Hope hubs

[Dazb]

I have been chasing a noise on my bike recently, I couldn't tell if it was from the motor or the cassette but it was a horrible grinding scraping noise, I put my bike in for a service to see If they could find anything and they advised the noise could be due to the rear cassette being worn so I told them to just carry out the service and I would sort out a new cassette.
Anyway I took the cassette off today and I think I have found the problem, There was a lot of movement on the hub moving in and out and broken pieces of aluminium fell out from the Hope hubs, The wheels are only a year old so Im a bit disappointed they could fail after a year, I can't think of anything I have done that could have caused this as it's not a part I strip down but I suppose it's something I will never know.
I have now put the cassette on my old wheel and the cassette seems fine though I have got a new one on its way so I'll change it when it arrives

 

[Beaker2135]

Speak to Hope their customer service & warranty is legendary. They will advise how to fix it at the very least

 

[Dazb]

I'm going to drop them an email, I have just taken the damaged section out and the shaft is goosed as well, also the springs that force the teeth out are broken as well

 

[Tankboy]

Bearing failure seizing with the centre rotating on the shaft causing the shaft damage? All that free play will knock the hell out of the other parts as well. Don't think the hub is at fault its just what happens to bearings on bikes quite quickly especially in UK conditions, I've changed bearing up three times in a year on wheels? You should check for play and noises every ride ideally? HOPE will be OK they hold all the spares for everything..... Wish stainless bearing where standard as it's just a wee bit of water in the bearing can set the self destruct sequence off, easy to do when using pressure washers?

 

[Dazb]

I contacted Hope and added the pics of the damage and had a reply within 15 mins asking me to send the whole hub into them for a warranty inspection, TBH I can't see what I could have done to cause this damage so hopefully they will sort it out

 

[Mikerb]

I contacted Hope and added the pics of the damage and had a reply within 15 mins asking me to send the whole hub into them for a warranty inspection, TBH I can't see what I could have done to cause this damage so hopefully they will sort it out

Dont wish to be rude but its precisely because you did nothing that you had this problem! Removing the cassette and freehub and end cap, to clean and inspect needs to be done fairly regularly especially if you ride in muddy conditions, possibly made worse by using too much water pressure to wash the bike off.
I suspect the start of your problem was dirt ingress causing one or more pawls to jam/shear and/ or the axle to seize on the bearings. I have seen this before on my sons Hope rear hub which he bought with a second hand bike. Assuming its the same Hub, the outer drive side seal is in the end cap and unless that is cleaned and greased regularly it allows all manner of mud and water into the freehub assembly.

 

[Dazb]

Dont wish to be rude but its precisely because you did nothing that you had this problem! Removing the cassette and freehub and end cap, to clean and inspect needs to be done fairly regularly especially if you ride in muddy conditions, possibly made worse by using too much water pressure to wash the bike off.
I suspect the start of your problem was dirt ingress causing one or more pawls to jam/shear and/ or the axle to seize on the bearings. I have seen this before on my sons Hope rear hub which he bought with a second hand bike. Assuming its the same Hub, the outer drive side seal is in the end cap and unless that is cleaned and greased regularly it allows all manner of mud and water into the freehub assembly.

This could well be the case of mud ingress and if it is then Hope should come up with a better solution ie sealed bearings to stop this happening, I have never had any problems with any hubs on my previous bikes and they have seen a lot more mud and done a lot more miles than my current bike, I have to send it off to them today but from the pics I sent they have said it appears to be a failed bearing.
I will obviously start greasing and cleaning this area but like I say I have never had this issue on other bikes.

 

[James_C]

that green seal doesn't look seated. Mine is completely flush. That will let in all kinds of crap to then destroy the pawls and springs etc.

 

[Paulquattro]

that green seal doesn't look seated. Mine is completely flush. That will let in all kinds of crap to then destroy the pawls and springs etc.

If that's how it was i totally agree the seal was at fault not being seated properly
I will probably jinx myself but i find hope hubs great and i am by no means i fan boy because i have had no end of problems in the past with their leaking rubbish brakes LOL

 

[Binhill1]

I have been chasing a noise on my bike recently, I couldn't tell if it was from the motor or the cassette but it was a horrible grinding scraping noise, I put my bike in for a service to see If they could find anything and they advised the noise could be due to the rear cassette being worn so I told them to just carry out the service and I would sort out a new cassette.
Anyway I took the cassette off today and I think I have found the problem, There was a lot of movement on the hub moving in and out and broken pieces of aluminium fell out from the Hope hubs, The wheels are only a year old so Im a bit disappointed they could fail after a year, I can't think of anything I have done that could have caused this as it's not a part I strip down but I suppose it's something I will never know.
I have now put the cassette on my old wheel and the cassette seems fine though I have got a new one on its way so I'll change it when it arrives

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I broke mine about 6 months ago all my fault i pulled cassette off to inspect and unknown to me you need to press seal in . I got half a mile it broke. It was just over a year old . They replaced hub on warranty. I phoned hope direct. Worth a try

 

[emtbPhil]

This could well be the case of mud ingress and if it is then Hope should come up with a better solution ie sealed bearings to stop this happening, I have never had any problems with any hubs on my previous bikes and they have seen a lot more mud and done a lot more miles than my current bike, I have to send it off to them today but from the pics I sent they have said it appears to be a failed bearing.
I will obviously start greasing and cleaning this area but like I say I have never had this issue on other bikes.

On ALL freehubs you have to service them.
I strip mine down every 6 months and replace the grease - should probably do it more often
Even if there is no dirt ingress the grease fails and turns thick/solid
You can usually tell they grease is beyond knackered when they stop making a noise while free wheeling
That's one of the huge benefits of hope hubs - they're a piece of piss to service

 

[Kernow]

I’ve had similar problems with a hope hub when i first had one the free hub has two bearing fitted back to back on the inside . The inner bearing gets the dirt etc in it and fails first , normally this would alert you but the other bearing continues to support the free hub until the worn inner bearing breaks up and destroys the inside of the hub . Once you are aware of it and considering how easy hope hubs are to check and service its no longer a problem . I still think they are one of the best if not the best hub out there

 

[2WheelsNot4]

I also reckon its all down to a lack of maintenance. Nothing is going to last forever without at least looking after it, be that a bike hub or the finest motorcar on the planet.

It is a pleasure of mine to sit in front of the TV. Back wheel or front on my lap and a selection of cleaning products as i remove grit and chain lube from the cassette and make the hub, spokes and rim as clean as possible. Throwing it in the shed after a muddy or wet ride is asking for trouble.

Hope are pretty cool and might sort you out with new parts, but if they dont thats kind of par for the course.
I can bet in Hope's workshop theres going to be much tutting and exchanging of looks

 

[Spangoolies]

I bought a set of hope pro 2 hubs when they first came out. I laced those onto 3 different sets of wheels over a period of 8 years and only replaced 2 pawl springs in that time with plenty of abuse. Simple cleaning and greasing kept them going on the original bearings, by the time I sold them the front was starting to grumble but the rear was still smooth.
Always had great experience with Hope components, bought the first of the LED vision 4 lights in 2009 and still working great today. Seen great durability in their headsets. Had numerous sets of hope brakes which have been easy to bleed and service with every part available from hope. Light weight, good power with great modulation and adjustments on the tech levers. Almost every time my group of friends travelled to the alps for a week, at least one of them would have brake trouble which isn’t surprising considering what we were putting them through. I (the only one using hope brakes) never had a problem with my hopes in all the the time I’ve used them, but I did strip them down yearly and replace the piston seals every 3 years. I’ve decided to give magura mt7 a try on this bike but only because I got them very cheap otherwise a set of hope v4’s would be going on it.

 

[Mikerb]

.........if the hub is properly sealed there really is no reason why crud should get in. I serviced my DT Swiss 350 hub/XD ratchet free hub on my E180 after 400 miles and it was spotless and did not even need cleaning or regreasing.

As far as I can see on the Hope hubs there are 3 seals. One on the non drive side and 2 on the drive side. The drive side seals are the large green seal that sits a gainst the shoulder of the freehub and other is in the end cap. Both rely on the complete hub axle arrangement being snug with no side play and that largely depends on the end caps having a good fit. If the end caps become sloppy both the end cap seal and the green seal cease to protect the freehub from water and mud/dust ingress.
That said the freehub has 2 cartridge bearings so they should not be badly impacted by dirt ingress. The pawls and spring arrangement certainly will though. So the next question is what failed first? The pawls getting clogged with dirt would normally just fail to engage.....one or more....and you would notice that on the cranks. So maybe the bearing collapse was the initial damage. The most likely reason for it to break up is if the axle is loose................so back to the issue of the end caps doing their job properly as the root cause!!
In terms of the faiure on my son's Hope 4 pro hub it was certainly the drive side end cap at fault. It required no effort to remove...it virtually could fall off!! We replaced the collapsed bearing and bought a new end cap. It has been fine ever since.

 

[emtbPhil]

The end cap is pressed on by the frame when the wheel is in?

 

[Mikerb]

The end cap is pressed on by the frame when the wheel is in?

The dropouts fix to the thru axle