Am I the only one killing fat ebike hubs??

[darwink1]

Whelp.. I blew the rear hub on my spare wheelset on Saturday (stock bitix... bitrex Norco vlt 1 hub) so I'm out a fat bike now.... That's 2 i9 hydras and a stock norco hub so far, in every case the ratchet ring has spun in the hub body.

Gonna try a dt hub this time and see if it lasts, waiting on an i9 warranty for the other wheelset.

Any of you other fat e's killing hubs like this???

Part of it could be that we don't ride the groomed trails but I haven't blown any hubs on my bullit. I'm thinking it's the sheer size and contact patch of the 27.5 wheel/tire that's to blame.

Unlocking new features on the fattie..

youtube.com

D

 

[RustyIron]

Custom i9 Neutral Feature


Industry Nine makes pretty stuff, that's for sure. I won't buy their products because they offended me as a customer. They made me spend $20 on six little microscopic springs that they should have sent me for free. It would have cost them a dollar in parts and a couple dollars in postage--but they didn't. I've broken their axles, as well. Failures can happen on any machinery, so it's not fair to judge them on that alone.

What I really question is the long held Industry Nine belief that two pawls engaging at any time is adequate. They upgraded their designs and now claim that all the pawls engage because the hub flexes. Hub distortion is a good thing? Yeah, I don't buy that. Is your problem with repeated failure of i9 hubs related to their flex-hubs?

I've been using DT Swiss hubs off and on for nearly 20 years, and have never had a failure. Recently I thought I had a failure, so DT sent me out new ratchets, bearings, and installation tools. It turned out that I'm a dummy and the hub was fine. With unmatched reliability and customer service, I don't really want to run anyone else's hubs.

If i9 replaces your parts for free, I'd just keep running them into the ground until the inconvenience of the failures is too much to bear. If you have to spend your hard earned cash, spend it on something with a reputation of being bombproof, like DT or CK.

 

[whitymon]

I am not sure it comes from the wheel, might be something else here. I am using it in summer too when I want some fun on trail with jump.

It is a, I think Sun-Ringlé Mulefüt 80, I would not consider it premium nor better that i9, have it for 2 years.

Is it something related to lack of maintenance because of riding in snow something like that? I am not sure this is related your issue is related to efat in particular, I failed to see the reason.

 

[darwink1]

Custom i9 Neutral Feature


Industry Nine makes pretty stuff, that's for sure. I won't buy their products because they offended me as a customer. They made me spend $20 on six little microscopic springs that they should have sent me for free. It would have cost them a dollar in parts and a couple dollars in postage--but they didn't. I've broken their axles, as well. Failures can happen on any machinery, so it's not fair to judge them on that alone.

What I really question is the long held Industry Nine belief that two pawls engaging at any time is adequate. They upgraded their designs and now claim that all the pawls engage because the hub flexes. Hub distortion is a good thing? Yeah, I don't buy that. Is your problem with repeated failure of i9 hubs related to their flex-hubs?

I've been using DT Swiss hubs off and on for nearly 20 years, and have never had a failure. Recently I thought I had a failure, so DT sent me out new ratchets, bearings, and installation tools. It turned out that I'm a dummy and the hub was fine. With unmatched reliability and customer service, I don't really want to run anyone else's hubs.

If i9 replaces your parts for free, I'd just keep running them into the ground until the inconvenience of the failures is too much to bear. If you have to spend your hard earned cash, spend it on something with a reputation of being bombproof, like DT or CK.

They replaced the last one with a new hub body/ratchet ring, fingers crossed they do the same this time.

I have 2 hydra wheelsets for my summer bike, a full power sc bullit, that are still going strong... knock on wood.

Planning to replace the noname norco hub with a dt to see how it fares.

D

 

[darwink1]

I am not sure it comes from the wheel, might be something else here. I am using it in summer too when I want some fun on trail with jump.

It is a, I think Sun-Ringlé Mulefüt 80, I would not consider it premium nor better that i9, have it for 2 years.

Is it something related to lack of maintenance because of riding in snow something like that? I am not sure this is related your issue is related to efat in particular, I failed to see the reason.

The steel ratchet rings are spinning in the hub shell. Same failure for all 3 hubs, there is no maintenance for that.

My buddy has spun 2 rings in 2 different hope hubs as well, so I don't think any hub is immune.

Imop it's the 27.5 x 4.5 wheels and tires that put too much stress on the hub.

D

 

[darwink1]

Soooo let's try this dt 350....

D

 

[darwink1]

First ride was a success! Not gonna lie, I was cautious and didn't go too crazy putting power down lol.

D

 

[Troutwrestler]

I have destroyed SunRingle - the hubshell went egg shaped, and an OEM Specialized hub - snapped axle has bad effect on pawls and ratchet ring.

I now use a DTSwiss 350 Hybrid with the star ratchet. It seems fine 24+ months in.

 

[Pedec]

I blew a dt-350 swiss hub on RM blizzard powerplay in 130km. Which is stock on bike. But found out later the problem was the grease was to thick and to much for winter use. The gears were not engaging all the way and just stripped the tips. You might want check how much grease you have in hubs. These are the stripped gears. Actually do not look bad at all just the tips gone. I do agree that fatbike are way harder on hubs. My other gasgas e-bke has 2300km and no hub problems. I do ride off trail lots under high load conditions.

 

[Pedec]

This is what Dt-swiss had to say.

 

[whitymon]

I blew a dt-350 swiss hub on RM blizzard powerplay in 130km. Which is stock on bike. But found out later the problem was the grease was to thick and to much for winter use. The gears were not engaging all the way and just stripped the tips. You might want check how much grease you have in hubs. These are the stripped gears. Actually do not look bad at all just the tips gone. I do agree that fatbike are way harder on hubs. My other gasgas e-bke has 2300km and no hub problems. I do ride off trail lots under high load conditions.

Not sure if this is the stock grease but it should not be that. DT Swiss should comes and use a peculiar red/pink grease. It is expensive but work really well. It also require to not put too much of it.

From stock my guess is that is should not be the case but I also saw people putting the spring in the wrong direction which could just damage everything from spring to ratchet.

I also do agree on the 24T, on my end I usually do the opposite for more engagement or a different sound.

 

[Pedec]

Bike was brand new whatever grease that was in there was stock. Been on two big rides so far pushing bike hard and hub is holding up so far. I went with 24t.

 

[Jukka4130]

Acquire a proper hub like the Onyx Classic FAT. All the Onyx Classic hubs are rated for mid-drive motors with up to 1.5KW peak power output. Large hub shell bearings (a combination of 6805 and 6804 sizes in the ISO 6-bolt rear hubs) is also a big plus when it comes to reliability.

Fat Bike Hubs Archives

Fat Bike Archives - Onyx Hubs Europe

 

[Livo]

Blown two rear wheels with RaceFace Vault hubs on my Orbea Rise. To be fair they replaced no Qs asked, so customer service good tho took a long time to get. Second wheel started to go after a few months riding.

Now got Hope Pro 5 ebike hub with steel parts and 54 points of engagement with 6 pawls which engage simultaneously for “increased durability”. So we’ll see. So far no probs but not done enough miles to really find out.

 

[Pedec]

Have 3 rides and 50km of riding on my fixed dt swiss 350 rear hub and so far holding together. Defiantly engages differently than it use to. Not quite as smooth or as quick engagment maybe but still fine. Hope it stays together. Those Onyx hubs are expensive like $1000 Canadian.

 

[darwink1]

Have 3 rides and 50km of riding on my fixed dt swiss 350 rear hub and so far holding together. Defiantly engages differently than it use to. Not quite as smoother as quick maybe but still fine. Hope it stays together. Those Onyx hubs are expensive like $1000 Canadian.

Right? I looked them up before deciding on dt and it's more economical to have 2 wheels under warranty lol.

I've got 2 rides on mine now, one in -25ish temps last night, and the dt is holding strong.

D

 

[Pedec]

Which bike do you have it on. Can not tell from pic. Is it a e-bike? look like very loose conditions.

 

[darwink1]

Which bike do you have it on. Can not tell from pic. Is it a e-bike? look like very loose conditions.

Yup, an ebike, Norco bigfoot vlt 1.

We don't ride groomed trails much at all so they're not packed down the best all the time.

D

 

[darwink1]

Acquire a proper hub like the Onyx Classic FAT. All the Onyx Classic hubs are rated for mid-drive motors with up to 1.5KW peak power output. Large hub shell bearings (a combination of 6805 and 6804 sizes in the ISO 6-bolt rear hubs) is also a big plus when it comes to reliability.

Fat Bike Hubs Archives

Fat Bike Archives - Onyx

It's not the bearings going, it's the ratchet rings that are pressed into the hub shell.

D

 

[darwink1]

6 rides on the dt and its still hanging in there.

D

 

[Stihldog]

6 rides on the dt and its still hanging in there.

View attachment 154146 View attachment 154147



D

-7c here this morning with 6-20cm of snow. Love riding in the snow but the season isn’t as long as yours.


I’ve only seen 1 fat bike on this mountain (Bull eMTB) so I’m not sure how hubs hold up. I use a 2.6” Assigia on a 35mm wide rim with Project 321 hubs. The lighter oils in the hub may help with the pawl engagement. Our snow season isn’t long enough to justify a fat tire …yet. But sometimes I wish I had a fatty for some better traction on the climbs.

The wider profile of the 2.6” Assigia on a 35mm wide rim helps a little bit but the snow conditions need to be just right.…otherwise the rear wheel just spins out from a start on a slight incline. A much lower psi is possible with the CushCore also. (Momentum is my friend).