bearing suppliers that sell to industry. I’d rather pay a chunk more for the bearings to have piece of mind they are of good quality.

Yes and no. There are crap bearings out there and yes on ebay you could find many fakes. There are plenty of cheap bearings from a good bearing supplier local or online that are way cheaper than branded but are basically identical either in spec or are actually the same bearing make and model.

Hope branded are INA bearings anyway.

Important thing is the seal on the bearing. Match the codes and should be good. Though quality the hub/headset/whatever seal plays a bigger part. Good enough seal and the crud isn’t getting anywhere near the bearing anyway (something I’m impressed about with DT Swiss hubs).

Local bearing shop, or online. simplybearings.co.uk for example.

That said, the Hope kit can be reasonable value for money if you need all the bearings in the kit, depending where you buy them.

I’ve checked bearing suppliers many times but for hope hubs, it’s hard to beat their kits for quality bearings at an affordable price.

Their bearings are also stainless. Not as hard as other options but in my experience, it’s contamination that kills bearing before they wear out so stainless is the right choice.

my lbs just serviced my rear pro 2 evo and think they used BETD. They have loosened up much faster than the original hope but it has only been about 3 rides so cant comment on lifespan. The Hope ones lasted about 5 years.

The BETD are much quieter than Hope though and I much prefer the loud angry wasp, chainsaw buzz!

personally I’ve not found any difference

I work near to a bearing wholesaler and they supply me with evil Chinese bearings as required for just a few quid. Ones twos half a dozen it doesn’t matter. Maybe they won’t spin up to 50,000 rpm or withstand sideloads of a million kN or being submerged in the North Sea but I don’t really care. They fit and work as expected

A bearing geek will be along shortly

As above, if there’s a Hope set that’s good for your purpose they make a lot of sense, great value. I think my DTs probably have a Hope bearing set in!

With cheap bearings it’s a crapshoot tbh. I bought 5 of these
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/RjsAAOSwunJWEtIy/s-l400.jpg
One of them didn’t turn at all. One shattered when I was fitting it- the bearing case must have had a flaw in it. 2 lasted no time at all, the race seemed really soft. But the 5th one lasted for absolutely ages! Total false economy but if I’d got 5 good ones like that, or even 3, I’d have been happy.

But getting the middle ground isn’t so easy… If you can find a supplier you trust that’s probably the best way.

The BETD are much quieter than Hope though and I much prefer the loud angry wasp, chainsaw buzz!

Nothing at all to do with the bearings used. Just a sign that your lbs has used either too much or the wrong grease when. Rebuilding the freehub pawl springs.

thanks trailrat, Ill look forward to whizzing around with an angry buzzy soundtrack soon 🙂

Controversial, but I use cheap eBay bearings. They are generally about 5x cheaper than anything branded. I pop the seals off with a pick and syringe them full of waterproof grease. Sometimes I splash out and use cheap unbranded SS bearings.

I don’t believe that the bike applications are demanding enough that we need to use expensive branded bearings. I don’t believe that they last 5x longer. I think having a decent amount of waterproof grease is much more important to the lifetime.

But then I do all the work like this on my bike and don’t mind doing it slightly more frequently. YMMV.

my experience, it’s contamination that kills bearing before they wear out

Same here – Pre-fill FTW, as above.

I use cheap eBay bearings. They are generally about 5x cheaper than anything branded. I pop the seals off with a pick and syringe them full of waterproof grease.

I do this too. Even if they last half as long (this is a debate for another time) I am still better off. I also re-grease them every now and then when the bike is in bits for whatever reason.

On this note, does anyone know of an inexpensive bottom bracket which takes standard 6805 2RS bearings, and isn’t designed in a way which intentionally prevents bearing removal? (not shimano since they use a custom bearing)
Cheers.

I am not happy using the cheapest bearings because of the risk of a bad bearing damaging a hub or frame , have had cheap bearings that were not even
the correct size and some that would not turn out of the little box.
I would agree with adding grease to frame bearings or those used in bad conditions where contamination is likely.
I just try to get known name bearings from reputable suppliers, and fit them properly – ie. no bashing in the wrong place!

I am not happy using the cheapest bearings because of the risk of a bad bearing damaging a hub or frame , have had cheap bearings that were not even
the correct size and some that would not turn out of the little box.

Yep, every time you press a bearing into your frame you are at risk, and cheap bearings will have pretty loose tolerances…

*Makes mental note never to buy from folks admitting to using shite bearings… 😆

I think I’ll go for the Superstar Components high-fill ones next time I need a set.

TBH though if it’s badly out of spec you should notice (if you don’t, you shouldn’t be fitting bearings…)

high fill bearings are nonsense. They are not high fill. Get a normal bearing ,pop the seals off and fill with grease.

Hope are good quality. Best of all they are stainless. The issue is with th middle bearings on your hubs that is a funny size and you cant get the cheaper ones in stainless for them.

get stainless.

me1tdown, Superstar Components used to do one but it looks like they have discontinued it. This one from Uber Bike looks very similar though:
https://www.uberbikecomponents.com/category/405/Stainless-Steel-Bottom-Brackets

Silkolene Pro RG2 Grease packed full into bearings works for me. Amazes me how dry new bearings are. Unfortunately the very small rotation they do means you need to pack in grease to keep water out.

Another instance where Kaesae is sadly missed. 🙁

Frame manufacturers should be answering to the issue of shit intake into bearings. I see Nicolai claim a proper sealing solution but not sure who else does. The real issue with any bearing is contamination, unless they’re just cheap shite.
I don’t spray any GT85 or the like near any bearings. It penetrates and breaks grease down, emptying the bearing. It’s a misconception to use stuff like this on pivot points.
Wych Bearings are fantastic for service. usually go for Enduro bearings.

me1tdown, Superstar Components used to do one but it looks like they have discontinued it. This one from Uber Bike looks very similar though:
https://www.uberbikecomponents.com/category/405/Stainless-Steel-Bottom-Brackets

Thanks V8_shin_print, that looks like it should do the job! I hate the idea of wasting money/material on replacing perfectly BB cups.

I copied this from somewhere else and saved it as it’s useful information for bearing geeks:

Bearing coded have a suffix – 2rs is standard rubber seals. LLB is two light contact lips in a groove, LLU is two firm contact lips in a groove. SRS is a snap ring on top of the seal.

Might be of interest here 🙂

I find it hard to keep track tbh – unless the bearing is really awful and fails in short order, riding several bikes I tend to forget when they went in.
Some folk keep spreadsheets to avoid this problem, mileage per bearing 🙂 Badass.

I only ever use SKF bearings tbh. At my work they’re all that’s used and I suppose I’ve just grown to trust them and I think their worth the extra cost in the long run imho.

SKF for me. I’ve worked with the company (and drink with the chap that supplies some of their seals) and have always been impressed with their quality.

I don’t seem to be getting much life out of freehub bearings in my Hope (Pro 2 evo) wheels. I might’ve gone with the full kit but the freehub bearings wore out (For the second time) a bit after the main bearings had just needed their first swap.

I got SKF, but not stainless, bearings, as it was wear rather than crap that got the previous ones (the ones on the inboard side were totally in bits the first time I replaced them). I couldn’t get one of them from a major brand though as they’re a custom size 🙁

Not sure they’ll last much longer, and I’m sure that they won’t last 3x longer which is about how much more they cost than the cheap but not dodgy ebay ones I could’ve bought, but if I get 1.5x as long out of them I’ll be happy enough to be riding more and faffing less.

philjunior. What sort of lifespan you getting out of them?

I got less then a year so sent it back to Hope who put a freebody that uses bushes instead of bearings.

Indeed – not only for that reason, but there used to be a standard answer for where to get decent value bearings

Philjunior- last time I bought hope bearings, I was a bit pissed off with the lack of grease in them, never bought them again.

Fwiw I always pop seals off all bearings and top up with as much mobil xhp222 as I can squeeze in.