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Now I should start with I’ve not pulled the bearings …
On Jnrs bike he has a pair of Pro 2 Hub based wheels (non evo). I bought them second hand having been recently rebuilt into some new rims. All good, the wheels are in really good condition but …
When in the frame there is a tiny bit of wobble/rocking that can be felt. This doesn’t affect the gear indexing or brake rub but can be felt especially when lifting the wheels off of the ground. It feels similar to when a bushing is on the way out on a full squish frame.
All end caps, QR front and rear, are correctly seated and the only thing I can think is that the movement appears to be from the bearings.
Out of the frame they spin nicely, no noise or friction and I cannot feel any play.
I’ve never had a pair of wheels do this before even when the bearings were borked.
All bearings “look” new and are genuine Hope branded.
Do I need to just order up some new bearings?
I had this. After replacing the bearings I found that the screws holding the dropout in place were loose.
Secondhand hubs? Sometimes people sell hubs shortly after realising they're not good at servicing hubs.
Bolt through?
I had a fork with a 20mm through-axle which had got worn where the Pro2 bearings located on it (I think the bearings had seized after a particularly wet ride and I didn’t notice?) so the wheel always felt slack in the forks despite everything being done up nice and tight.
The Axles on non ‘Evo’ pro2’s were prone to snapping (at least mine used to) and that’s why the Evo versions were different, to get a beefier axle in there.
is it possible the axle has cracked/snapped? The axle would still bolt up and be reasonably tight, but would also likely create a knock.