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Hiya campers!
Referencing this thread: https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/edinburgh-bike-shop-recommendation-hope-pro-4-freehub-emergency/
I'm having a really unsatisfactory time with my Fatsno Pro 4 rear hub. The inside free hub bearing is shitting itself very 2-4 months. This is a relatively easy fix if at home but when it goes, it's a ride ending event. I'm riding about 60 miles a week, mostly off-road, and I am a huge fat bloke. It's on a hardtail. It's a 29+ wheel if that makes any difference.
I am going to check more frequently how its doing, and I ordered a few replacements for just that one bearing so have some stock.
But really, this is not great.
Thing is, on my older fat bike, it's run a pro 2 Evo for about 6 yrs with me doing absolutely nothing do it. On of my riding buddies has borrowed that bike for the winter and in doing a spring clean we replaced all the bearings, and sure they were maybe a tad off perfect, but nothing like grinding themselves into cubes.
So, any thoughts on what the 'f' is going wrong with my Pro 4?
It's only the inside free hub bearing, never any others. Thus far, when it goes It's been changed by me, my local shop, Bike Works in Edinburgh... and so far we've changed all 4 bearings each time. Expensive, and we can't all have done something wrong so fitting is not the issue.
Thanks for any thoughts!
Funnily enough I had a pro2 that used to do this. I never got to the bottom of it, but there was talk about a mis machined axle.
I switched it out to a through axle for a different frame and the problem went away. No idea if it was the axle or the face they the whole this was disassembled at the same time.
Could you try a ceramic bearing? Its a well sealed part of the hub so a cheap ceramic hybrid bearing off ebay might do the trick.
Or those hubs are massive and must put a lot more load on the axle than in a normal pro4, might the axle be ever so slightly bent?
I've had the opposite experience. Pro2 Evo kept crapping itself. Wrecked one axle, several freehubs. Pro 4 is good so far... About 1k miles.
I’ve had the opposite experience. Pro2 Evo kept crapping itself. Wrecked one axle, several freehubs. Pro 4 is good so far… About 1k miles.
My Pro2 Evos did around 3k miles between bearing services with no appreciable wear otherwise. Bad luck maybe?
Reeksy +1.
I think it's purely down to luck, and hopes machining.
Which bearings are failing?
Pro4 uses 2 larger bearings in the freehub, than the 3 smaller bearings in a Pro2 evo, and are supposed to be more reliable. I have seen mates Hope hubs that kill bearings regularly, but never experienced it myself. I am always very carefull making sure the replacement bearings go in smoothly and straight.
As TINAS suggests is the axle bent? I cant see ceramics helping here as its still not a high revolution use.
It might be that as a big geezer you are just killing the hub. Worth a call to Hope about it? Nb I have a Pro2 that is still bizarlly on its original bearings from 2007.
I started changing bearings so regularly that I'd buy a batch from the bearing shop. The guys there recommended avoiding stainless due to its softness and to coat the bearing seal in a non-petroleum lubricant spray (Lanox is good) as a water repellent that won't wreck the seal. Definitely had catastrophic bearing failure on inner freehub bearing.. can't remember the other times. Ended up killing the wheel (Stan's Arch Ex) and replaced with a Mavic Crossmax SLR.
Ah, FFS, on the wee local loop this morning, I had a couple of tell tale 'CRACK!' noises from the back - sounds like another ****ing bearing has gone.
Always the inside free hub bearing. The frequency is increasing now, this one was only replaced about 2.5 weeks and 140ish miles ago. Bollocks.
Yes, I am no doubt heavy, but my Pro 2 Evo has lasted bloody years and it's free hub bearings were perfect, See also my Salsa fat hub. Hope pro 4 on the full sus has lasted fine.
Based on comments above, I suspect 2 things:
1) Perhaps this axle was made slightly out of tolerance
2) Every time the bearing goes, and there have been 2 occasions when the bearing completed disintegrated, its grinding material from the axle
For sure, when it went at the far end of the Pentlands at Christmas the mush of broken bits gouged some pretty big scores in the axle.
Time for a new axle methinks, I am too damn invested in spares and tools for the Pro 4 to go for anything else!
Yeah, i would deffo go new axle if existing is damaged, but talk to Hope as well. Maybe you could get a steel axle made by someone like Ben at Kinetics in Glasgow
Hi All,
Thought I'd post a wee update in case anyone finds this and has similar issues. Had a chat with my LBS, and Hope, so in the end I did 2 things for my 3yr old Pro4:
1) Now use Chromium bearings for the inside freehub, rather than stainless https://www.kineticbikebearings.com/chromium-144
2) Replaced the old axle (in the piccy you can see the gouging caused by repeated bearing failures - surely this created a vicious circle)
Since all that done, been for plenty local loops and a couple of big days out. Conclusions:
Bike is now silent - interestingly (for me!), before the new axle, even with a new bearing there was always clicking and creaking. got especially bad when you were really grinding up a steep hill. I've been chasing this noise around the bike for months. Turns out there must have been play around the axle, as the new axle and bearing have removed the noise, so far.
Also, so far no big failure. in the middle of a big ride, when hitting a low cadence, techy ascent, that was the exact time when 'crunch!' something would give way. Seems, touch wood, to be OK now.
Thank ****.
The inside free hub bearing is shitting itself very 2-4 months.
Which is exactly what one of my Pro 2 Evo rear hubs did. Taking the axle with it. To be fair to Hope, they replaced the parts FOC after I sent them the shrapnel and axle for inspection.
100% the axle was the issue here. I found that once a bearing has shirt itself and the axle was marked/scored it was just a case f time before the next new shiny bearing went the same way.
Like BWD, I called hope and asked about bearing failure and longevity. After sending in all the bits I got back replacements.