Have I been sold a fake/dud/Kangaroo?

Tale of woe with my new Hope pro 4 Boost 35w rear wheel.

Sold it as a Shimano freehub, it wasn’t it was a Hope cassette freehub, fine, mistakes are made.

Then I find out the rotor rubs on the IS adaptor on my frame, I file down a spare adaptor so it all fits.

Then I phone Hope to find out which drive side end cap I need for my newly purchased Shimano freehub. Purchase end cap. Fit end cap. Wheel won’t fit in dropouts. Measure width to find my new boost hub is actually 153mm wide with the X12 end cap I was told to buy, no wonder…..

Then I buy a standard pro 4 12mm end cap, thinking I was told to buy the wrong one. Fit end cap. Wheel fits in dropouts perfectly. Fit axle. DS dropout now rubs on cassette lockring. I’m losing the will to live.

I’ve checked it’s not a 150mm hub instead of boost. The spoke offset measurement matches the pro 4 boost hub according to the specs on their website.

Do you actually get fake Hope hubs because this is ridiculous?

The cheapo Superstar wheel I had on before fit perfectly.

Anyone got any ideas before I chuck the lot into landfill?

Sounds like the wheel got delivered to you with the axle adaptors the wrong way round.  Would explain the rubbing on IS disc adaptor perhaps?

They should be black on disc side and silver on drive side.

EDIT – if you’re buying adaptors, I think you need to use the X12 version of the 12mm, not the one simply described as 12mm.

http://www.hopetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Pro-4-148-Rear-Hub-Assembly.pdf

HUB471 is your drive side spacer

HUB463N is your disc side spacer

Cheers for the suggestions guys.

I’ve got the end caps the correct way round, black NDS and silver DS. Still hoping it’s muppetry on my part though.

Hope told me to buy the X12 12mm spacer originally. With that fitted the hub measures 153mm end to end. I bought the standard 12mm end cap because the wheel wouldn’t fit in the frame with the X12 end cap fitted. (That’s not strictly true, it will go in but I have to force the chainstays outwards to get it in.)

Please tell me I’m being a dipstick in some other way!

It’s DEFINITELY a boost frame you are trying to put it in, yes? What frame is it?

are the end caps all the way into the hub?

Frame is a Dartmoor Primal Plus. I’m assuming the end caps are all the way in. I suppose it’s possible that the hub axle itself is off-centre and so everything isn’t locating quite right?

I’ve just tried to get the NDS end cap off to have a look at the axle from both sides, can’t get the damn thing off though.

I’m getting close to just filing a few mm off the X12 end cap and having done with it. I can’t believe a CNC machined hub would be this far out of spec though so something must be wrong somewhere.

Are you sure the frame is right?

The frame was fine with the original wheel (Alex Supra 35 rim on SS switch Ultra boost hub), which I ran for over a year. I always thought the dropouts were a little on the wide side with the old wheel, not by much, a mm or so. Everything was in line and worked well when tightened up.

If it’s measuring that wide them something is not in correctly (assuming you have all the correct parts).

Your not using the hope freehub DS spacer still are you (sounds like you not)? I think it’s a longer part.

Is the freehub definitely fully engaged to the hub shell?

There is a spacer that fits on the axle between the freehub and shell bearing. Did the old one definitely come out when you swapped freehub (i.e. you don’t have two fitted by mistake do you?).

Are all the bearings fitted correctly?

Some pictures of the actual hub may help, someone might spot something.

Are you likely to sell the hope freehub and it’s appropriate end cap? I’d be interested in it if you do.

Doesn’t the hope mini driver come up shorter, but use a longer gold spacer but the shimano freehub use a silver spacer which is shorter?

Th Hope cassette freehub end cap looked shorter than both the standard and X12 12mm Shimano freehub endcaps, if that makes sense. I don’t have it to hand as I’ve sold it , and the freehub, already (sorry nixie)

Right, I’ve made a bit of progress. I got the NDS end cap off and have given the axle a couple of taps both ways. The axle seemed to float quite freely, I think that’s a clue. It also appears that the end caps fit flush against the bearings rather than butting up against the axle ends as I thought they would, at least on mine it does.

Anyway I put it all back together with the X12 endcap and put it back in the frame. As I tightened up the frame axle I got 5 or 6 creaks and it felt like something moved. I suspect that the bearings weren’t pressed into the hub shell correctly.

The irony here is that by this time I’d already had a partial teddy’s out of pram moment and shaved a couple of mm off the X12 end cap. I just wanted it all to fit and patience is not one of my virtues.

As it sits now the X12 endcap is 2.5mm longer than the standard 12mm end cap, according to the calipers. However there isn’t 2.5mm extra space between the cassette lockring and the DS dropout so something has definitely moved. There’s much less than 1mm clearance at the moment.

I have a horrible feeling I might be buying another X12 end cap soon.

Oh well.

If the axle was floating side to side in the hub then the bearings are not seated in the hub shell (or there is another issue with the bearing seats or axle)

@bigyan

Floating is perhaps the wrong word, it needed a tap with a hammer but it didn’t need much force and the bearings weren’t moving, which looking at the axle design on Hope’s website says a lot.

I’m obviously thinking the bearings aren’t seated correctly, I still don’t think it’s quite right. I suspect with some use it’ll all settle in properly and I’ll have to buy another X12 end cap, either that or the bearings either side will need a whack and I’ll have to buy another X12 end cap.

After having read this thread I am confused about my place in the universe.

@psycorp, be careful about trying to move the bearings the way your are. You are side loading the bearings as the applied force will be transferred to the outer race via the inner race and bearing balls. This could damaged the bearings. Hope make a set of supports to do this job properly (though you can use sockets or old bearings). Given that its seems the bearings are not seated correctly I would suggest taking them out and them again properly (even if it means putting new bearings in).

I also wouldn’t ride it till you’ve sorted the issue, too much risk of damaging parts of the hub (lie the shell which would be terminal)!

Update:

I took the hub apart again at the weekend, checked and seated all the bearings (I used a suitably size socket to avoid pressing the inner race). Everything seems to be in place properly and the axle doesn’t appear to move side to side when tapped with a mallet now.

I have a new X12 drive side end cap arriving so I’ll check it all again once fitted and take it out for a test ride.

Cheers